A thought-provoking meeting yesterday reminded us that Section 20 arrangements (agreements which allow a local authority to place a child in accommodation where there may be child welfare concerns) are still a problem area for many families.
As a quick recap, we thought we would add these key points for parents below:
- Section 20 arrangements are voluntary – this means that the local authority cannot place a child in alternative accommodation unless parents agree to the arrangement.
- You are entitled to be fully informed – the local authority must offer you as much information as you need, in a clear and accessible format
- If you have parental responsibility for a child, you can remove your child from accommodation provided by or on behalf of the local authority at any time
- If a child is 16 or 17, they can leave the accommodation without parental consent
- Always ask for a S.20 arrangement to be put into writing – something this important shouldn’t be set up on word of mouth. If anyone refuses to put this agreement in writing, tell them you have the support of the President Of The Family Division
- Children have a right to be heard – any child who wants to express their wishes and feelings in writing is entitled to do so under a S.20 agreement, and to have those views taken on board by the local authority
- A S.20 arrangement should never be used to secure care proceedings – local authorities do not have the right to put you off terminating a S.20 by giving you the impression that it’s final or compulsory
This is advice we give to every family we assist with these arrangements. At their heart, S.20s are intended to foster collaboration between families, the local authority and most importantly, the children involved. The local authority is bound to take the child’s view into account too if it’s providing accommodation for a child.
If the local authority you’re talking to doesn’t understand your rights under S.20, or isn’t aware of them, don’t be shy to tell them. They’re your rights, and they’re real.
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Very clear advice should be given to parents .NEVER NEVER sign a section 20 or any other document that a social worker (or anyone else) tells you that you MUST sign !
If you hyave signed a section 20 it is never too late to collect your children and take them home without warning the “SS” and without notice !!
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All things I wish I knew three years ago. 😦 Good info a bit to late. I hope someone just starting down this awful road see’s this and maybe avoids the ending mine had.
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I’m sorry to hear that.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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The fact that there is a need for such advice to be given to parents in the first place simply serves to underline how rotten is the whole child protection “industry”, lawyers and social workers alike!
It’s not unreasonable to expect public bodies and NGO to unilaterally operate according to the rule of law, rather than to have to be whipped into line by well-informed parents.
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how do parents go about demanding their children back using section 20 ? Do they go to the court or do they write to the LA ?
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Hi Cobaltatomic, if your child is being accommodated under a S.20 agreement, you don’t need to go to court, you have the right to take him or her out of accommodation at any time. It’s good practice to just let the LA know you’ve done this and that the agreement has been terminated.
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Aren’t they on lock down? My 4 year old is about to go Any day now. Trying to stop it.
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Hi Shayla, not if it’s just a S.20 arrangement. Do you have something in writing?
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Hi Natasha, this is good information, maybe you could give out this type of information again, for e.g; how to put court applications together, when can you apply to revoke a care order, etc, just a thought 😁
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Reblogged this on | truthaholics.
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in our case they obtained the S20 by threatening to call the police if we didnt sign it.
at the time we didnt know that this was unlawful and it meant they had wrongly removed our 3 children and broke the law. of course they denied any such threats took place when questioned in court.
then after only 4 weeks they applied for an iCO but it was declined by the court.
the SS win most of their cases simply because the parents are Naive and dont know their rights. they take full advantage of this. gone are the days when social services helped families. todays SS look for every weakness and use it to build a case against parents to make their job easier to remove children for Adoption.
Rotten to the Core.
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I was forced to sign a section 20 too. I was told if I didn’t sign it I would lose my child to foster care. I had nothing in writing and was manipulated into signing it.
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This is all very well, but the most likely result of removing a child from S20 accomodation is that the police will be kncoking at your door within the hour to take the child(ren) and a care order will follow. I’ve seen it happen.
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Thanks Tim. As you know, that’s not legal and families should be made aware of that.
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Sadly, local authorities and their buddies at the police station so often don’t seem to have much interest in whether things are legal or not. After all, who’s going to stop them? The courts?
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“Thanks Tim. As you know, that’s not legal and families should be made aware of that.”
so Natasha,
if this is true, are the LA illegally removing children from their parents by using this unlawful process ?
and could solicitors be prosecuted for wrongly informing parents of inaccurate information re the rights of the LA removing children ?
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Hi Keith, take a look at the links I shared in the post, all the info is on there x
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Yes Tim,
thats what we were also told by our solicitors. if we removed the s20 the LA would still remove the children with the help of the police and within 3 days they would quickly obtain a iCO from the court. so based on this parents will tend to sign the S20.
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There are some circumstances when it might be a good idea to sign S20. (I say ‘sign’ but technically no actual signature is necessary). If there has been a serious incident, or there is ‘history’, and you KNOW for sure that the courts will grant an interim care order then you may be better off with S20, since you alone have PR and the LA has none.
Newly delivered mothers might consider S20 as a better alternative to being dragged bleeding in your pyjamas into court. (Sorry, but it happens all too often). It can give you a chance to organise your arguments in order to be able to fight your case properly.
On the other hand, agreeing to S20 technically means that you concede that you are not in a position to care properly for the child, and this might be used against you in the future (I’ve not heard of this happening TBH, but give ’em a chance…)
Every case is different and it’s up to the parent(s) to decide the best way to play it.
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What makes all this even more disgraceful and distressing is that those who have the knowledge are using it for all the wrong reasons. The tactics of law and order, as described by the victims with experience of suffering the results, make the whole thing sound like a nightmare perpetrated by ghouls.
Too many in positions of power, misuse it and become besotted with their own image of invincibility. Arrogance replaces concern and a genuine desire to exert a more positive influence for the good of society.
There is too a question of over-large remuneration reflected in salaries that are way out of proportion to the contribution made by the top ‘brass’ to the society that foots the bill.
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Well said. Parents who trust social workers are often duped into things they don’t understand; especially those with Autism, who by default are extremely trusting.
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Reblogged this on Musings of a Penpusher and commented:
What makes all this even more disgraceful and distressing is that those who have the knowledge are using it for all the wrong reasons. The tactics of law and order, as described by the victims with experience of suffering the results, make the whole thing sound like a nightmare perpetrated by ghouls.
Too many in positions of power, misuse it and become besotted with their own image of invincibility. Arrogance replaces concern and a genuine desire to exert a more positive influence for the good of society.
There is too a question of over-large remuneration reflected in salaries that are way out of proportion to the contribution made by the top ‘brass’ to the society that foots the bill
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Reblogged this on xtraxtra67.
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Natasha, that is what you write but, who is gonna listen to us? The LA will laugh and so will the Judge at us if we do mention this to them.
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Hi DMH, I’m aware of families successfully enforcing their rights at this point in relation to S.20s. The more people assert their rights, the harder it becomes for the system to ignore them.
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PS Basic legal knowledge for non Lawyers – NEVER SIGN ANYTHING YOU DON@T COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND. Always seek legal advice before signing an agreement especially one on which your children’s lives depend. NEVER TRUST SOCIAL WORKERS they are your adversaries in the court room and have all the power in any any case – no need to make life super easy for them by signing away your kids.
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Good advice but it wont help those parents who know nothing about the SS, the Family courts and dont know their legal rights. they will be pressured and threatened into signing a S20 not knowing whats coming next.Obliteration.
just like my family they will be Lambs to the slaughter.
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