Adoption and special guardianship are two options to provide secure family homes for children who have been made subject to care orders and cannot return to their parents. The legal processes for adoption are complex and designed to meet children’s welfare needs while respecting the rights of adults. However, adoption is controversial, especially when courts override birth parents’ objections. Children often require ongoing support because of their experiences in early life and potential issues of post-placement contact with birth families. Fixed boundaries between state intervention and private family life in adoption can no longer be assumed.
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Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on adoption as a means to terminate the legal relationship between a child and their birth parents. It considers the human rights aspects of adoption and different types of adoption and discusses adoption proceedings in England and Wales under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The chapter then explains the role of local authorities and adoption agencies under section 2 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, and placement for adoption, parental responsibility, and parental consent. It also highlights the welfare of children as considered by an adoption agency or a court when making a decision affecting the child. Finally, the chapter examines alternative orders: child arrangements order, parental responsibility, special guardianship order, and no order. This edition now includes reference to the Special Guardianship (Amendment) Regulations 2016.
Chapter
Julie Doughty
This chapter explains the law of adoption. When an adoption order is made by a court in England and Wales, the legal connection between a child and her birth family is completely and permanently ended and she is transferred in to a new family. Changes in society during the second half of the twentieth century created a new model of adoption, reflected in the legislative framework of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. However, there are ongoing complex questions about what the purpose of adoption should be. The idea that a court order can overcome biological and social relationships can seem artificial, imposing a fictitious narrative that might be difficult to sustain throughout a lifetime. The chapter also discusses special guardianship in the context of alternatives to adoption.
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This chapter examines the legal mechanisms by which children can be provided with long-term alternative secure family placements: the law on adoption and special guardianship. Topics discussed include: decision-making in relation to adoption; adoption agencies’ role in assessing suitable adoptions; rules relating to parental consent in adoption cases; placement for adoption; applications to adopt; post adoption contact; revocation of adoption; and special guardianship orders.
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N V Lowe, G Douglas, E Hitchings, and R Taylor
This chapter discusses the law on adoption. It covers the nature of adoption and background to the legislation; comparison of adoption with other legal relationships and orders; adoption and human rights; the changing pattern of adoption; responsibility for placing children for adoption; general principles when reaching decisions about adoption; adoption service under the Adoption and Children Act 2002; placement for adoption; the procedure for the making of adoption orders; contact considerations; registration of adoption and the adoption contact register; the effects of an adoption order; transfer of parentage. It then examines the international aspects of adoption and, in that context, the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. The chapter ends with a discussion of special guardianship.
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All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the place of adoption within the government’s child protection policy, the legal framework for adoption under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA 2002), the core principles underpinning the ACA 2002, the adoption process, and the ongoing reform agenda. It considers the application of the welfare principle to three contentious issues: (i) the importance of the birth family in an adoption dispute; (ii) trans-racial adoption; and (iii) step-parent adoptions and adoptions by a sole natural parent. The chapter also examines the issue of ‘open adoption’, focusing on adopted children’s right to information about their birth families and provision for post-adoption contact, and, finally, considers the main alternative to adoption: special guardianship.
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The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam and assignment questions. Each book includes key debates, typical questions, diagram answer plans, suggested answers, author commentary, and tips to gain extra marks. This chapter deals with the public law relating to children, contained in Parts III, IV, and V of the Children Act 1989, and the law relating to adoption, under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The questions contained in this chapter are a mixture of essay and problem questions that focus on: emergency protection for children, i.e. police protection, emergency protection orders, and local authority enquires; care, supervision, and education supervision orders; the difference between adoption and special guardianship orders and finally, the requirements and procedures for adoption.
Chapter
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam and assignment questions. Each book includes key debates, typical questions, diagram answer plans, suggested answers, author commentary, and tips to gain extra marks. This chapter deals with the public law relating to children, contained in Parts III, IV, and V of the Children Act 1989, and the law relating to adoption, under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The questions contained in this chapter are a mixture of essay and problem questions that focus on: emergency protection for children, i.e. police protection, emergency protection orders, and local authority enquires; care, supervision, and education supervision orders; the difference between adoption and special guardianship orders and finally, the requirements and procedures for adoption.
Chapter
Private children law concerns disputes between family members about children. It deals with whom a child shall live, with whom they should have contact, and what steps a parent can take in their exercise of parental responsibility. The Children Act 1989 and the Children and Families Act 2014 have orders that the court can make to help to resolve these disputes. This chapter examines the orders available in private children proceedings, who can apply for them, and the individual considerations of each order. These include child arrangements orders, residence orders, contact orders, specific issues orders, prohibited steps orders, and special guardianship orders.
Chapter
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the place of adoption within the government’s child protection policy, the legal framework for adoption under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA 2002), the core principles underpinning the ACA 2002, the adoption process, and the ongoing reform agenda. It considers the application of the welfare principle to three contentious issues: (i) the importance of the birth family in an adoption dispute; (ii) trans-racial adoption; and (iii) step-parent adoptions and adoptions by a sole natural parent. The chapter also examines the issue of ‘open adoption’, focusing on adopted children’s right to information about their birth families and provision for post-adoption contact, and, finally, considers the main alternative to adoption: special guardianship.
Book
Stephen Gilmore and Lisa Glennon
Gilmore and Glennon’s Hayes and Williams’ Family Law, now in its seventh edition, provides critical engagement with key areas of family law, with detailed, yet accessible, expositions of case law, key legislation, and debates affecting adults and children. The volume includes ‘talking points’ and focused ‘discussion questions’ throughout each chapter which highlight areas of debate or controversy. A section entitled ‘New to this Edition’ provides a detailed account of developments since the last edition.
