Agreements to Avoid? The Use and Experience of s20 Agreements in Child Protection

要避免的协议？

• 批准号: 2445871
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Kent
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2445871
• 关键词: Agreements; Avoid; Use; Experience; s20

Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 ("s20") allows social workers to accommodate children in foster or residential care with the agreement of those with parental responsibility for the child. This section was enacted with the intention to provide respite for families suffering with illness or disability. However, it has gradually morphed into a safeguarding tool. Social workers now frequently resort to making 's20 agreements' with parents to enable them to remove and accommodate children due to child protection concerns. Accommodation under s20 occurs without judicial scrutiny and often without any prior legal advice to the parentsand/or the social worker. This has, in recent years, become a cause for concern; particularly following a number of reported cases where s20 has been used to remove children unlawfully (by coercion, for example) or for lengthy periods with no legal security.

1989 年《儿童法》（“s20”）第 20 条允许社会工作者在对儿童负有父母责任的人同意的情况下，将儿童安置在寄养或寄宿护理机构中。制定本节的目的是为患有疾病或残疾的家庭提供喘息的机会。然而，它已逐渐演变为一种保护工具。出于儿童保护的考虑，社会工作者现在经常诉诸与家长签订“s20协议”，以便他们能够转移和安置儿童。 s20 下的住宿安排没有经过司法审查，通常也没有事先向父母和/或社会工作者提供任何法律建议。近年来，这已成为一个令人担忧的问题；特别是在一些报告的案例中，s20被用来非法（例如通过胁迫）或在没有法律保障的情况下长期驱逐儿童。