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Contents

1.	Planned Placements
	1.1	Consultation before placement
	1.2	Assessment and checks before placement
	1.3	Relevant Plans
	1.4	Approval of the placement
	1.5	Short term placements
	1.6	Notification of placement
	1.7	Support and monitoring of placement
	1.8	Ending of placement
2.	Unplanned Placements
3.	Placement for Residential Assessment

1. Planned Placements

In exceptional circumstances a child may be placed without the immediate need for the following procedures; please see: Section 2, Unplanned Placements. A child must not be placed with parents if that would be incompatible with an order as to contact under Section 34 Children Act 1989.

1.1  Consultation before Placement

Before a child is placed, the following people must be consulted and their views accounted for:

1. The Child;
2. Both Parents including a parent who is not the proposed carer of the child;
3. Any person who has had a Residence Order in relation to the child;
4. Any other member of the family who is significant to the child;
5. Where there are Care Proceedings, the Children's Guardian;
6. Relevant health practitioners including the child’s GP;
7. The child’s school and the local education authority;
8. The Foster Carer or manager of the children’s home currently caring for the child;
9. The probation service if it has contact with the family;
10. The Police;
11. The Youth Offending Service;
12. The child’s Independent Reviewing Officer.

The views of these people should be given by them, in writing, or should be recorded in the case file by the social worker.

1.2  Assessment and Checks before Placement

The suitability of the proposed placement should be assessed through:

• Obtaining relevant information about the proposed main carer or carers and all members of the household;
• Inspecting the accommodation; and
• Checking the proposed carer and all adult members of the household with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), the carer’s GP, NSPCC and Children's Services records.

The assessment should take account of:

• The parents’ capacity, and the capacity of other adult members of the household, to care for children and, in particular in relation to the child:
  • To provide for the child’s physical needs and appropriate medical and dental care;
  • To protect the child adequately from harm or danger, including any person who presents a risk of harm to the child;
  • To ensure that the home environment is safe for the child;
  • To ensure that the child’s emotional needs are met and he/she is provided with a positive sense of self, including any particular needs arising from religious persuasion, racial origin, and cultural and linguistic background, and any disability the child has;
  • To promote the child’s learning and intellectual development through encouragement, cognitive stimulation and the promotion of educational success and social opportunities;
  • To enable the child to regulate his/her emotions and behaviour, including by modelling appropriate behaviour and interactions with others;
  • To provide a stable family environment to enable the child to develop and maintain secure attachments to the parents and other persons who provide care for the child.
• The parents’ state of health (physical, emotional and mental), the parents’ medical history, including current or past issues of domestic violence, substance misuse or mental health problems;
• The state of health (physical, emotional and mental) of other adult members of the household and their medical history, including current or past issues of domestic violence, substance misuse or mental health problems;
• The parents’ family relationships and the composition of the parents’ household, including:
  • The identity of all other members of the household, their age and the nature of their relationship with parents and one another, including any sexual relationship; their relationship with any parent of the child;
  • Other adults who are not members of the household but are likely to have regular contact with the child.
• Current/previous domestic violence between household members including the parents;
• The parents’ family history, including:
  • The particulars of the parents’  childhood and upbringing, including the strengths and difficulties of their parents/carers;
  • The parents’  relationship  with their parents and  siblings, and their relationships with each other;
  • The parents’ educational achievement, including any specific learning difficulty/disability;
  • A chronology of significant life events;
  • Other relatives and their relationships with the child  and parents.
• Criminal offences of which the parents or other members of the household have been convicted or cautioned;
• Parents’ past and present employment/sources of income;
• The nature of the neighbourhood and resources available in the community to support the child and parents;
• Any available information about the parents’ previous experiences of looking after children.  Where a parent has other children subject to care/adoption orders, earlier case records should be explored to ascertain the circumstances which led to social work involvement , and any indication that the capacity of the parent to bring up children has changed.

1.3 Relevant Plans

In normal circumstances, the child’s placement with his or her parent must be informed by an assessment (core or assessment and progress report) part of the Care Plan upon the recommendation of a Looked After Review. 

The Care Plan should be completed before the child is placed.  If there are exceptional circumstances preventing this, a relevant Service Manager can authorise that the Care Plan is completed up to a maximum of ten days after the child's first placement starts.

The Care Plan is in two parts. The first gives an overview of the reasons for the child being looked after, the aim of the Care Plan, and the type of placement the child requires. The Care Plan part 2 contains the detail of the child’s needs, what outcomes are to be sought for the child and the services that are to be put in place in order to achieve them.

Information in the Demographic records and Referral and Information record should be updated or corrected at this point if necessary as this will feed into the Placement Plan recorded on the Placement Information Record.

Prior to the placement, a Placement Plan/Placement Information Record must be drawn up by the child’s social worker in consultation with the parent(s).

As well as the usual contents, the proposed Placement Plan must include the following:

1. Details of the support and services to be provided to the parents during the placement;
2. The obligation on the parents to notify the Local Authority of any relevant change in circumstances including any intention to change address, any changes in the household in which the child lives and and any serious incident involving the child;
3. The obligation on the parents to ensure that any information relating to the child  or the child’s family or any other person given in confidence to the parents in connection with the placement is kept confidential and that such information is not disclosed to any person without the consent of the Local Authority;
4. The circumstances in which it is necessary to obtain the prior approval of the Local Authority for the child  to live in a household other than that of the parents;
5. The circumstances in which  the placement of the child  with the parents pending completion of the assessment of suitability will be terminated  if the decision following completion of the assessment is not to confirm the placement.

NB The Local Authority must provide such services and support to the parents as appear to be necessary to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare, and record details in the Care Plan and Placement Plan.

If the child has previously suffered Significant Harm when living with the parent, the placement must be in the Care Plan upon the recommendation of a Child Protection Review Conference.

1.4 Approval of the Placement

Before the placement is made, approval must be obtained from the Nominated Officer ( Service Director).

The Nominated Officer (Service Director) must be satisfied that:

• The child’s wishes and feelings have been ascertained and given due consideration;
• The assessment of parents’ suitability to care for the child (see Section 1.2, Assessment and Checks Before Placement) has been completed;
• The placement will safeguard and promote the child’s welfare;
• The Independent Reviewing Officer has been consulted.

If approval is given, consideration should be given to whether the Care Order is still required. The Local Authority and parents may agree to apply to discharge the Care Order and if so, such an agreement must include the level of support and supervision to be provided by the Local Authority after the Care Order has been discharged, and the level of co-operation by the parents.

1.5 Short Term Placements

Where the relevant Plan or Plans provide for a series of short term placements of a child with a parent, the requirements as to consultation, enquiries and checks can be carried out once only rather than every time a placement is made, provided that:

• All the placements take place within a twelve months period;
• No single placement is for a period of more than four weeks; and
• The total duration of the placements does not exceed 90 days.

If a series of short-term placements is part of a longer-term rehabilitation plan, further consultation and approval must be obtained before the rehabilitation plan is extended or the child is returned to the parent’s full-time care.

1.6  Notification of Placement

The child’s social worker will update the child’s electronic record with the details of the placement.

Notification of the placement must be sent by the child’s social worker to all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process.  Where the child is to be placed with a parent who lives outside Knowsley, notification should also be sent to the Children’s Social Care Department, Education Authority and the relevant Health Trust for the area where the parent lives.

Notifications must advise of the placement decision, the name and address of the person with whom the child is to be placed, details relating to the child’s contact with others and the arrangements related to the care and welfare of the child.

The social worker must also ensure that the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician; and that a Health Care Assessment takes place.

These notifications must be made in writing, advising the placement decision and the name and address of the children’s home where the child is to be placed. The notifications should be before the start of the placement or within 5 working days.

See Decision to Look After and Post Placement Procedure.

1.7  Support and Monitoring of Placement

Also see Social Worker Visits Procedure.

The child’s social worker must visit the child in the placement within one week of the placement and at intervals of no more than 6 weeks during the first year of the placement. All visits should be recorded as per the arrangements for statutory visits to a child looked after.

If there is a series of short-term placements, the child’s social worker must visit the child at least once every week either during the placement or before the next placement occurs.

In the second year of the placement and subsequent years, the child’s social worker should visit the child at least every three months and whenever reasonably requested by the child or the carer. 

Wherever possible, the child must be seen with the carer and alone.  If this is not possible, a further visit must be made at short notice in order that the child can be seen alone and observed with the carer. 

The social worker must also ensure that Placement Plan Reviews are conducted; see procedures contained in Placement Plan Reviews Procedure - to follow.

1.8  Ending of Placement

All those notified of the placement should be notified also when a placement is ended.

2.Unplanned Placements

The Nominated Officer (Service Manager) in consultation with the Children's Service Manager can approve an unplanned placement without the necessary consultation and checks having been made provided that:

1. There are exceptional circumstances which justify an unplanned placement;
2. There has been an interview with the proposed carer who agrees to the placement and provides as much of the assessment information as can be readily ascertained at the interview;
3. The accommodation has been inspected; and
4. Information has been obtained about and the social worker seeks to meet  the other people in the household (This is particularly relevant to identifying issues such as domestic violence and substance misuse which may impact on the child’s safety;
5. The assessment and the review of the child’s case are competed within 10 working days of the child being placed;
6. The decision on placement is made and approved within 10 working days of the assessment being completed; and
   1. If the decision is to confirm the placement, the Placement Plan is reviewed (and if appropriate amended);
   2. If the decision is not confirm the placement, the placement is terminated.

The reasons for a decision to place a child on this basis must be fully recorded, signed by the Service manager and placed on the child’s file. In these circumstances, the Care Plan should be amended at the time or within a maximum of seven days of the placement.

A Placement Plan must also be completed, as far as possible, before or on the day of the placement and approved by the manager.

Thereafter, the full requirements of the procedure for planned placements must be completed within 6 weeks of the placement.

3. Placement for Residential Assessment

Where the placement with parents is for the purposes of a residential assessment, the social worker should follow the procedures above. All such cases must have been considered at the Accommodation Panel (see Accommodation Panel Procedure).

It is not necessary to do an assessment or Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Instead, the social worker must make a referral to the Commissioning Manager for a suitable residential placement to be identified and the same procedures should be followed in relation to the Placement Request and Identification of a Placement.

End