3.2.4 Placements in Foster Care |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This procedure applies to all planned placements of Looked After children in foster care including Shared Care and Respite placements, and placements with Independent Fostering Agencies.
Contents
1. Consultation and Planning
1.1 Consultation
At the point that it is determined that a placement may be required, and throughout the subsequent process of identification, planning and placement, the social worker must consult and take account of the views of the following people:
- The child;
- The child’s parents;
- Anyone who is not a parent but has been caring for or looking after the child;
- Other members of the child’s family who are significant to the child or who have a Contact Order in their favour in relation to the child;
- The child’s school or education authority;
- The Youth Offending Service, if the child is known to them;
- Any other relevant person, e.g. nursery, health care professional, Children’s Guardian.
The views of these people should be given by them, in writing, or should be recorded by the social worker. If the child’s wishes are not acted upon, the reason should be given.
1.2 Planning
See Decision to Look After Procedure and section 17, ICS Guidance for procedures relating to the initial decision to look after a child, and the drafting and approval of the Care Plan and other essential documentation including the Placement Information Record
2. Placements Process - Planned Placements
2.1 Definition of Planned Placement
A Planned Placement is the placement of a child in a foster home following an assessment and planning process whereby, at the time of the placement, a Care Plan and Placement Information Record are in place.
Where the above plans are not in place, the placement is deemed to be an Emergency.
2.2 Placement Request
In all other cases, where a decision has been made that a child requires a foster placement, the child’s social worker should complete a Placement Referral Form
The Placement referral Form will contain information about the child, the type of placement sought, the Care Plan, the date by which the placement is required, the likely length of time for which the placement is required and the expected level of contact between the child and parents.
A check will then be made on the availability of an in-house placement throughout the Borough.
If an in-house placement is available or if there is a possibility of a placement by the required date, the social worker will be advised.
The social worker should then contact the Fostering Team directly to discuss any of the available placement vacancies further.
If no in-house placements are available throughout the Borough, contact should be made with the Fostering Team if the child can be placed on a waiting list for consideration when an in-house placement becomes available.
If no in-house placements are available and the child requires a placement without delay, the social worker must obtain the approval of the Service Director and the Accommodation Panel (where it is not an emergency) before a placement is made.
2.3 Identification and Matching of Placement
The matching process should consider the child’s needs especially regarding the following key areas:
- The child’s education;
- The expectations around contact with relatives and friends;
- The child’s identity/race/culture;
- The child’s history;
- The child’s behaviour;
- The Child’s health;
- The focus of the placement.
The matching process should also consider the carer’s availability and:
- Their experience;
- Their strengths;
- The family composition;
- The distance from the foster home to the child’s school;
- Other children in the placement;
- The foster carers children.
Where an in-house resource is identified, the duty Fostering officer will contact the foster carer, the foster carer’s link worker and the child’s social worker to agree the proposed placement. The social worker will need to meet the prospective carer to discuss the child’s needs in detail. Wherever possible, the child's social worker should visit potential carers and as required consult with other professionals, prior to a decision about the appropriateness of a placement being made.
In relation to the sharing of bedrooms, each child over 3 should have their own bedroom, or where this is not possible, the placing authority must agree to the sharing of the bedroom and this must therefore be addressed during the matching process.
The proposed placement will then be presented to the social workers Children's Social Care Manager for approval of the linking.
If the Children's Social Care Manager approves the in-house foster placement, the Placement Planning process can start - see Section 2.4, Placement Planning. If the placement is outside the foster carer’s terms of approval, the approval of the Family Placement Team manager and, where an exemption is required, the approval of the, Service Manager who has responsibility for Knowsley Adoption and Fostering Service. This will be monitored by the Fostering Panel and overseen by Children's Service Manager as the Agency Decision Maker. Variations in approval should be presented to the Fostering Panel.
In the case of an agency placement where there is already a child from another local authority contact should be made with the child's social worker regarding the proposed placement and the suitability of the children sharing the same carers before the placement can be made.
The social worker may then arrange visits to the proposed placement, with the child (if old enough) and parents (if appropriate).
In order to avoid placements that disrupt a child’s education,the Nominated Officer must approve any change of placement affecting a child in Key Stage 4 except in an emergency/ where the placement is terminated because of an immediate risk of serious harm to the child or to protect others from serious injury – see Education of Children Looked After Procedure.
2.4 Placement Planning
Before the child is placed, the child’s social worker will liaise with the foster carer and the foster carer’s link worker (where the placement is with in-house carers) or the independent fostering agency to arrange a Placement Planning Meeting, chaired by the Children's Social Care Manager, Family Placement (for an in-house foster placement) or the Children's Social Care Manager for the social worker (in the case of an agency placement). The meeting will usually be in the new placement. See Care and Placement Planning Meeting Procedure
Participants will include:
- The parent;
- The child (if appropriate);
- The carer;
- The Family Placement worker, if the carer is a foster carer;
- The Designated Teacher for children looked after;
- Anyone else considered appropriate or to have a role in the Placement Information Record, e.g. relative, nursery, health care professional, YOS worker.
The purpose of the Placement Planning Meeting is to confirm that the Referral and Information Record is complete, finalise the Placement Plan recorded on the Placement Information Record and discuss the Care Plan. This will involve a discussion of the child’s needs to ensure careful matching, including the child’s personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin, as well as the child’s health and education needs and how these are to be met. It will also include the arrangements for registering the child with local health professionals (GP, dentist and optician).
In addition the placement planning meeting will consider the type of introduction process required, for example whether arrangements should be made for the child, parents and the social worker to visit the foster home and/or whether it may be appropriate to have an introductory overnight stay. Children should be able to visit the foster home and talk in private with the carer. If this is not possible, arrangements may be made for the carers to visit the child and parents; or for information about the foster carers to be sent to the child and/or the parents, for example about routines in the foster home, bedtimes, meals, visitors, pocket money, school, privacy and the overall expectations in relation to the child’s behaviour within the home.
For children placed in foster care, the Placement Plan should cover the following issues in addition to those for all placements set out in the Decision to Look After and Care Planning Procedure:
- The type of accommodation to be provided and the address;
- The child’s personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin;
- Where the child is Accommodated, the respective responsibilities of the Local Authority and parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility; any delegation of responsibility by parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility to the Local Authority for the child’s day-to-day care; the expected duration of the arrangements and the steps to bring the arrangements to an end, including arrangements for the child to return to live with parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility; where the child is aged 16 or over and agrees to being provided with accommodation under Section 20 Children Act 1989, that fact;
- The circumstances in which it is necessary to obtain in advance the Local Authority’s approval for the child to take part in school trips or overnight stays;
- The Local Authority’s arrangements for the financial support of the child during the placement;
- The obligation on the carers to comply with the terms of the foster care agreement.
The meeting also provides an opportunity to ensure that the carers have a copy of any relevant court order.
Except in emergency placements, the Placement Planning Meeting should be held before the placement and plan any introductions to the placement. Where this is not possible, it should be held at the latest within 5 working days of the placement.
The child’s social worker will complete and arrange for the circulation of the Referral and Information Record, Care Plan and Placement Information Record to the child, parents and foster carers before or at the time of the placement.
The child should be provided with relevant information such as an introduction booklet/leaflet and they should be provided information about how they can make a complaint. This should be provided in a manner that is commensurate with their level of understanding.
In addition, the social worker should ensure that any other information about the placement that is available for the child is obtained and given to him/her. Children must understand house expectations before the placement is made.
In all cases, the child should be accompanied to the placement by the social worker and helped to settle in. Suitable luggage should be used and a child’s belongings should never be transported in bin-bags or other inappropriate containers.2.5 Notification of Placement
The Social Worker should ensure that these organisations are informed of the placement:
- Relevant health trust, NB The responsibility for the child's health needs remains with the home PCT even when the child is placed in another area;
- The relevant local Children’s Services (if the placement is outside the Borough);
- The Educational Support Team (if the placement is in Knowsley) which is situated in the QAU;
- Or the appropriate education service (if the placement is outside the Borough); and
- The child’s GP.
The child’s social worker will notify all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process of the placement.
The notifications should be before the start of the placement, wherever possible or within 5 working days.
The administrative staff must also notify an already allocated Independent Reviewing Officer or, if it is the first Looked After Placement, the Quality and Review Unit of the placement. This notification will trigger, if necessary, the appointment of an Independent Reviewing Officer, and the administrative staff will make arrangements for a Looked After Review.
These notifications must be made in writing, advising of the placement decision and the name and address of the person with whom the child is to be placed.
The child’s social worker should also notify – preferably in writing but it may be verbally - all those involved in the day to day arrangements for the child, including nursery/school and any health professional or YOT worker actively involved with the child.
It will necessary for the social worker to ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician, either retaining practices known to him or her (which is preferable) or in the area where they are placed - with in-house foster placements, the foster carer will actually make the necessary arrangements.
In relation to a first Looked After placement it will also be necessary for the social worker to arrange a Health Care Assessment (see Health Care Assessments Procedure).
Every effort should be made to enable the child to remain at the same school unless there are reasons which would be detrimental to his or her wellbeing.
The social worker must contact the Designated Teacher for Children Looked After at the child’s school and complete a Personal Education Plan (see Education of Children Looked After Procedure.
3. Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements
3.1 Support and Monitoring of Placements
The child’s social worker must visit the child in the placement within one week of the placement and then at specified intervals; see Social Worker Visits Procedure.
The foster carer will also receive support and supervision from their link worker (for in-house placements) and from the independent fostering agency (for agency placements).
3.2 Ending of Placements
The child's Social Worker must update the Protocol database when a placement ends. They must also ensure that the allowances or fees (in the case of an independent Fostering Agency) cease when the child leaves.
Children must, when they leave the home, be helped to understand the reasons and be supported with the transition – including when they are returning home and independence.
Foster carers must be supported to maintain links with children who leave their care where appropriate.
All written information on the child, which the foster carer holds, should be transferred to the foster carer’s link worker for transfer to the child’s social worker.
4. Permanent Placements
4.1 Identification of Permanent Foster Placement
Where a child’s proposed placement with a foster carer is to achieve Permanence or the plan is for the existing placement to become permanent, the child’s social worker should liaise with the Adoption and Fostering Service contact at the earliest opportunity to discuss in appropriate cases the need or the likely need for a family placement to be identified.
Where a new placement is required, a copy of the most recent assessment of the child, the Care Plan, and the most recent Looked After Review minutes or the Action and Assessment Record should be sent with the placement request, or the information as otherwise agreed.
The Children's Social Care Manager (Family Placement Team Permanence) will initially identify available suitable families to match with the child.
A matching meeting should be held to identify the most suitable placement. The meeting may include:
- Children's Social Care Manager, Family Placement Team Permanence (Chairperson);
- Child’s social worker;
- Substitute families’ social worker;
- Birth family;
- The child (depending on his or her age and understanding).
At the matching meeting the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each family will be looked at until a decision has been made as to the most suitable family. The child’s social worker has the deciding vote where the decision is not unanimous.
The matching meeting is recorded using the matching meeting form.
The chosen family is put on hold as being a potential match for the child and the other families are prioritised as reserves, although not put on hold.
The Family Placement Team social worker will then visit the first choice family to see if they wish to be matched with the child. The Family Placement Team social worker will provide the family with full information about the child, including the child’s profile, and will discuss any information that has implications for the family.
If the ‘first choice’ family decide not to proceed with this child the other families are considered in preferential order and follow the usual procedure.
4.2 Approval of Permanent Foster Placement
The following must occur in order to obtain the necessary approval prior to the placement:
- The plan for long-term fostering must be ratified by the child’s Looked After Review. The child’s social worker should invite a representative from the Adoption and Fostering Team to that review;
- Where the identified foster carers are not already approved as long-term foster carers, it will be necessary to conduct an assessment to obtain such approval. See Section 3.3, Care Planning Meetings and Permanence Planning Procedure for the documents required.
When complete, the assessment should be presented to the Fostering Panel, who may recommend to the Agency Decision Maker (Children's Service Manager) (Fostering) that the foster carers be approved as long term - see Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers Procedure; - The Assessment and matching of the child will be considered at the Adoption and Permanence Panel.
4.3 Planning the Permanent Foster Placement
Once the approvals have been obtained, a Placement Planning Meeting should be convened, where the following additional issues should be considered:
- Any proposed name changes; a child’s name cannot be changed without the permission of the birth parents and legal advice on this issue should be sought.
It would be unusual for a child to have a surname change in situations other than adoption. The child’s age is relevant in this issue and her/his views should be considered – see Change of Name Procedure; - Any additional fostering allowances to be paid;
- Arrangements to ensure that life story work is completed;
- The sharing of full information about the child with the carers who should be fully cognisant of the child’s background, including details of any abuse both to meet the child’s needs and to afford them protection from allegations;
- The arrangements for contact with the birth family and how this will be managed;
- The level of support to be given to the carers, the child and birth family.
A Placement Planning Meeting should be held even where the child is already placed with the prospective permanent carers to consider these long term issues.
The meeting should be recorded and the minutes kept on the child’s file and the permanent family's file.
The permanent carers should be asked to confirm in writing whether they wish to proceed with the introductions. Where they choose not to proceed, the proposal containing the information on the child should be retrieved.
The child’s social worker must keep the child informed of the placement developments throughout the process. The social worker should also keep the birth parents informed of such information that has been agreed throughout the process.
4.4 The Placement
Where the child is to move to the permanent placement, the arrangements for introductions should have some flexibility built in to allow for the needs of the child.
During introductions, the carers will be supported by their link worker from the Adoption and Fostering Service and the child will be supported, visited and reviewed by his/her social worker.
A review of introductions should be held to monitor the progress and identify any problems that require to be addressed. The introductory stage may be stopped if the placement looks as if it will not work.
The Adoption and Permanence Panel should be notified of any matches that do not proceed, with a short report outlining the issues.
The review of introductions meeting should decide whether the placement should be confirmed.
4.5 Disruption Meetings
If a decision is taken to terminate any placement that has existed for 5 years there is a legal requirement to give the carers written notification of the end of the placement. It is good practice to do this for any placement end.
Where a permanent foster placement ends in an unplanned way, a Disruption Meeting will be convened within 12 weeks of the placement breakdown. These people will be invited to attend:
- Child’s social worker;
- The foster carers;
- Their link worker;
- The current carers;
- The child’s Independent Reviewing Officer; and
- Any other relevant people.
The managers for both the child’s social worker and the foster carer’s link worker must also attend.
It is desirable for the meeting to be chaired by someone who is independent of the line management of the child or the carers.
The precise agenda will depend on the child/circumstances, but the Chair should ensure the circumstances leading to the disruption are properly reviewed, and that all concerned are provided with opportunities to express their views freely with a view to establishing:
- How and why the disruption occurred;
- To learn from what happened and avoid the same thing happening again - for the child or others in the foster home;
- To contribute to the future planning for the child;
- To identify work to be done and to ensure it is completed.
The Chair should keep minutes, which must be circulated to all concerned. The report of the Disruption Meeting should be presented to the Fostering Panel.
The child needs to have resolved any of their issues that may have contributed to the disruption and their feelings arising from it before entering a new permanent placement.
The carers should also have the opportunity to discuss the events and their feelings of loss about them.
Consideration needs to be given to holding an early Foster Carer Review to consider the foster carer’s approval – see Review of Foster Carers Procedure.
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