Allison Munroe (for the applicant) and Rebekah Wilson (for the second respondent child through his guardian) of the Garden Court Family Law Team appeared in an important reported case before Mr Justice MacDonald in the High Court.
The case considered the restraint of children and the importance of the continuity of professionals for children placed in care.
The case of N concerned an 11 year old boy who had been removed from his mothers care. His father was deceased and played no part in proceedings. The Local Authority sought a final care order and a permissive order for deprivation of liberty in an identified placement. The orders were granted. The case explored some disturbing facts around Ns experience in care. The case also highlighted the importance to N of having his ‘own social worker’
Mr Justice MacDonald noted in the judgment:
"Beyond reflecting the dedicated and professional approach of Ms Clark and Ms Richards, which confers great credit on each of them, the progress achieved with N in this case is also to my mind a timely and important reminder of why continuity of placement and continuity of professionals is so very, very valuable to vulnerable children in the care system, and why such continuity of care and continuity of professionals should be the rule and not the exception for those children."
The full judgment is available: LB Barking & Dagenham v A (Therapeutic Residential Placement) [2019] EWHC 2017 (Fam) (25 July 2019)
Allison and Rebekah are members of the Garden Court Family Law Team.
