Guardianship Orders Research Articles

Exploring special guardianship: experiences of school belonging from the perspectives of the young people, guardians, and designated teachers

ABSTRACT This research explores school belonging (SB) experiences of young people in the UK who live under the legal status of a special guardianship order (SGO). A high proportion of these young people have had adverse childhood experiences, some are care experienced. This research uses case study to triangulate the perspectives of the young people, their guardians, and designated teachers (DTs) to develop understanding of school belonging, and considers the implications for educational psychologists (EPs), school policy, and staff practice. Seven case studies were undertaken, each including a young person, their guardian/s and their school DT, resulting in 21 semi-structured interviews. A hierarchical structured approach was used in all adult interviews, and personal construct psychology techniques were used in young people’s interviews. Individual case data were analysed using thematic analysis. Superordinate themes generated included identity, fitting in, diagnosis, agency, individuality and association, school’s community connection, systems as obstacles, relationship and connection to others, protection and autonomy, school processes, support and features, and organisational change. The findings emphasise the broad influences on the school belonging of this group, including individual characteristics, peer and staff relationships, school processes, and the communication and interaction between school, home, and the wider community.

A heavy weight, yet empowering: Grandparent Special Guardians’ lived experiences of the role and family dynamics - An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

Almost half of Special Guardians are grandparents, typically single grandmothers, who are required to facilitate and maintain relationships between parents and children if deemed in the child’s best interests. Current literature suggests that Special Guardians navigate complex family situations, support children with developmental trauma histories and receive scant support. Only limited research has examined the lived experiences of Special Guardians, especially using qualitative methods. Further exploration into such experiences may allow for better understanding and more specialised support for Special Guardians and the children they care for. The current research involved semi-structured interviews with six grandparent Special Guardians. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) five themes were constructed that highlighted some of the social, emotional, relational and financial difficulties they experienced from taking on the role. Compared to foster or adoptive carers, Special Guardians felt undervalued and abandoned by services. After a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) has been awarded, to encourage positive relationships Special Guardians may benefit from trauma training, peer and therapeutic support, as well as more whole family support.

The importance of supporting evolving capacity: The need to support young people with cognitive impairment in out-of-home-care

BackgroundYoung people living in out-of-home care (OOHC) are required to make significant decisions when transitioning from care. Without measures to support participation in the planning process, young people, particularly those with cognitive impairment, are at risk of having decisions made for them ‘in their best interests’ by others and, without capacity to identify will and preference, are at increased risk of being placed under a guardianship order for decision-making. Little is known about (1) how young people with cognitive impairment are supported to develop autonomy in decision-making over time, and (2) what systems and services support the evolving capacity of young people with cognitive impairment in OOHC to participate in transition planning. We undertook a qualitative study to address this knowledge gap and contribute to practice. MethodsWe interviewed 17 Young people with cognitive impairment (15–30 years old), 13 parents of young people with cognitive impairment, and 22 other stakeholders supporting young people with cognitive impairment, and analysed results thematically using a human rights framework and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. ResultsWe found support for evolving capacity is an active process provided by those close to the young person – family, paid support workers and friends. These supports may not be available to all young people in OOHC. We also found broader systems appear to be barriers to rather than enablers of evolving capacity. ConclusionThis study highlights the opportunity to provide greater support for evolving capacity around young people in OOHC across different systems to support their transition from OOHC and transition to adulthood.

Provision planning at the end of life from a legal point of view

In the event of the loss of the ability to give consent and thus the possibility of legally validating one's own will, the law regularly provides for a mandatory third-party representation for the patient. However, their design can be influenced preventively, for which purpose those affected are given three options. These options are: patient's decree, health Power of Attorney, guardianship order. The patient's decree makes content related specifications as to which medical interventions are accepted or not accepted in which illnesses. Health Power of Attorney authorizes another person to make the necessary treatment decisions on behalf of the patient and guardianship order relates solely to the case of a possible guardianship appointment by the guardianship court. The written form of the advance directives forms an objective basis for mutual control of future decision-makers in the event of questions of interpretation. Absolute certainty that the current will of the patient corresponds to the future and that it is reliably determined and implemented in the decision-making situation is not possible. Nevertheless, the task is to come as close as possible to this ideal image in clinical reality.

Keeping children within the family: Changing patterns in the use of special guardianship orders

Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) provide family courts with an alternative to adoption, typically through permanent placement within the extended family. Using court administrative data, this study charts the use of SGOs as a way of promoting stability and recovery for these vulnerable children who cannot remain safely with their parents.
 The study cohort is based on administrative population data produced routinely by Cafcass and accessed via the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank at Swansea University. The unit of analysis is children subject to s.31 care and supervision proceedings in England between 2007/08 and 2021/22, providing a retrospective observational window of fifteen years. Descriptive statistics were used to compare SGOs to other permanency final legal orders (placement, child arrangements, supervision and no order), and survival modelling was employed to look at stability over time and return to court. Finally, regional and over time variations in the data were examined.
 The percentage of children placed on a SGO as a proportion of all children subject to s.31 proceedings rose from 12% to 18% between 2011/12 and 2021/22. Over the same period the percentage of children with a placement order that frees the way for adoption fell from 24% to 14%. This shift in pattern was more pronounced than for any other legal order we examined for children unable to remain with birth parents. The highest usage per region was in the North East and London and the lowest was in the Midlands. We estimate that 9% of children on SGOs would return to court within 10 years. Older children (5-17 years old) were more likely to return to court after SGOs than younger children.
 The study showed that SGOs have become a main route out of public care, outstripping the use of placement orders. These findings have major implications for policy and practice. They demonstrate that special guardianship provides a stable and sustainable permanency option for children unable to remain with their birth parents.

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy for children living with adoptive parents or special guardians: a longitudinal assessment of the impact on child and caregiver wellbeing outcomes

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) is a form of psychotherapy for families where children and young people have experienced early trauma or attachment disruption. This study used longitudinal survey data to understand the format of DDP as it is provided in England for children who are adopted or subject of a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), and to analyse the potential effects of DDP on standardised outcomes of child and caregiver wellbeing. Participants were 150 families who received DDP through funding from the Department for Education’s Adoption Support Fund in England between 2018 and 2021. Adoptive parents and special guardians (caregivers) answered surveys at three timepoints; before therapy was provided (baseline), when therapy had ended (wave 2), and 6 months later (wave 3). Linear mixed modelling demonstrated significant improvements in child/young person difficulties in multiple subscales of the SDQ, including emotional difficulties and conduct problems, between baseline and wave 2. In the same time frame, similar improvements in caregiver wellbeing were also observed, as measured by the SWEMBS. These findings suggest an association between the provision of DDP and an improvement in child/young person and caregiver wellbeing on standardised measures, with these improvements maintained 6 months later. Implications and recommendations for future research to substantiate the findings are discussed.

Ahkamu Wilayati al-Mar'ah wa Abna'iha

The current study dealt with the issue of the women’s guardianship over their underage children, in which it was found that the woman (the mother) has the legitimate and legal right of guardianship on her non-adult children. The study also dealt with the variance in the arrangement and order of guardianship. For instance, in Islamic jurisprudence, the mother’s rank in guardianship order came after the father and grandfather,but before the guardian. Nevertheless, in the Algerian legislation, the mother was classified directly after the father. This research also came to a conclusion that the guardianship should be transferred to the mother if the father dies. Otherwise, in the case of the father’s absence or any other impediment, the mother takes in charge only the urgent matters of her children.

Processes and determining factors when family court judgments are made in England about infants entering care at birth

ABSTRACT This paper reports on the England part of a research project exploring judicial decision making in eight jurisdictions with respect to care applications in respect of new-born infants. Descriptive data are provided on a total cohort of 278 care applications made to three English family court care centres in 2016. Attention is paid to final orders made and findings are reported on differences between the three care centres with respect to the proportions of orders made (mainly placement orders; but also care orders and Special Guardianship Orders). A particular focus of the paper is on the ‘transparency’ of court processes as evidenced by the availability of transcripts of judgements. To add to the small proportion of cases (11%) where a transcript was available, 30 English judgements on new-borns reported to the BAILII data base in 2016 were also analysed. Differences were found between proportions of orders made when a judgement transcript was or was not available. It is argued that these results add to the call for greater transparency in the family courts.

Reflections on facilitating a Tree of Life group in an adoption and fostering service via an online video platform: Opportunities and challenges

In this paper, the authors reflect on the process of modifying and delivering an 8-week Tree of Life group for five children under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) that was delivered via an online video platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Child abuse in children living with special guardians, a service evaluation of child protection medical examinations

ObjectiveTo determine difference in frequency of referral for child protection medical examination (CPME) in children subject to special guardianship order (SGO), subject to child protection plan (CPP) or neither.DesignService evaluation...

Special guardianship best practice guidance

Dr Louise Sims, kinship care and fostering development consultant at CoramBAAF, on new guidance for special guardianship orders

Supported Decision-making: The CRPD, Non-Discrimination, and Strategies for Recognizing Persons’ Choices About their Good

People with cognitive impairments often have difficulties formulating, understanding, or articulating decisions that others judge reasonable. The frequent response shifts decision-making authority to substitutes through advance directives of the person or guardianship orders from a court. The Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities defends supported decision-making as an alternative to such forms of supplanted decision-making. But supported decision-making raises both metaphysical questions—what is required for a decision to be the person’s own?—and epistemological questions: how do we know what persons judge to be their good, when they have difficulty conceptualizing and articulating? It raises practical questions, too, such as protection against risks of exploitation. This article uses a non-discrimination account of legal personhood drawn from the CRPD to explore how common features of decisions employed by people without cognitive disabilities are important in supported decision-making too. These features include prostheses, guardrails, relationships, and social contexts.

Exploring Carers’ Experiences and Perceptions of Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) over Time, from the Point of Applying to Now

Abstract In 2005, Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) came into law in England enabling carers to take full legal responsibility for all aspects of a child’s care, and to therefore provide a foundation to build a life-long permanent relationship. To date, little research has been carried out with a particular emphasis on SGOs, and the impact that they have. Q-Methodology explored carers’ experiences and perceptions of SGOs over time, from the point at which carers applied for the SGO until now. Ten participants each completed three Q-Sorts by way of sorting 47 statements. Seven factors emerged from the Factor Analysis but only five were found to be significant (Eigenvalues above 1.0). The factors reflected variance in Special Guardian’s perceptions of preparation for and understanding of their role, role reward, obligation to take on the role, levels of support, relationship with the birth family and their bond with the child(ren) in their care. This study provides an insight into the experiences of carers-granted SGOs. The similarities and differences in these viewpoints are discussed. The findings suggest that more time and preparation is needed to ensure that carers are better prepared to manage any difficulties that may arise.

The views of social workers and special guardians on planning contact for special guardianship children

Purpose Special guardianship order (SGO) assessments require social workers to make plans and recommendations for ongoing post-SGO contact between the child and the parents. However, there is very little policy to inform and guide practitioners on how these duties should be undertaken, and no studies that describe current practice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the recommending of contact in special guardianship cases is currently working, by holding focus groups with social workers and special guardians. This paper reports on the results of a study to examine what contact plans social workers are recommending, the thinking behind their decisions and the views of the special guardians who have to make those plans work. Design/methodology/approach The research involved a mixed methods approach comprising of an online questionnaire, two focus groups for social workers and two focus groups for special guardians. This paper describes the second part of the study and reports on the qualitative results from the four focus groups. The methodology was based on a pragmatist theoretical position, and used an interpretivist approach and elements of the analytical procedure of grounded theory in order to generate inductive research. The focus group method was chosen as the best way to gather rich information on the opinions and ideas of practitioners who are recommending contact and the carers who are managing it. Findings Participants provided a wide range of views on the issues, with practitioners describing the challenges of planning contact, and special guardians explaining the problems they faced with the parents. Involving special guardians in the study gave a chance to include the different perspectives of the people who have to make the contact recommendations work, and contrast their views on contact planning with those of the professionals. The study makes recommendations for practice, which recognise the difficulty of preparing an initial contact plan that will remain relevant for years ahead. Research limitations/implications The number of focus groups the author held was limited by the author’s own personal resources and the time the author had available, and one group only had three social workers on the day. The author’s involvement affected the responses, and the author’s questions dictated the issues that were commented on, but the answers were the opinions that the participants wanted to express. The nature of the approach means that no two sets of focus group results would ever be the same. And as the direction of the discussions was largely dictated by the participants, the coverage of all aspects of contact was probably inconsistent. Practical implications This research sheds light on a crucial area of social work permanency planning, that has suffered from a lack of previous research, in order to better inform future practice. The paper reports on what contact plans social workers are recommending, the thinking behind their decisions and the views of the special guardians who have to make those plans work. It concludes with recommendations for improving future special guardianship policy and practice. Social implications The research clearly raises a number of specific difficulties faced by special guardians and problems with current policy and practice. These include the special guardians’ lack of understanding about contact, the difficulty for social workers of long-term planning, the challenge posed by uncooperative parents who behave badly, the view of carers for the need for a greater emphasis on the quality and reliability of contact, and the challenge to careful contact planning posed by the adversarial court process. Originality/value Special guardianship has had a major impact on permanency planning since its introduction 12 years ago. However, apart from one DfE study in 2014, very little research has been produced to inform policy and practice. There have been no studies specifically on contact in special guardianship cases, despite contact being one of the two major factors in determining the success of SGO placements. This study has provided the first in-depth evaluation of social worker contact planning in special guardianship, and the first investigation of special guardians’ views on contact.

Current practice for social workers on planning contact for special guardianship children

PurposeAn integral feature of Special Guardianship Orders (SGO) is that the children should have some contact with their parents after the order is granted. Local authority social workers have a duty to plan and recommend levels and types of contact. But there is no policy guidance provided on how to undertake these duties, and little is known about the process that practitioners undertake. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the recommending of contact in special guardianship cases, and to provide data on what contact social workers are recommending the factors they take into consideration and the reasons for their decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe research involved a mixed-methods approach comprising of a questionnaire and focus groups. This part of the study comprised of an online questionnaire that was completed by 102 local authority social workers. Responses were downloaded into SPSS Statistics v22 for data analysis and a content analysis was conducted.FindingsQuantitative results from the questionnaire are reported in this paper. Respondents provided comprehensive details on what they include in their recommendations, including levels of contact frequency and specific directions. Practitioners rated the factors they considered in reaching their decisions, and gave their general views on special guardianship contact. Results indicated that practitioners are recommending less contact for fathers than for mothers, and may feel less positively about paternal contact. Bivariate analysis suggests that some older and more experienced social workers are recommending lower levels of contact.Research limitations/implicationsThe statistical significance of the results was limited by the relatively small sample size. It was therefore decided to limit bivariate analyses to consideration of just three independent variables: the social worker’s age and number of years in practice, and the age of the child at the time of their SGO, against dependent variables concerning the levels of contact that had been recommended for mothers and fathers and how positive these were considered to be. Because of the limited sample size, most of the results were above this level, and so were not statistically significant.Practical implicationsSpecial guardianship has been in place for 12 years now, but apart from Jim Wade’s 2014 study there has been no major research to guide and inform practice. Such major changes in child welfare require substantiating research, and this study is an attempt to begin filling that gap. The questionnaire part of this study has for the first time provided data on the views, motivations and practice of social workers across the country making recommendations on special guardianship contact.Social implicationsThe study provides a picture of the type of contact being recommended for birth parents. This information will be useful for practitioners, who might otherwise not know what their colleagues in other local authorities are recommending, and it is hoped that this will encourage further debate on the subject.Originality/valueSpecial guardianship has so far been poorly served by research. To the author’s knowledge, apart from Wade’s study there is very little research on the subject, and no significant research at all on special guardianship contact. This questionnaire, alongside the four focus groups that formed the second part of the study, provides the first picture of current practice across the country.

Support for special guardians

Kamena Dorling, head of policy and public affairs at Coram Children's Legal Centre, looks at calls for changes to special guardianship orders to ensure that carers are adequately prepared and supported

A Call for Reform of Special Guardianship Legislation in New Zealand

This paper contends that special guardianship legislation in New Zealand is in need of reform. Special guardianship orders (SGOs) provide permanency akin to adoption, though unlike adoption, SGOs preserve the connection between a child and their birth family. However, the law surrounding SGOs is currently incoherent and restrictive. Three reasons are identified. First, the current scheme enacts a dual pathway; an applicant who has existing guardianship orders under the Care of Children Act 2004 (COCA) must meet a higher threshold test compared to an applicant without such orders. As a result, SGOs are only available where the stability of a placement is being threatened by another guardian's interference. Second, an applicant must navigate a complex route through the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 (OTA) when applying under the lower threshold route. Third, the empowering legislation is positioned under the OTA which imports a restrictive contextual requirement of child abuse and neglect, barring access of carers to SGOs even with the consent of birth parents. This paper proposes three options for reform. The first streamlines the legislation under the lower threshold route. The second extinguishes the dual pathway. The third, and preferred option, encompasses the changes in option two whilst placing the enabling legislation in the COCA to remove the contextual requirements of the OTA.

Children in care: Where do children entering care at different ages end up? An analysis of local authority administrative data

Local authorities in England are required to routinely collect administrative data on children in care and cross-sectional analyses of national data are published by central government. This paper explores the usefulness of undertaking a longitudinal analysis of these data at local authority level to determine the care pathways for children entering care, differentiating by age at entry. The sample consisted of 2208 children who entered care in one English local authority over a six-year period, and who were followed up for at least 2 years. A logistic regression model was fitted to explore factors associated with children staying long term in care. Age at entry was a key determinant of where children ended up (return to a parent, special guardianship or residence order, adoption or staying long term in care). Only a minority of entrants (mainly those entering care in their middle years) remained in longer term care. For the vast majority of children, the ‘pre-care family context’ remains important as children will either return to parents or relatives or stay in touch with them. The findings are used to urge service planners to make full use of data on care entrants, especially age at entry, when deciding on the balance between the different placement options needed, and the social work service delivery models.

Indigenous traumatic brain injury research: responding to recruitment challenges in the hospital environment

BackgroundHospitals are common recruitment sites for injury and disability studies. However, the clinical and rehabilitation environment can create unique challenges for researchers to recruit participant populations. While there is growing injury and disability focused research involving Indigenous people to understand the types of services and supports required by this population to enhance their recovery experiences, there is limited knowledge of researchers’ experiences implementing recruitment processes in the tertiary hospital environment. This paper reflects on the specific challenges of recruiting Indigenous patients following a traumatic brain injury from two tertiary hospitals in Northern Australia.MethodsBetween July 2016 and April 2018, research staff recruited eligible patients from one hospital in Queensland and one hospital in the Northern Territory. Qualitative records summarising research staff contact with patients, family members and clinical hospital staff were documented. These qualitative records, in addition to field trip notes and researcher reflections were reviewed to summarise the main challenges in gaining access to patients who fit the eligibility criteria.ResultsDuring the recruitment process, there were five main challenges encountered: (1) Patients discharging against medical advice from hospital; (2) Discharge prior to formal emergence from Post Traumatic Amnesia as per the Westmead Post Trauma Amnesia Scale; (3) Patients under adult guardianship orders; (4) Narrow participant eligibility criteria and (5) Coordinating around patient commitments and treatment. Details of how the recruitment processes were modified throughout the recruitment phase of the study to ensure greater access to patients that met the criteria are described.ConclusionBased on our recruitment experiences, several recommendations are proposed for future TBI studies with Indigenous Australians. In addition to treatment, Indigenous TBI patients have wide range of needs that must be addressed while in hospital. Patient engagement and data collection processes should be flexible to respond to patient needs and the hospital environment. Employment of a centralized recruiter at each hospital site may help to minimise the challenges researchers need to navigate in the hospital environment. To improve recruitment processes in hospitals, it is essential for researchers examining other health or injury outcomes to describe their recruitment experiences.

Special Guardianship Orders

Kamena Dorling, head of policy and public affairs at Coram Children's Legal Centre, examines reports of a continuing lack of support from councils in relation to Special Guardianship Orders