16—Amendment of section 38—Court's power to make orders
(1) Section
38(1)(a)—delete "any guardian of the child" and substitute:
a parent, guardian or other person who has the care of the child
(2) Section
38(1)—after paragraph (a) insert:
Example—
A parent, guardian or other person could, for example, be required to enter
into an undertaking to undergo treatment for drug abuse, to submit to periodic
testing for drug use and to authorise the release of information regarding
such treatment, and the results of such testing, to the Chief Executive.
(3) Section
38(1)(f)(iii)—delete subparagraph (iii) and substitute:
(iii)
requiring a parent, guardian or other person who has the
care of a child to undertake specified courses of instruction, or programmed
activities, in order to increase his or her capacity to care for and protect
the child; or
(iv)
dealing with any other matter.
(4) Section
38(2)—delete subsection (2) and substitute:
(2) Before the Court
makes an order giving custody or guardianship of a child to a person who is
not a parent of the child, the Court must be satisfied—
(a) that
there is no parent able, willing and available to provide adequate care and
protection for the child; and
(b) that
the order is the best available solution having regard to—
(i)
the child's need for care and protection (including
emotional security); and
(ii)
the child's age, developmental needs and emotional
attachments.
(2a) If a child is to
be placed in guardianship the Court must consider the importance of settled
and stable living arrangements for the child and, as a general rule, a long
term guardianship order (ie an order under subsection (1)(d)) is to be
preferred to a series of temporary arrangements for the custody or
guardianship of the child.