A special guardianship order (SGO) is an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child's "special guardian", where the child cannot live with their parents. It is a private family law order introduced in 2002, and grants legal guardianship to a person over a child within their care until they reach the age of 18. Special guardianship is often used to formalise a kinship care arrangement which may already be in place, or as an alternative to a child moving to or remaining in a local authority foster placement. An SGO grants parental responsibility to the special guardian so that they can make key decisions about the child to the exclusion of other persons with parental responsibility, with a few exceptions.
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