Achieving Permanence for Looked after Children through Special Guardianship: A Study of the Experience of New Zealand Guardians with Implications for Special Guardianship in England

Abstract

Special guardianship orders will be introduced in England in 2005 as an integral part of the Government's policy to create more opportunities for permanent family placement, thereby reducing the numbers of looked after children. Special guardianship is designed to fill a niche in permanence provision by persuading both foster carers and kinship carers to offer a home, free of regular social services involvement, to children who would otherwise remain looked after. Particular targets are older children for whom adoption is inappropriate or unachievable for those wishing to maintain a positive relationship with a birth parent. However, similar predecessors, such as custodianship and residence orders have foundered due to lack of interest from such carers. What is likely to make a difference this time around? What will tempt carers to make a move away from their dependence on local authorities and take that final step towards legal permanence? This study by Peter Ward describes New Zealand's experience of guardianship which has been available there since 1968. Discussions with 20 NZ guardians and their former foster children indicate what special guardians in England will require to make such an option attractive to them and effective for young people.