- Update/Intermediate * 5 hours CPD
This course will be of interest to Adult Protection teams and co-ordinators, legal executives and local authority advisors who are new to this area of law and for private practitioners working in the family law field. This is a niche area of specialism which is expanding following the introduction of The Mental Capacity Act which came into force in full in October 2007 and the subsequent amendments made by the Mental Health Act 2007 around the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards which are proposed for 2008.
The course will cover:
- The Framework in Adult Protection: Department of Health Guidance ‘No Secrets’ (2000); Who is a vulnerable adult? Types of abuse and what to do when abuse is identified
- Capacity: What is it? How will incapacity be assessed? Who will be doing the assessing? What are the implications?
- Duties Local Authorities owe to Vulnerable Adults: Under what legislation and guidance do the Local Authorities Duties lie?
- Financial Abuse: What is it and how to prevent it? The role of the court of Protection and the Public Guardian; EPAs; theft and police involvement
- Domestic Abuse: What is it? What can be done to prevent it? What changes has the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 made?
- Protection for Vulnerable Adults (POVA) Scheme and the changes proposed under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
- Mental Capacity Act 2005: The position prior to October 2007; The position now the Act is in force; five Key Principles; understanding how the test for incapacity will be applied in practice; best interests decision making; use of restraint; evidence and procedure; Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court Appointed Deputies; the new Court of Protection and Public Guardian; how the Act protects vulnerable people in the form of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA), advance decisions to refuse treatment; the introduction of a new criminal offence and the implications of "Bournewood" on the Mental Capacity Act 2005