The Department of Education has just issued a consultation on Special Guardianship orders. I’m particularly interested in the question about Special Guardianship Assessments, which are often carried out in care proceedings by a separate team in a silo without any reference to the other options for the child. SGO assessments which attempt to stand alone and are not properly incorporated into the broader “realistic options” analysis of a LA lead to linear thinking and erroneous discounting of grandparents.
The consultation closes on 18 September.
You can read the consultation here.
They ought to change the name to something else. I think the average person on the street gets confused and can’t tell the difference between a Special Guardian, legal guardian and guardian ad litem.