Parents and carers

A parents’ and carers’ guide to child protection in Scotland

Using this guide

Everyone is responsible for keeping children safe. When children are in danger or at risk of harm, our responsibilities and rights as a parent, carer, and the responsibilities of people whose job it is to support children, come together to protect children and prevent harm.

The information here is designed to help you understand how the people and processes involved in child protection in Scotland affect parents and carers and it provides information on parental rights and responsibilities.

A downloadable version of this guide is available.

Language

There are many types of families and many people who are responsible for looking after children. This is what these words mean in this guide in the context of child protection:

Child – All children under 18 have the right to be safe and protected. That’s everyone from unborn babies right up to the night before someone’s 18th birthday. Parents who are under 18 have rights as children and rights as parents and must be supported based on what they need.

Parent or parents – people who have legal responsibilities for raising a child. A parent can be a biological parent or an adoptive parent. Some children have one, some have two, some have more. In this guide we use the term ‘parent or parents’ to represent all kinds of family set up so please interpret as this is relevant to you and how your child is parented.

Carer or carers – people who have responsibility for caring for a child but are not their parent. Some children have one, some have two, some have more. Please interpret ‘carer or carers’ as this is relevant to you and how your child is cared for.

A carer or carers with parental responsibilities – where a person who is caring for a child but who is not their parent has some of the legal responsibilities a parent would have for the child. An example of this would be when a parent is unable to look after a child and a grandparent can ask the court to give the grandparent parental responsibilities and parental rights to care for the child.

Family – family means different things to different people. In child protection, family means the people who may be related to the child, or live with the child, who know them well, and may have some caring responsibilities for them. In this guide we use the word ‘family’ to represent all different types of family set up.

Support

You might find it helpful to go through the information in this guide with someone who understands child protection in Scotland. This could be a social worker or organisations who can help. Information on organisations that could help is included in the Advice and Support section.

It’s also possible that some parents and carers might find that some of the information provided in this guide is difficult and distressing as it may raise memories about past events. It is important to consider exploring the information contained in this guide with another person you trust to support you, for example, a relative, friend or support worker.