Understanding the Children Act 1989

What the Children Act 1989 is 

The Children Act 1989 is a law that protects children and supports their wellbeing. It details how parents, carers, social workers and the courts should look out for the best interests of children. 

The main law started in 1989 but was updated in 2004. 

Understanding the Children Act 1989 for kinship care 

The Children Act 1989 is a long and complicated law. It’s broken down into parts, with lots of sections. When you first become a kinship carer, or are going through a legal process, it’s sometimes hard to understand official language used by children’s services or solicitors.  

Parental responsibility – part 1 

Part 1 of the Children Act 1989 is sections 1-7. It explains parental responsibility, including what it is and what decisions someone with parental responsibility makes. We have a separate guide on how to get parental responsibility for the child you’re caring for. 

Orders for children in family proceedings – part 2 

Part 2 of the Children Act 1989 is sections 8-16. It covers private law orders such as child arrangements orders and special guardianship orders.  

Section 8 orders are: 

• child arrangements order 
• prohibited steps order – a decision that the court makes to stop a birth parent from doing something 
• specific issue order – a decision that the court makes on one issue about the child 

Section 14 deals with special guardianship orders. 

Section 17 – help for a child in need 

Section 17 explains that it’s the local authority’s role to safeguard and look after the welfare of children in their area. When the local authority has to get involved with a child and carry out a needs assessment, this is a child in need. 

They must give support if a child: 

• doesn’t have the opportunity to live to a reasonable standard of health or development 
• will have their health or development affected without support 
• is disabled 

Support includes: 

• financial help – for example, help with school costs 
• housing help – for example, preventing homelessness or giving out home equipment 
• specialist help – for example, therapy services 
• school help – for example, help with fees or support for behaviour issues 

You can ask your local authority for a child in need assessment. The local authority has to include you in their assessment, as well as feed back to you. 

Section 20 – accommodation for children 

Section 20 explains the process of a child becoming ‘looked after by their local authority’. 

Section 24 – support for young people aged 16 and over 

Section 24 explains that when the child turns 16, depending on their care situation, the local authority must still support them. 

If the child or young person: 

• is over 16, but under 21 
• is or was under a special guardianship order 
• was looked after by the local authority before going under a special guardianship order 

Or if the child or young person: 

• is under 21 
• was looked after by the local authority after they turned 16 

The local authority may support them with: 

• advice and help 
• financial support or grants for education 

Section 31 – care orders and supervision orders 

Section 31 explains that the court can make the decision to remove a child from their parents’ care. This could be when:  

A child is suffering or could suffer significant harm 

The court can use a: 

• care order – this gives the local authority parental responsibility 
• supervision order – the child stays at home with birth parents or in kinship care, but the local authority monitors the child 

These orders don’t apply to 16- and 17-year-olds. 

When the court makes a care order, they must think about where the child will go, which could be: 

• living with family or friends 
• adoption 
• long-term care 

Section 37 – local authority investigations 

Section 37 explains that the local authority can investigate a child’s welfare. Sometimes the court can tell the local authority to do this. The local authority must decide whether to: 

• apply for a care order or supervision order 
• give support to the child and family 
• take any other action for the child 

If the court tells the local authority to do an investigation, the local authority has 8 weeks to report back. 

If the local authority decides that they do not need to issue a care order or supervision order, they must: 

• tell the court their reasons why 
• tell the court what actions they’ve taken to support the family 
• decide whether to review the case later 

Section 40 – interim care order or supervision order and appeals 

Section 40 explains situations where a child is under an interim care order or interim supervision order.  

The court can get new applications for care or supervision orders when a child is under an interim order. If this happens, the court can dismiss the new application but still choose a care or supervision order. These will have special instructions that the court decides. 

There is a period for appeals. If someone appeals the court’s decision, the temporary order might get extended until the appeal has happened. 

Section 47 – local authority’s duty to investigate 

Section 47 explains that if a local authority: 

• is told that a child in their area is  
  • under an emergency protection order 
  • in police protection 
• thinks that a child is suffering or could suffer significant harm 

they can investigate and take action to protect the child. This means visiting the child to check on them and their home situation. 

If the local authority cannot reach the child, for example 

• the family refuse access  
• the family tell them they do not know where the child is 

then they can apply for:  

• an emergency protection order 
• a child assessment order 
• a care order 
• a supervision order