1. Parental responsibility means...?

    1. Parental rights
    2. Parenthood
    3. Duties and responsibilities in respect of a child and her/his property
    4. Control over all decisions relating to a child's health, education and welfare
    5. Back to start
  2. The Children Act 2004 created the role of...?

    1. A children's commissioner for England
    2. A director general for children in England
    3. An attorney general for children in England
    4. A children's governor for England
    5. Back to Question 1
  3. The Children Act 1989 defines a child in need as...?

    1. A child beyond parental control
    2. A child with English as a second language
    3. A child excluded from school
    4. A child whose health and development is or is likely to be impaired without provision of services
    5. Back to Question 2
  4. For children in need the local authority must provide services...?

    1. Only as far as possible within financial constraints
    2. Only as a last resort in line with the 'no order' principle
    3. To promote their upbringing by their family so far as this is consistent with their welfare
    4. Only with parents' agreement
    5. Back to Question 3
  5. A child has special educational needs if...?

    1. They fail school assessment tests
    2. The teachers conclude that they do
    3. They are disabled under the definition in s.17 of the Children Act 1989
    4. They have any kind of learning difficulty significantly greater than that experienced by most similarly aged children
    5. Back to Question 4
  6. The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 enhances the local authority's responsibility towards...?

    1. All young people over the age of 18 with whom they have had prior contact
    2. Disabled young people who have received respite care
    3. Young people who have been looked after by the local authority for longer than 13 weeks since the age of 14
    4. Homeless young people over the age of 16
    5. Back to Question 5
  7. The age at which children can be prosecuted in England and Wales is...?

    1. 8
    2. 7
    3. 10
    4. 14
    5. Back to Question 6
  8. Police reprimands and warnings under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 are used...?

    1. When young people are outdoors after nine p.m.
    2. When young people are truanting from school
    3. When young people might otherwise be subject to anti-social behaviour orders
    4. When young people admit an offence and could be deterred from committing others
    5. Back to Question 7
  9. The Adoption and Children Act 2002 did not:

    1. Allow same gender couples to adopt
    2. Allow step parents to acquire parental responsibility
    3. Enable independent reviewing officers to refer cases to CAFCASS
    4. Enable unmarried birth fathers to acquire parental responsibility on the same terms as married fathers
    5. Back to Question 8
  10. In care proceedings, to establish significant harm the local authority must:

    1. Demonstrate it was happening when the child was first referred to their service
    2. Demonstrate it was happening when a child protection plan was agreed
    3. Demonstrate it is happening when the court finally hears the evidence
    4. Any of these
    5. Back to Question 9
  11. The welfare checklist does not apply when the court is considering whether to make:

    1. A section 8 order
    2. A care order
    3. A secure accommodation order
    4. A parental responsibility order
    5. Back to Question 10
  12. In youth justice the welfare of the child is:

    1. Not a consideration
    2. The paramount consideration throughout
    3. One consideration
    4. Only considered if detention is a possible sentence
    5. Back to Question 11

Answers

  1. The correct answer is C: Duties and responsibilities in respect of a child and her/his property

    This is defined in section 3(1) of the Children Act 1989. It increasingly gives way to a young person’s right to make their own decisions when they acquire sufficient understanding (Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Health Authority [1986] AC 112. Duties include the duty to maintain, to support, to ensure that the child is educated, to choose a name and to provide discipline. There are also rights and responsibilities relating to physical possession, contact, choice of religion, consent to medical treatment, consent to the young person’s marriage, consent to adoption and administration of the child’s property. Where these may be inferred as rights as well as responsibilities, they are not absolute. They may be limited by the age and understanding of the young person and the circumstances of the case.

  2. The correct answer is A: A children's commissioner for England

    The Children Act 2004 creates the position of Children’s Commissioner and outlines the role and responsibilities. The Commissioner cannot normally look into individual cases. Rather s/he has the power to look at how organisations listen to young people, to provide a route for complaints, to highlight failures and to make recommendations.

  3. The correct answer is D: A child whose health and development is or is likely to be impaired without provision of services

    Section 17(10), Children Act 1989 defines a child as ‘in need’ if their health or development is not achieving a reasonable standard, or is being impaired or is likely to be impaired without provision of services, or they are disabled. Development encompasses physical or mental health and physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development (s.17(11). The duties and powers in respect of such children and their families may be found in sections 17 and 18 of the Act and in schedule 2.

  4. The correct answer is C: To promote their upbringing by their family so far as this is consistent with their welfare

    This duty may be found in section 17(1) Children Act 1989. The services that may be provided can be found in sections 17 and 18 and in schedule 2. Section 20, the provision of accommodation, may also become relevant if section 17 provision is insufficient to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. How section 17 powers and duties should be implemented is elaborated further in policy guidance, especially volumes 2 (family support, day care and educational provision), 3 (family placements) and 4 (residential care) of the Department of Health Regulations and Guidance (1991). Section 116, Adoption and Children Act 2002 broadens the scope of s.17 to include the power to provide accommodation. In undertaking s.17 duties social workers must now also ascertain the wishes and feelings of children and young people (Children Sct 2004).

  5. The correct answer is D: They have any kind of learning difficulty significantly greater than that experienced by most similarly aged children

    This is a specific definition contained in the Education Act 1996. The local education authority must identify and assess all children with special educational needs, make a statement of these needs and arrange provision to meet them. Parents should be fully involved in this process. Under the Disabled Persons Services, Consultation and representation) Act 1986, sections 5 and 6, social workers may be required by local education authorities to become involved with children with special education needs, particularly as they approach the transition to adulthood or if they require to be accommodated under section 22 of the Children Act 1989.

  6. The correct answer is C: Young people who have been looked after by the local authority for longer than 13 weeks since the age of 14

    This is one example where regulations, or statutory instruments, have been made that elaborate the basic powers and duties identified in statute. The group for whom local authorities must provide enhanced support under the 2000 Act is defined quite specifically and narrowly by regulations and excludes disabled children who have received respite care. The enhanced duties include a needs assessment, the appointment of personal advisers, and the preparation of a pathway plan. Maintenance, accommodation and support must be provided until the young person is 21. This can be extended to 24 when the young person is in education, training or employment.

  7. The correct answer is C: 10

    Section 34, Crime and Disorder Act 1998 abolished doli incapax (in a UK legal context: "incapable of crime"). Accordingly, children aged 10 are held to be just as responsible and culpable for their offending as young people aged 16. There are wide variations on the age of criminal responsibility for young people amongst European states, from seven to eighteen. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the United Kingdom government is a signatory, recommends raising the age of criminal responsibility.

  8. The correct answer is D: When young people admit an offence and could be deterred from committing others

    The relevant provision may be found in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, sections 65 and 66.

  9. The correct answer is D: Enable unmarried birth fathers to acquire parental responsibility on the same terms as married fathers

    A distinction continues to be made between married and unmarried birth fathers. An unmarried birth father with parental responsibility can still have that responsibility removed by a court in circumstances other than adoption, which remains the only way in which a married birth father can lose parental responsibility. It is arguable therefore that the law continues to elevate marriage above other family forms. The Adoption and Children Act 2002 did change the legal rules on adoption to enable same gender couples to adopt, to allow step parents to acquire parental responsibility by court order or by agreement with birth parents, and did create a route back to court through CAFCASS so that a local authority may be challenged for failing to implement a care plan agreed as part of care proceedings.

  10. The correct answer is B: Demonstrate it was happening when a child protection plan was agreed

    The leading case on this point is Re M (A Minor) (Care Order: Threshold Conditions) [1994] 2 FLR 577, decided by the House of Lords. However, evidence gathering continues and new evidence may be presented to show what the situation was when the protection plan was first initiated.

  11. The correct answer is C: A secure accommodation order

    The welfare checklist does not apply to Part Three of the Children Act 1989, which in section 25 contains the provision that courts may make secure accommodation orders. This is because the child’s welfare may be one factor but this may be outweighed by other factors that the local authority needs to take into account, including the rights of others (Re M (Secure Accommodation Order) [1995] 1 FLR 418).

  12. The correct answer is C: One consideration

    Section 44, Children and Young Persons Act 1933 contains the welfare principle. This, however, has been diluted by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. Their emphasis is on intervention, prevention and restorative justice, centred on responsibility, rehabilitation and reparation. Increasingly there are parallel systems – one for children in need and their families; one for young offenders.