18AAssessment of parent of subsequent child

1. This section applies to a person who—

2. is a person described in section 18B; and
3. is the parent of a subsequent child; and
4. has, or is likely to have, the care or custody of the subsequent child; and
5. is not a person to whom subsection (7) applies.

6. If the chief executive believes on reasonable grounds that a person is a person to whom this section applies, the chief executive must, after informing the person (where practicable) that the person is to be assessed under this section, assess whether the person meets the requirements of subsection (3) in respect of the subsequent child.

7. A person meets the requirements of this subsection if,—

8. in a case where the parent’s own act or omission led to the parent being a person described in section 18B, the parent is unlikely to inflict on the subsequent child the kind of harm that led to the parent being so described; or
9. in any other case, the parent is unlikely to allow the kind of harm that led to the parent being a person described in section 18B to be inflicted on the subsequent child.

10. Following the assessment,—

11. if subsection (5) applies, the chief executive must apply for a care or protection order because the subsequent child is in need of care or protection on the ground in section 14(1)(c); or
12. in any other case, the chief executive must decide not to apply as described in paragraph (a), and must instead apply under section 18C for confirmation of the decision not to apply for a care or protection order.

13. The chief executive must apply as described in subsection (4)(a) if the chief executive is not satisfied that the person, following assessment under this section, has demonstrated that the person meets the requirements of subsection (3).

14. No family group conference need be held before any application referred to in subsection (4) is made to the court, and nothing in section 70 applies, but a family group conference must be held before a care or protection order (other than an interim order) is made.

15. This subsection applies to the parent of a subsequent child if, since the parent last became a person described in section 18B,—

16. the parent has been assessed under this section in relation to a subsequent child and, following that assessment,—
    1. the court has confirmed, under section 18C, a decision made under subsection (4)(b); or
    2. the chief executive applied for a care or protection order because the child was in need of care or protection on the ground in section 14(1)(c), but the application was refused on the ground that the court was satisfied that the parent had demonstrated that the parent met the requirements of subsection (3); or
17. the parent was, before this section came into force, subject to an investigation carried out by a social worker under section 17 in relation to a child who would, at that time, have fallen within the definition of a subsequent child, and—
    1. the social worker did not at that time form the belief that the child was in need of care or protection on a ground in section 14(1)(a) or (b) (as in force at that time); or
    2. a family group conference was held, the parent addressed the concerns raised to the satisfaction of the chief executive, and the parent subsequently maintained care of the child.