News In Focus
22 April 2009
Legal scheme coming for children in care
New laws to improve stability and support for young people in care have been announced by the Scottish Government.
The measures will lead to better long-term planning by councils for children in care to ensure both their immediate and future needs are fully considered.
Planned to come into force in September, the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 Regulations and Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 follow extensive consultation with interest groups across Scotland. The regulations will:
- provide children in care with more certainty and stability about their long-term future with a new family, through the introduction of permanence orders, a new form of order which will give local councils more flexibility in meeting a young person's needs;
- ensure the network of wider family and friends is considered first for care placements, if in the child's best interests;
- improve the planning and reviewing of care arrangements to help reduce the number of different homes that children are placed in, and ensure appropriate family support if the young person is to return to their parents.
The new legislation will compel councils to consider the child's long-term needs from the earliest planning stage and make ongoing reviews to ensure stability. It will also lead to more flexible arrangements for children where adoption is in their best interest, and widen the range of potential adopters and foster carers to include same-sex couples.
Children's Minister Adam Ingram said: “In an ideal world there would be no need to remove any child from their birth parents, but sadly that is not the reality and I am determined to ensure young people in care get the best support possible as they grow up.
“The decision to take a child into care is always made on the best interests of the young person and the numbers are increasing, suggesting those in need are being identified and agencies are intervening to get them support and security.”