Special Guardianship Orders
A Special Guardianship Order is a legal way of providing long-term stability for a child who cannot live with their birth parents and for whom adoption is not considered the right choice.
All children and young people need a long-term, stable, loving environment where they can thrive and reach their full potential. This page explains one way that this can be achieved for children whose birth parents are not able to look after them. This is called a Special Guardianship Order or SGO.
What is a Special Guardianship Order?
A Special Guardianship Order is a legal way of giving the person caring for the child clear, long-term responsibilities for the child’s upbringing. This is called parental responsibility (PR). The SGO does not sever the legal link between the child and their birth parents but it gives the Special Guardian(s) PR and priority over day to day decision making for the child.
In many cases the child will continue to have contact with their parents. Where appropriate the court may make a Contact Order at the same time as the SGO.
Once a SGO has been made, the Special Guardian will normally be the permanent carer for the child until that child reaches the age of 18.
When a Special Guardianship Order May Be Appropriate
A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) may be suitable for:
- Children in long term foster care
- Children cared for permanently by extended family members
- Older children who wish to maintain a legal connection with their birth family while benefiting from a stable care arrangement
- Children whose families have cultural or religious concerns about Adoption
Who Can Apply for a Special Guardianship Order?
Individuals aged 18 or over may apply for a SGO through a formal court application, if they are:
- A guardian of the child
- A Local Authority foster carer with whom the child has lived for at least
- one year immediately before the application
- A relative with whom the child has lived for at least one year
- A person named in a Residence Order or Child Arrangements Order, or
- someone with the consent of those who hold such an order
- A person with permission from:
- The Local Authority (if the child has been looked after under s31 for less than 12 months), or
- All individuals with parental responsibility, or
- The court
- A person with whom the child has lived for at least three of the past five years
- Anyone with consent from the Local Authority (where the child is looked after)
- Anyone with consent from all individuals who have parental responsibility
- Anyone granted permission (“leave”) by the court
Applicants not meeting the above criteria must seek the court’s permission before applying.
If the child is looked after by a Local Authority, written notice of the intention to apply for the SGO must be given to that LA. If the child is not looked after, notice must be given to the Local Authority for the area in which the applicant ordinarily lives.
What is the procedure for applying for a Special Guardianship Order?
Any person who wishes to apply for a Special Guardianship Order must give three months written notice to the local authority of their intention to apply for an order.
During this three month period the Local Authority must assess and prepare a report to the court that deals with, among other issues, the suitability of the applicants to be Special Guardians.
This report will also assess whether a SGO is the best way to meet the child’s needs. It has to look at the child’s needs and wishes; information about the prospective Special Guardian; the views of people involved in the child’s life and what support services may be needed. This report must be completed whether or not the child has been looked after by the Local Authority.
The court cannot make a Special Guardianship Order unless it has received the report covering the suitability of the applicants.
Once the assessment is completed it is for the person who wishes to become a Special Guardian to decide whether to make a formal application to the court. You may wish to take legal advice about this.
What support is available?
As part of the SGO process, the Local Authority must consider what support may be needed for the child and the Special Guardian. This is detailed in a Special Guardianship Order Support Plan. Support services are intended to help provide a stable home and positive relationships for the child.
Support could be in the form of:
- Financial Support
- Peer Support
- Training offers
- Contact advice
- Therapeutic Services for the child
- Assistance to promote relationship stability
- Mediation
The following people can ask the Local Authority for an assessment of Special Guardianship support services:
- A child subject to a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), or their parent
- A child for whom someone has formally notified the Local Authority of their intention to apply for an SGO, or their parent
- A child for whom the court has asked the Local Authority to prepare a report, or their parent
- A child who is the subject of, or named in, a Local Authority report for the court
- A Special Guardian or someone applying to become one
- A child of a Special Guardian or prospective Special Guardian
- A relative of a child listed in the first three categories, if contact was already in place before the assessment request
If a child has previously been looked after, those involved in the application for Special Guardianship, including the child, the child’s parent and the proposed Special Guardian, have a right to request a support assessment. There is no such right when a child has not been looked after, but Social Services will still consider whether support should be provided in the best interests of the child.
If support is provided, the details will be written down in a Special Guardianship Order Support Plan.
The SGO Support Team will offer an annual review of the SGO Support Plan. It is not compulsory to accept a review, and it is important to remember that a review of support can be requested at any time.
Who has parental responsibility for the child?
Unlike an Adoption Order, a SGO does not mean that parental responsibility stops for the birth parent, or anyone else who has parental responsibility. However a Special Guardianship Order gives the Special Guardian enhanced parental responsibility for the child. This means that the Special Guardian has day-to-day responsibility for caring for the child and for making decisions about how they are brought up and can overrule the wishes of the birth parent if necessary.
A birth parent will continue to be the child’s legal parent, but their parental responsibility will be very limited. Their consent will be required for the child to be:
- Known by a different surname
- Removed from the UK for more than three months
- Medical procedures to be completed on religious or cultural grounds
- In respect of the Special Guardian applying for an Adoption Order
What can a Special Guardian expect from the Local Authority?
The SGO Support Team will keep in contact with the Special Guardian, as a minimum this will happen at least once per year to check that everything is going smoothly. If support services are being provided, contact maybe more frequent.
If support services or financial assistance are provided, these will be reviewed at least once a year to ensure that they are continuing to meet the needs of the child.
The SGO Support Team may also be in contact from time to time to inform Special Guardians about changes affecting Special Guardianship support arrangements locally such as change of contact details so that all Special Guardians will know where to go for advice and support should the need arise.
If you have concerns or queries you are welcome to contact us at any time.
What does the Local Authority expect from a Special Guardian?
Special Guardians have few formal responsibilities to the Local Authority. However by law you must inform the Local Authority if at any time
- You change your address
- The child no longer has a home with you
- The child dies
- The child is in receipt of income support or job seeker’s allowance
- The child has begun full time employment
- If you intend on moving to another local authority
- There is any change in your financial circumstances or the financial
- needs and resources of the
- Special Guardians who receive financial support must also provide the Local Authority with updated information to complete an annual financial review. Failure to do so may result in payments being suspended until the information is received.
You can contact us at any time if you need to discuss issues after the SGO is granted.
How long does a Special Guardianship Order last?
A Special Guardianship Order is made with the child’s transition through to adulthood in mind and will normally last until the child reaches 18 years of age.
If a child is a Child Looked After the child will cease to be looked after on the granting of the Special Guardianship Order. Care and support services from Children’s Services may stay in place for a period of time as part of the SGO Support Plan, if this is deemed appropriate.
The court may agree to end (‘discharge’) or change (‘vary’) a Special Guardianship Order if certain people, such as the Special Guardian, someone with parental responsibility or the young person, make an application to the court.
Birth parents can only apply to the court for the order to be discharged if there are significant and sustained changes since the order was made.
Special Guardianship Orders and Leaving Care Support
The law says that a ‘category 5 young person’ is defined as a person between 16 and 21 and subject to a SGO (or was when he or she turned 18), and who was looked after immediately before the Order was made.
The SGO Support Team works closely with the Leaving Care Service, who may be able to offer support to some young people who have been subject to a Special Guardianship Order. An assessment would be done to find out what support the young person needs and who is the best service to provide this support.
The SGO Support Team will write to the carers and the young person prior to the child reaching the age of 18 advising them of their right to have an assessment. In many cases, the Special Guardians, family members, universal services and preventative services will be able to meet the needs of the young person without the need for assistance from Children’s Services.
The assessment will be completed by the SGO Support Team with the young person and their carers. There will be some young people whose Special Guardians are unable to meet their needs even with the support of universal and preventative services. For these young people the assessment may say that they need support from the Leaving Care service.
For further information
The Special Guardianship Order Support Team is available five days per week Mondays to Thursdays 8.30am-5pm and Fridays 8.30am-4.30pm.
The Team can provide advice, guidance and assistance and can signpost to the most appropriate services. They can be contacted on 01685 725000 by requesting to speak with the SGO Support Team.
You can also e mail the team on SGOSupport@merthyr.gov.uk