ABSTRACT
Professionals always need to remember that they require a valid legal basis to their intervention into a child’s or family’s life; they do not have it just by virtue of their position. Parents and children may not easily appreciate that a school may also be involved in issues other than the strictly educational, so the underlying legitimacy must be clear to those who are asked to carry out these wider functions in case they have to defend it. Knowing the law is both empowering and enabling, but it will also be important in defining the boundaries. We cannot always do what we would like to do, or necessarily what others might expect us to do. The same goes for our colleagues in other agencies.
