Parental responsibility

“Parental responsibility” means the responsibility in law of looking after a child or young person.  Usually this is quite clearly the responsibility of that child’s parents.  A child’s parents are the people who will make sure that a child is looked after properly and given everything that they need to grow up safely and well. 

The Children Act talks about who legally has parental responsibility for a child.  It may be surprising to know that your father would only legally have parental responsibility for you if he and your mother were married or if they had made a formal agreement about it.  An adult with parental responsibility can decide things about a child, like which school they should go to, what medical treatment they could have and where they should live.

If you are “accommodated” your parents will still have the same parental responsibilities that they always had. 

If you are on a “Care Order” your parents and Children, Schools and Families share these responsibilities.  When you are adopted your birth parents hand over parental responsibility to your new carers.