In many cases, parents and Social Workers can work together, with Social
Services providing support and help to the parents in many forms. It may be the
problems of the family are financial, for which they will need specialist help;
there may be housing or other problems. There may have been a disaster, for
which counselling and therapy may be more appropriate. Social Services have a
duty to help all children in need of support, and to provide financial help
where it is appropriate or to refer to other agencies for support where that may
help more. Sometimes it may be necessary for the children to be looked after by
temporary foster carers, with the parents agreement, perhaps while a single
mother goes into hospital for an operation, or while there is a problem that
needs to be sorted out, and for the children to be accommodated while this
happens. It may even be that simply respite care is needed from time to time,
which can all be done by agreement.
Sometimes there is an agreement that, because of the severity of the
problems, the children should be looked after by foster carers for a period of
time, while, for example, the mother goes through a drugs rehabilitation
programme. Then there comes a difficult time to decide whether the children
should be removed from a parent permanently, which needs the authority of a
Court Order. Voluntary accommodation can only be the subject of an agreement, it
can never be imposed without a Court Order.