Far too often the law is used as a way to make the playing field uneven for parties who are either financially disadvantaged or who have limited knowledge of family court process so when we get the chance to even out that playing field, we do.
The latest item we have been asked to write about is the Emergency Protection Order (EPO), and whether parents can apply for one.
The very short answer is, yes.
The law is very clear. Under S.44 of The Children Act 1989, ANY PERSON who believes that a child is at risk can apply for an EPO.
An Emergency Protection Order is usually applied for when there are reasonable grounds to believe that there may be an immediate risk of significant harm to a child.
If you are a parent who believes their child is at risk of imminent harm whilst in the care of a local authority, carer or parent, you can apply for an EPO.
Whilst it is incredibly difficult to find publicly available case law to highlight this practice, Researching Reform knows of at least one parent who has successfully used an EPO to remove their child from imminent harm and secured residency after doing so.
We also found this very helpful slide show which explains The Children Act 1989 very nicely, and offers some key points which are incredibly useful which includes information about Emergency Protection Orders. The slide was prepared by Nathan Loynes, programme manager for Child and Family Studies at the University Of Leeds.
Nathan has produced a series of slide shows (124 of them) which have been prepared for students at the university, but they also work as an excellent resource for families going through child protection proceedings. The slide shows touch upon a range of topics, and highlight how the system works. Presentations which caught our eye include:
As for EPOs, The Children Act gives parents the power to protect their children through them, as long as the danger is imminent. In fact, the Act makes provision for any person to apply, which includes parents and family members, first, with local authorities and ‘authorised persons’ listed after.
So, don’t be shy. The law is there to help you, don’t be afraid to use it.
A very big thank you to Jane Doe.
Researching Reform 
This is very interesting.
i would think most parents have never heard of a EPO and nor have i.
it would be interesting to see the stats on how many parents have applied for a EPO for a child/children in care and the % rate of success.
knowing how the child protection and Family court system is generally Rigged against parents i would think the success rate will be very low.
still worth looking into though.a small chance is better than no chance.
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“The Law is Yours.”
No it’s not. Saw this one tried as a litigant in person in an attempt to remove a child from harm. Thrown out of court and lucky not to have had costs against the applicant, whose case was genuine. The problem is that unless it is supported by social services you are likely to get nowhere. SS may be happy to see a private individual try it where there is obvious harm as it saves them money and time and is a short cut to placing a child into the care of another parent, where they would probably go after more long-winded and expensive litigation anyway. But their superficial assessments of risk may fail to corroborate what is better quality information and witnessing of another parent, especially if they are the non resident parent. The child in the case mentioned only got help upon getting older and repeatedly fleeing the resident parent.
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Is this EPO only for a child? What about vulnerable adults?
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I advise every parent whose child is being abused in fostercare or while in a children’s home to apply at once( with photographs of injuries ) for an EPO ! If enough respond ,that might improve the standards of care if nothing else !
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Reblogged this on tummum's Blog.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Reblogged this on | truthaholics and commented:
Some more info on EPO’s here:
https://www.inbrief.co.uk/child-law/emergency-protection-orders-children/
Sadly, minimal cases of parents using EPO’s successfully highlights the huge gap between theory and practice.
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8 to 15 days doesnt leave much of a window to get things done.
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Exactly – unless you’ve got the legal resources of a local authority legal department. And, there’s the rub!
Still, I’d love to see details of how the one parent who did use EPO route to return a child managed …
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ss had placed child with father then pulled out father was on drugs mother told ss who visited but cos he wouldnt open door didnt do anything else mother saw children in fathers care and saw he was on drugs house mess etc mother asked police to do safe and well check after she raised concerns with father and he stopped her seeing kids police did check but no ppo however mother obtained report from police , as mother ob had pr and no restrictions she contacted childs school already knowing that aft she had epo hearing , headmaster had concerns so supported mother taking children and legally couldnt stop her mother obtained epo ss came checked mothers home etc no concerns they didnt get involved then mother attended court for a yr for residency father repeatedly failed to turn up judge awarded residency to mother
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on a related topic,
does anyone know what % of PR parents retain when their children are placed with a carer under a SGO ?
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Ian Josephs I suggested the exact same thing to natasha x
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