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Contents

1. Decision to Look After Child
2. The Care Plan
3. Timescales for Completion 
4. Approval of the Care Plan
5. Circulation of the Care Plan
6. Other Required Plans and Documentation
7. Permanence Planning

1. Decision to Look After Child

A decision to Look After a child will normally be made by a Team Manager.  The decision should be based on a thorough assessment of the child’s needs.  If not undertaken in the previous three months, the social worker must undertake a Core Assessment in relation to the child.  The view of the social worker should be that it is necessary to Look After the child because:

• All attempts at early intervention to maintain and support the child with the family have broken down; or
• The child would be at risk of significant harm by remaining with the family; or
• The child is disabled and a series of short break placements is necessary to provide respite for his or her carers;

The decision should only be made where the manager is satisfied that appropriate assessments and consultations have taken place (as required in this chapter and in relevant placements chapters) on the necessity, purpose and nature of the proposed placement.  In some circumstances a child may be placed in an Unplanned/Emergency or with limited consultations and checks; relevant placements chapters specify where this is possible.

Before a decision is made to look after a child, consideration should be given to other extended family members or friends who might be prepared to care for the child without the need for the child to be Looked After.

It may be appropriate to convene a Professionals Meetings or Network Meeting at this stage.

Any such placement would have to be agreed with the parent, and the social worker and manager must be satisfied that such an arrangement is sufficiently secure to meet the child’s needs and is supported by a Child in Need Service Plan.

See Family and Friends (Connected Persons) Fostering Procedure. 

If no such arrangement can be identified or such an arrangement would not meet the child’s needs, the following should be considered:

• The date for the child’s admission to the Looked After Service
• The child's immediate placement needs, including whether a Looked After placement with a relative or friend may be possible
• The longer term plan
• A date for the child to return home or when the decision will be reviewed
• An action plan of support and work to enable the necessary change for the child to return home
• The obtaining of parental consent to Look After the child and consent to medical care
• The need for Care Proceedings to secure the child’s placement.

Where an application for a Care Order is under consideration, the requirements of the Public Law Outline must be considered - for further information see the Pre Proceedings Checklist in the Public Law Outline Information and Guidance Procedure..

The social worker will request a ‘Looked After Pack’, containing all the required documentation, from the relevant administrative staff.

The social worker will be responsible for seeking an appropriate placement for the child and making the necessary arrangements in relation to the placement, in accordance with the Placement Procedures contained in this manual.

Where a decision is made to pursue a Looked After placement with a Connected Person and the placement is likely to be for longer than 16 weeks, the assessment of the relative/friend , or Connected Person as a foster carer must be arranged to commence immediately.

See Family and Friends (Connected Persons) Fostering Procedure.

2. The Care Plan

In all circumstances where a decision is made to look after a child, the child must have a Care Plan completed by the social worker and signed by the relevant team manager, the contents of which include:

• The child's Placement Plan (setting out why the placement was chosen and how the placement will contribute to meeting the child's needs);
• The child's Permanence Plan (setting out the long term plans for the child's upbringing including timescales);
• The Pathway Plan (where appropriate, for young people leaving care;
• The child's Health Care Plan;
• The child's Personal Education Plan;
• The contingency plan;
• The date of the child's first Looked After Review (within 20 working days);
• The name of the Independent Reviewing Officer.

The child’s social worker is responsible for drawing up and updating the Care Plan in consultation with:

1. The child;
2. The child’s parents / those with Parental Responsibility;
3. Anyone who is not a parent but has been caring for or looking after the child;
4. Other members of the child’s family network who are significant to the child;
5. The child’s school or education authority;
6. The relevant health trust;
7. The Youth Offending Service, if the child is known to them;
8. Any other agency involved with the child’s care.

One of the key functions of the Care Plan is to ensure that each child has a Permanence Plan by the time of the second Looked After Review. The Care Plan is subject to scrutiny at each Looked After Review - see Looked After Review Procedure.

The Care Plan should include the arrangements made to meet the child's needs in relation to his or her:

• Emotional and behavioural development;
• The child's identity in relation to religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background;
• Family and social relationships; arrangements for contact with sibling(s) accommodated by the authority or another local authority; details of any [Section 8 Order], in relation to a Looked After Child; details of any order in relation to contact with a child in care; arrangements for contact with parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility/ any other [Connected Person]; arrangements for the appointment of an Independent Visitor for a Looked After Child;
• Social presentation;
• Self-care skills.

Upon completion of the Care Plan and Placement Plan, the worker must also ensure the completion of a detailed Exit Plan showing the clear intentions for any services being offered to the individual child and/or their family.

See also Care Plan Guidance

3. Timescales for Completion

The Care Plan must be drawn up as soon as the need for the child to be looked after has been identified.  It should be completed prior to the child’s first placement. 

If there are exceptional reasons that prevent the Care Plan from being drawn up prior to the child’s placement, the key objectives of the child’s proposed placement must still be identified and recorded.

If satisfied, the manager can then approve that the Care Plan is drawn up within a maximum of 10 working days of the placement.

4. Approval of the Care Plan

Any Care Plan taken before the Court within Care Proceedings must be endorsed and signed by a Designated Manager (Care Proceedings).

All other Care Plans must be endorsed and signed by the social worker’s manager.

The Care Plan can be updated by the social worker, with the manager’s approval, at any time. 

The Care Plan is subject to scrutiny at each Looked After Review.

5. Circulation of the Care Plan

The Care Plan must be circulated to the following people:

• The child;
• The parent(s);
• Providers/Carers – if no Care Plan has been drawn up prior to the child’s placement, the social worker must ensure that the providers/carers understand the key objectives of the plan, and how the placement will help achieve these objectives;
• he Fostering Service, where the child is in foster care.  N.B. The Care Plan should be filed in the confidential section of the foster carer's file and returned to the child's social worker when the placement ends;
• The child's Independent Reviewing Officer.

6. Other Required Plans and Documentation

The child must have a Placement Plan (recorded on ICS).

The child must have a Placement Plan at the time of the placement (this includes the parent's consent to the placement (if applicable) and the child's medical treatment).  It should be completed as far as possible before the child is placed or, if not reasonably practicable, within 5 working days of the start of the placement.

The information to be included in the Placement Plan will include:

1. How on a day-to-day basis the child will be cared for and the child's welfare will be safeguarded and promoted by the appropriate person;
2. Any arrangements for contact between the child and parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility/any other connected person, including, if appropriate, reasons why contact is not reasonably practicable or not consistent with the child's welfare; details of any Contact Order (under Section 8 or 34 of the Children Act 1989); the arrangements for notifying any changes in contact arrangements;
3. Arrangements for the child's health (physical, emotional and mental) and dental care, including the name and address of registered medical and dental practitioners; arrangements for giving/withholding consent to medical/dental examination/treatment;
4. Arrangements for the child's education and training, including the name and address of the child's school/other educational institution/provider and designated teacher; the Local Authority maintaining any statement of Special Educational Needs;
5. The arrangements for and frequency of visits by the child's social worker; and for advice, support and assistance between visits;
6. If an [Independent Visitor] is appointed, the arrangements for them to visit the child;
7. The circumstances in which the placement may be terminated;
8. The name and contact details of  the Independent Reviewing Officer, the [Independent Visitor] if one is appointed, the social worker who will be visiting the child, and the [Personal Adviser] for an  [Eligible Young Person].

In addition the social worker should request the parent to transfer the child’s Personal Child Health Record and arrange a Health Care Assessment - see Health Care Assessments and Health Care Plans Procedure.

 A Personal Education Plan should be completed before the placement starts or within 10 working days - see Education of Looked After Children Procedure.

In an Emergency (Unplanned) Placement, the information will usually be incomplete but will be completed with the information available at the time.  A copy of the Record will be handed to the child’s carer and a copy will also be faxed to the relevant social work team.

Where a placement can only be accommodated by the child sharing a room, a risk assessment will be completed by the person dealing with the referral in consultation with the child's social worker and carer and if the placement is deemed viable, a risk assessment will be recorded. A copy of the risk assessment must be placed on the child's file and Fostering will post a hard copy to the foster carer. For further guidance in relation to children placed in foster care, see Bedroom Sharing Guidance and Guidance on Risk Assessing Bedroom Arrangements for Looked After Children Living in Foster Care.

It is the social worker's responsibility to co-ordinate the process of completing these records.  The most appropriate person to gather and/or document some of this information may, however, be the parent, foster carer or the fostering social worker.

If a section is not applicable at this stage e.g. the education section in relation to a preschool child, it should be left blank and completed at a later stage if the child remains looked after.

The records should be updated as necessary before every Looked After Review, using supplementary sheets if necessary.

7. Permanence Planning

See also:

Achieving Permanency Policy
Guidance on Permanency Planning

Permanence for a Looked After child means achieving, within a timescale which meets the child’s needs, a permanent outcome which provides security and stability to the child throughout his or her childhood.  It is therefore the best preparation for adulthood. 

Wherever possible, permanence will be achieved through a return to the parents’ care or a placement within the wider family but where this cannot be achieved within a time-scale appropriate to the child’s needs, plans will be made for a permanent alternative family placement, which may include adoption, or, for older children, a stable placement which prepares the child for adulthood.

Where Adoption is the plan for Permanence, see Placement for Adoption Procedures.

Where adoption is not the plan for Permanence, see Looked After Review Procedure, or below.

7.1 Summary of Looked After Review Procedures

For detailed procedures see Looked After Reviews Procedure.

The Care Plan will be regularly reviewed at Looked After Reviews. 

By the time of the second Looked After Review, the Care Plan must contain a plan for achieving permanence for the child within a timescale that is realistic, achievable and meets the child’s needs.  If the permanence plan is likely to be adoption or long term fostering then the Adoption and Permanency Team should be consulted prior to the Review.

At the third Looked After Review, a Contingency Plan must be made where the plan for permanence has not been achieved. 

All subsequent Reviews should review the progress and validity of the Permanence Plan.

End