Children and Families - Case Study Example

CASE STUDY: CHILDREN AND FAMILIES By Case Study: Children and Families Legal Issues Arising In Respect Of Adam’s Family There are several legal issues arising from the case study involving Adam’s family that present themselves as allegations and concerns. These are taking the form of concern for Adam as a child, concern for Alice as woman and allegations on Lincoln for parental responsiilities. Controversies also present themselves about the whole family situation, especially about whether the undertakings by each family member is legally acceptable or not and whether there are unmet legal obligations vested in each party and in this case on the family members; Alice, Adam and Lincoln. Although Adam is a minor and so may not be obliged to any. Therefore, for the case study presented the legal issues arising include allegations and concerns. The case is one of domestic violence involving family neglect, abandonment and child protection. Therefore the legal provisions applicable to the case range from those of human rights; children rights; family and children provisions and many others. The legal issues arising in this case include negligence to providing care to children; divorce issues in respect to Alice; adoption and protection issues in respect to Adam; child safety and protection issues; human rights violation issues; child custody and contact issues among many other issues. Possible Legal Alternatives Available to Local Authority The authority in Adam’s locality can intervene into this family situation to look into the concerns and allegations and see how to elevate each member from any possible trouble or give a fair treat to every party in the family. The Legal provisions to be given weight in this case include; the Children Act of 1989 (Article 37), which prohibits torture, cruel or inhumane treatment being inflicted on children; Article 3 of the Human Rights Act, which prohibits torture, cruel or inhumane treatment being inflicted on adults, in this case; Alice and Lincoln. The authority will also take into consideration Article 9, which holds that children should not be separated from their parents unless it is in the best interest of the child. Also to be considered is the UN Conventions on children’s rights article 8 and 9 and finally the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for the case of Alice. Taking all such legal requirements into consideration, there are several options available to the local authority to pursue in this case. The local authority has a duty to investigate in accordance with the Children Act s47 (1) before resolving to undertake any available options to ascertain whether as articulated by the Children’s Act 1989 Part II 17 (1) (a) and (b), the child and his family are deprived to warranty the protection of the child and provide for his needs to promote his upbringing and development. Therefore, subject to s 17 1(b), the local authority has an obligation to apply for emergency protection orders if it has reasonable cause to believe a child is suffering or likely to exposed to significant harm. Thus, based on s 20 (c) the local authority can apply for voluntary accommodation because Alice has been psychologically impaired to provide care to Adam. The court in this case can provide can provide interim care and supervision orders for Adam subject to s 38(3) to allow Alice to recover through care parenting interventions to enable her look after Adam. In relation to the case, Adam is likely to suffer significant harm arising from both direct and indirect factors. For instance, in accordance to the mental capacity act 2005, Alice can be described as mentally unstable because of her past suffering, which affects her emotionally and psychologically making her unable to do basic household chores like shopping and cooking for Adam. This can be well articulated by S 2(1) states, “For the purposes of this Act, a person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he/she is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain” (Children Act, 1989) and this does not matter whether is it arbitrary or permanent as articulated by section 2(2). Thus, based on the Children’s Act 1989 section 17 (1) it is the duty of the local authority to protect and promote the child’s welfare and as long as it is consistent with the provisions of the Children’s Act 1989 section 17 (1) to foster the upbringing of such a child by providing a range of services to their family to cater for the child’s needs. However for the local authority to provide such services it must be proven that the child is in need. S 17(10) states that a child in need is one who is unlikely to maintain or achieve, or an opportunity to maintain or achieve reasonable health standards or development, which can result in significant impairment or further impairment. However, the authority subject to s17 4(F24A) must consider the wishes and feelings of Adam concerning the provision of the services such as food and clothing because Alice is unable to cook and go shopping for Adam. Although in making such considerations, the authority should consider Gallick competent subject to s 22(4) & (5) in terms of the child’s age among other factors. However, given Adam is below the age of 16, to make consent to treatment, the national authority can provide directions to the local authority pursuant to s 22(7) to allow the provision of interventions to Adam. Moreover, subject to the Children’s Act 2004 s10(2)(c), the local authority has a mandate to provide for the education, training and recreational services as well as protecting him from harm and neglect as per s10 (2)(b). Therefore, based on the above provisions the local authority has a discretionary mandate to ensure Adam is protected at all costs. The authority, for instance, subject to S31 (a) of the Harm Criteria can apply to a court to have Adam placed in its custody and its supervision because the possibility of Adam suffering in Alice’s custody is high given the circumstances of the mother who suffers from psychological breakdown, which can be accompanied by self-harming and low moods. Moreover, based on the Humans Rights Act 1998, the local authority can rely on the act to apply for care orders; child assessment orders; emergency protection orders and child protection orders from the court to safeguard Adam from harm and other abuses that can result from the family wrangles. In this case, the authority can rely on article 8 of the act that states “There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others” (The Humans Rights Act, 1998). Moreover, based on the UN Conventions on children’s rights article 9 (1), the local authority can apply for separation orders of the child from Alice for his interest in order to provide assistance to foster the establishment of his identity and development as articulated by article 8(1) of the convention. In relation to Lincoln, he has parental responsibility to provide for Adam’s needs even though they are already divorced with Alice. The Children Act 1989 s 3 (1) defines “parental responsibility as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property” (Children Act, 1989). Section 3(2) includes the rights, duties and powers of the guardian and thus, it is evident Lincoln has an obligation to provide for Adam subject to s 2 (1), which mandates a persons who were married at birth of a child to provide parental responsibility to the child. Therefore, in conjunction with this, the local authority subject to S31 of the Harm Criteria can exercise discretion by the authority in several forms in intervening in the family in the following ways. It is evident that such family violence has far-reaching effects. They may take them for of physical abuse, like the case of Lincoln on Alice, psychological abuse – that is, humiliation, harassment like on Adam when Lincoln assaulted Alice in his presence, harassment of Alice by Lincoln, or social abuse. Such violence could result in much effects including; causing fear on Adam, psychological damage, child maltreatment (Adam) and interfering with victim’s feeling and quality of life. From the case study Lincoln has and Alice have parental responsibilities to provide for Adam’s needs. The local authority has a mandate to apply for voluntary accommodation and care orders to protect Adam from significant harm and abuse, which can damage his psychological well-being and hinder development. Moreover, this is necessary to facilitate the well-being of Adam because Alice’s family cannot be trusted to take care of Adam given that her mother had assaulted her when she was young resulting in her current situation of psychological breakdown. References Children Act 1989. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents [Accessed 17 May 2015]. Human Rights Act 1998. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents/enacted [Accessed 17 May 2015]. Children Act 2004. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/contents [Accessed 17 May 2015]. Mental Capacity Act 2005. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents [Accessed 17 May 2015]. The UN Conventions on Children’s Rights. Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx [Accessed 17 May 2015]. Read More