“A young woman, now aged 16, lives with her grandparents. Since last year she has been seeing a family support worker, arranged following a doctor’s referral as she was anxious and depressed. She has now refused to return home and wishes to be supported in lodgings or foster care. You visit her grandparents to discuss the situation.”

“The grandparents tell you that they have looked after her for 6 years now, since her parents died, and that no-one is going to take her away from them. They also warn you to take what she has been telling you with a pinch of salt as she imagines things. They think that she would be happiest there with them, her family, but threaten to sue you if she is not returned to them”

Now you need to decide what to do in this situation, select from the options below:

  1. Do you point out that at 16 the young person may request her own accommodation and that an arrangement made with her consent is lawful?
  2. Do you inform the grandparents of your agency’s complaints procedure and their right to make representation?
  3. Do you argue that the authority and the grandparents should work together to ensure that the young person’s needs are most appropriately met, given the vulnerability of her mental health?
  4. Do you consult your employer’s procedural manual for guidance on how parental objections to accommodation requests by young people should be responded to?

A. This answer shows that you have a tendency toward technical orientation

B. This answer shows that you have a tendency toward rights orientation

C. This answer shows that you have a tendency toward needs orientation

D. This answer shows that you have a tendency toward procedural orientation

Before you move on to the next situation, test your knowledge of key aspects of law that are relevant to this situation by answering the question below.

It is lawful for the local authority to accommodate the young person on her own request.

The Correct answer is True

s.20(11) Children Act 1989 – the objection of someone with parental responsibility cannot prevent an accommodation arrangement for a child who has reached the age of sixteen.