Is your child in Out of Home Care and have things changed for you, What can I do to seek the return of my child?

If you child is in out of home care, either with a relative or foster carer and you have made significant changes in your life, then talk with our Solicitor’s Jessica and Neisha about whether you are able to seek the return of your child to your care. In order to seek restoration you need to make sure that you have addressed the issues that led to the Orders placing your child in care and that you have an arguable case.   You need to show that those issues don’t exist anymore and that you have sought help to make sure that they have been dealt with.  Jessica and Neisha can talk with you about your circumstances and what you would need to show for an application pursuant to section 90 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, seeking to rescind or vary a Care Order. If you are able to show the court that you have made a significant change to a relevant circumstances and have an arguable case, the Court may grant  leave to re-open your case and then you have an opportunity to argue for the return of your child.  

Even though we have the difficult circumstances with COVID-19, this doesn’t mean that you cant start to prepare your case and work towards bringing an application.  It is a good time to write down the things that you have done to change your past and what supports you have been involved in.  It’s a good time to gather any support letters from counselling’s, services and other significant people in your life that can attest to your change of life.  Its important that you write down about your contact visits and how they have been going. This will all help Neisha and Jessica assess whether you could bring an application.  As NLS Law is still working, we are able to have a Zoom (video) conference with you to get the process starting.  If you are eligible for legal aid we can apply on your behalf. If you are not able to get legal aid then we can talk with you about an affordable way to bring an application to the court seeking your child’s return to your care.  Neisha and Jessica have had many successful s90 Applications and can guide you through the process.  

Is your child in Out of Home Care  and you would like to review your contact.

Sometimes it is very daunting working with the Department of Communities and Justice or Non Government Services who have the care of your child about increasing contact or moving to unsupervised contact.   This is something NLS Law is able to help you with even if it is by writing a letter to try to sort any issues out, or by arranging a mediation conference or if you are unable to resolve the issue of contact you can bring an Application to the court for a contact order.

If you are able to show a significant change in a relevant circumstance since a Final Care Order was made which placed your child in out of home care or with a family member or other parent, you may be able to bring a s86 Contact Application to the court.  It is important that your application and affidavit demonstrates a clear plan forward for contact, the orders you would be seeking and the significant changes that have occurred.