Research Report published on 'Supporting families after care proceedings: supervision orders and beyond'

The report says: "This report charts the experiences and views of parents whose children were made subject to a supervision order or a care order at home at the end of care proceedings. Both are ways of keeping families together when it is safe to do so. This is a core principle of the Children Act 1989. The supervision order is a short-term order, which is typically made for one year. It can be renewed annually for up to three years. It places a duty on the local authority to ‘advise, assist and befriend the supervised child’. Only the parent has parental responsibility. When a child is made subject to a care order at home, parents share responsibility with the local authority. The order lasts until the child reaches eighteen unless the local authority discharges it earlier or the parent successfully applies for its discharge. The child is a ‘looked after child’ within the terms of regulations and guidance and can be removed from parents without the need to return to court."

It concludes: "Until now the views and experiences of parents whose child has been returned to their care on a supervision order have not been known. Nor has there been a recent study of parents whose children remain at home or return on a care order. Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. We now know that parents see a positive future for supervision orders, provided that they undergo significant change. It is very clear that following the conclusions of proceedings, parents want active support and services tailored to their own needs and those of their children to increase prospects for their families to stay together safely now and in the future. This finding indicates that there is a consensus amongst parents and professionals that the supervision order should remain but must be strengthened (Harwin et al., 2019; Ryan, Roe, & Rehill, 2021). Paradoxically this study suggests that families are more likely to get this support and services delivered within a consistent framework under a care order at home than under a supervision order. As the PLWG guidance on care orders at home specifies that ‘the making of a care order should not be used as a vehicle to achieve the provision of support and services after the conclusion of proceedings’ much will depend on the success of reforms to the supervision order. Otherwise, the risk is that more children will end up being removed permanently. Parents who remain or are reunited with their children have high expectations and ambitions for post order support. In their view keeping families together by means of a court order and a related regime of services and support has an important role to play and deserves proper investment."

It can be read in full here.