National guidance for child protection in Scotland - Scottish ...

depend on the circumstances and legislation relevant to that child or young
person.
Who are Parents and Carers?
A “parent” is defined as someone who is the genetic or adoptive mother or father
of the child. A “mother” has full parental rights and responsibilities. A “father” has
parental rights and responsibilities if he is or was married to the mother at the
time of the child's conception or subsequently, or if the child's birth has been
registered after 4 May 2006 and he has been registered as the father of the child
on the child's birth certificate. A father may also acquire parental responsibilities
or rights under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 by entering into a formal
agreement with the mother or by making an application to the courts.
Parental rights are necessary to allow a parent to fulfil their responsibilities, which
include looking after their child’s health, development and welfare, providing
guidance to their child, maintaining regular contact with their child if they do not
live with them and acting as their child’s legal representative. In order to fulfil
these responsibilities, parental rights include the right to have their child live with
them and to decide how their child is brought up.
A “carer” is someone other than a parent who has rights/responsibilities for
looking after a child or young person. “Relevant persons” have extensive rights
within the Children's Hearing system, including the right to attend Children's
Hearings, receive all relevant documentation and challenge decisions taken
within those proceedings. A carer may be a 'relevant person' within the Children's
Hearing system.
A 'kinship carer' can be a person who is related to the child or a person who is
known to the child and with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship
('related' means related to the child either by blood, marriage or civil partnership).
Regulation 10 of the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 provides
that a local authority may make a decision to approve a kinship carer as a
suitable carer for a child who is looked after by that authority under the terms of
section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Before making such a decision
the authority must, so far as reasonably practicable, obtain and record in writing
the information specified in Schedule 3 to the Regulations and, taking into
account that information, carry out an assessment of that person's suitability to
care for the child. Local authorities' duties are designed to ensure that they do
not make or sustain placements that are not safe or in the child's best interests,
and that placements are subject to regular review.
Preventative and protective work is necessary to support carers and, in
particular, kinship carers who may face added challenges. These include the
potential risks posed by parents; where the kinship carer is a grandparent, this
may mean making decisions as to how best to protect their grandchild or
grandchildren from their own child. Kinship carers may have ambivalent feelings
about the circumstances that have resulted in them having to care for a child or
young person. Services should be sensitive to these issues and offer support
wherever possible.
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