4.2.10 Placement of Last Resort (POLR) |
Contents
1. Purpose
This policy and procedure is applicable to internal residential placements only as it assumes that all efforts to find a suitable internal or external foster placement, or internal or external residential placement, temporary or otherwise, on a planned or unplanned basis, has been exhausted or is not achievable within the time and resources available. Placements subsequently made in internal children's homes on this basis, that fall outside of the statement of purpose for the home, will be known as 'Placements of Last resort' (POLR).
This policy and procedure provides staff with detailed guidance on the Directorate's operation of its responsibilities to provide services as the 'agency of last resort' to Dudley's children and young people, i.e. those it assesses to be 'in need', particularly where the Local Authority has Parental Responsibility.
It acknowledges that the Assistant Director Children's Social Care (CSC) is responsible to the Director of Children's Services for children's placements, and that the Designated Manager, Service Managers and Unit Managers are also responsible to the National Care Standards and Commission for the proper running of units within the agreed Statements of Purpose for each unit.
2. Legal
A POLR will only be considered where either the local authority has a duty to provide, or considers it essential to provide a service, i.e.:
- The local authority has a duty to look after a child due to a Care Order, Interim Care Order, Emergency Protection Order or Police Protection Order.
- The local authority must accommodate a child where no one has parental responsibility, where a child is lost or abandoned, or where the person caring for the child has been prevented from doing so.
- The child is Remanded to local authority accommodation.
- The local authority has a duty to Accommodate a child under PACE.
- The local authority has a duty to accommodate where not to do so would seriously prejudice a child's welfare.
3. Policy
Assessment of need for service is carried out by the Division's fieldwork services, in collaboration with the Youth Offending Team (YOT), to be referred to here as 'assessors', according to practices and procedures set out in the Children and Families Child Care Procedures. Placements and other services provided by the CSC Division's internal service providers, to be referred to here as 'providers', are set out in the CSC business plan and within each Statement of Purpose for each unit. These describe the purpose and objectives of each service, together with clear expectations of the numbers and category of child accommodated, in line with National Care Standards and as agreed with the Commission.
In working collaboratively Children's Social Care staff will have particular roles to play in the process of assessment, commissioning, provision and review, i.e. the assessors aim to be expeditious in providing as detailed and clear assessment of need as possible to assist internal providers to consider the most appropriate response, and internal providers aim to be flexible, imaginative and innovative to ensure that the best outcomes possible are achieved for service users, with or without additional resources and as far as possible within the framework of the business plan and Statements of Purpose.
Within this arrangement internal providers are best placed to identify an appropriate internal resource, and (subject to the appointment of a placements officer) assessors, via the Commissioning Unit, are best placed to identify appropriate external resources. However, the responsibility to identify appropriate resources will be a shared one as the consequences of not identifying an appropriate solution has implications for all. With this in mind, roles, actions, and time available should be clarified and negotiated at the point of the initial notice of a service request. This will require all parties to actively identify the best value options from both within and without the Directorate's resources before settling on the need for a POLR.
Making a POLR may place an unacceptable strain on other residents, on staff, or on space and facilities, and may therefore have a damaging effect on the service offered to other users, or place service users or staff at risk. For this reason, and in all such circumstances, staff will collaborate in compiling risk assessments of the various options to be considered from the perspective of the risks posed by the young person (as identified primarily by assessors) and the risks attached to the placement option (as identified primarily by internal providers).
The role of Service Manager as 'gatekeeper' of this policy is critical. The Service Manager is the first line in scrutinising the proper application and operation of this policy and any request for service must go through them in the first instance.
4. Procedure
Wherever possible the assessing Social Worker (in consultation with the Team Manager, if not Out-of-Hours) will inform internal providers of any possible/likely placement need at the earliest opportunity. If the field Social Worker/Team Manager identify there is a need for a service, a service request will be made direct to internal providers by the Social Worker through the duty system:
- Office hours: Children's Resources Duty Officer 6141.
- Out-of-Hours: Parkes Street 3481.
Internal providers will then consider whether the need can be met and give a response, which will be either:
- A suitable internal service is identified in an existing vacancy (in which case existing placement procedures continue to be followed and this Policy does not apply), or
- An internal service is offered, with or without additional resources, but the placement is not suitable, i.e. the placement will fall outside of the statement of purpose for the home by exceeding the number of places and/or category of child placed in that home (in which case existing placement procedures continue to be followed and this Policy does apply).
Where any placement is likely to constitute a POLR, all other options being exhausted, discussions will ensue between assessors and internal providers to confirm the best response to meet the identified need with the aim of reaching a consensus view. Where this includes the view that for the future an external resource may be an option it will require referral to the External Placements Panel (using existing procedures). In all cases both assessors and providers should begin to parallel plan for both the agreed way forward and to have a contingency plan should the agreed way forward not come to fruition as or when expected.
Where a POLR is identified as necessary the Service Manager (Residential Services) has the authority to agree and arrange the placement. The agreement to provide the placement will include length of placement and any other additional conditions. The Service Manager will complete the POLR form and inform the 'Responsible Individual' (Divisional Manager, Resources).
Where the Service Manager and/or the relevant Unit Manager has concerns about the safety and/or quality of life of service users or staff which may arise as a result of a POLR, that are not addressed through any additional resources or actions designed to mitigate those concerns, that manager must report the concerns to the 'Responsible Individual' and/or Assistant Director CSC and make a recommendation as to the appropriate course of action. The 'Responsible Individual' and/or Assistant Director will then come to a view as to whether a POLR will proceed, and if so for what period of time and under what circumstances.
Once a POLR has been made the Social Worker/Team Manager will follow normal placement procedures and ensure the necessary administration is completed.
All POLR will be followed up by the assessors in collaboration with all concerned with a minimum expectation that:
- The case is allocated to a Social Worker (or where this is not possible a key worker is identified).
- A Planning Meeting is organised for the next working day.
- Planning discussions are held between assessor and provider staff the next working day.
During Out-of-Hours the EDT will, after exhausting all other options within the time available to them and accounting for their existing priorities, contact the Service Manager to discuss and consider the appropriate response. Any dispute or concern will be referred to the Assistant Director CSC via normal line management routes.
Placement of a child/ren whilst waiting a decision and/or provision will be determined on the basis that it is inappropriate for young people to spend long periods of time in unsuitable places (e.g. reception areas at field work offices, court buildings, police stations). Where there is not appropriate facilities and care, steps must be taken by the assessor and internal provider to agree a temporary family or residential provision where they can be appropriately cared for (but not admitted) while placement decisions and arrangements are made.
As a guideline no young person should be left waiting in an inappropriate setting for more than one hour. All staff should seek to minimise the problems that can arise for the young person, his/her carer and staff from any delay. This should not preclude temporarily engaging the young person(s) in constructive activities outside of any family or residential provision if this is agreed as appropriate and can be arranged expeditiously.
Funding for additional resources to support a POLR must be agreed by a Divisional Manager or a Service Manager before commitment of additional funding for any placement is given.
Records will be kept in the usual way as for all looked after children and recorded as a POLR. Where a POLR applies, the Service Manager will complete the POLR monitoring form and forward it to the 'Responsible Individual' (copy to the Assistant Director CSC) who will collate the forms and report to DMG on a quarterly basis.
Informing the Regulatory Authority will be the responsibility of the 'Responsible Individual'/Assistant Director if a POLR is required.
Review of this policy and procedure will be kept under review by the LAC Policy Development Group.
Click here to view PLOR Flowchart
Click here to view Monitoring Form POLR
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