Child Assessment Orders
| Author | Safda Mahmood/Julie Doughty |
| Pages | 71-75 |
6.1 Effects of order
Child assessment orders were created by section 43 of the CA 1989. They enable the local authority to discover sufficient information about the child to plan appropriate action in the child’s interests. In this context, note the Department for Education publication, Court Orders and Pre-Proceedings for Local Authorities (DfE, April 2014). This guidance replaced the 2008 guidance, The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations: Volume 1: court orders. At paragraph 5, Chapter 4, of this revised guidance, it is suggested that the use of child assessment orders is most relevant in circumstances where the child is not thought to be at immediate risk, to the extent that removal from his parents’ care is required, but where parents have refused to co-operate with attempts to assess the child. This may be where the suspected harm to the child appears to be longer term and cumulative, rather than sudden and severe. Paragraph 8 of this guidance states that, if possible, before an application is made, the child should have been seen by someone who is competent to form a judgment about the child’s welfare and development. When considering an application for any order, the court will expect to be given details of the enquiries made including, in particular, details of the extent to which, if at all, the enquiries have been frustrated by the failure or refusal of the parents to co-operate. The order can stipulate the nature of the assessment sought, the venue and duration, the person(s) to whom the results are to be given, and the contact between the child and others during the subsistence of the order.
In practice, it has been found that child assessment orders are rarely made, probably because in a situation where parents do not co-operate when the local authority has concerns about a child’s welfare, an application for a care order may prove necessary.
6.2 Grounds for application
The court may, by section 43(1) of the CA 1989, make the order only if it is satisfied that:
72 Child Care and Protection: Law and Practice
• the applicant has reasonable cause to suspect that the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm;
• an assessment of the child’s state of health or development, or of the way in which he is being treated, is required to enable the applicant to determine whether or not the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm; and
• it is unlikely that such an assessment will be...
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