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Contents

1.	Planned Placements
	1.1	Consultation before Placement
	1.2	Assessment and Checks before Placement
	1.3	Health Care Assessment
	1.4	Recommending the Plan
	1.5	Approval of the Plan
	1.6	What to Include in the Placement Plan
	1.7	Post Placement Arrangements
	1.8	Support and Monitoring of Placement
	1.9	Ending of Placement
2.	Unplanned Placements

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 (see end of this section for consultation process):

1. The child;
2. Both parents including a parent who is not the proposed carer of the child;
3. Any other member of the family who is significant to the child;
4. The relevant health trust;
5. The Education Service;
6. If the child has a disability, is in the process of being assessed for Special Educational Needs (SEN) or has already a Statement, the Special Needs Section in the Education Department;
7. The education authority for the area in which the child is to be placed;
8. The child's G. P;
9. The G. P. of the person whom it is proposed to place the child with (that person’s consent should be obtained);
10. The child’s health visitor (this should done through appropriate Health Visitor Manager);
11. The health visitor (if there is one) of the person with whom it is proposed to place the child;
12. The child’s school;
13. The Police & Youth Offending Team;
14. The Probation Service, if it has contact with the family;
15. The relevant Children's Services Department if the child is placed in another local authority’s area;
16. Existing carers (foster parent, residential worker etc.);
17. The foster carer or Registered Manager of the children’s home currently caring for the child
18. The child's Independent Reviewing Officer.

The consultation should be formal, preferably in writing, requesting their views on the proposed placement. It is important that those who are consulted should reply in writing; their written replies should be placed on the case file.

The views of these people should be placed or recorded in the case file.

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 (Enhanced Disclosure), the carer’s GP, NSPCC and the 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 Health Care Assessment

The child’s Health Care Assessment must be current within appropriate timescales.

See Health Care Assessments and Health Plans Procedure

1.4 Recommending the Plan

In normal circumstances, the child’s placement with his or her parent must be part of the Care Plan, upon the recommendation of a Looked After Review.   However, if the child has previously suffered Significant Harm when living with the parent and continues to be the subject of a Child Protection Plan, the placement may only be authorised upon the recommendation of a Child Protection Review Conference.

1.5 Approval of the Plan

The recommendations of the Looked After Review or Child Protection Review Conference will then be sent to the Designated Manager (Placement with Parents), (who is the Nominated Officer for the purposes of the 2010 Regulations), together with the Care Plan and proposed Placement Plan and a written report covering the following:

• A summary of child's and family's history;
• A summary of how and why the child came to be in care;
• A summary of plan for the child when he/she originally came into care;
• Details of proposed placement with the parent/s;
• The outcome of the assessments, consultations and enquiries made, including an assessment of the parents' ability to meet the identified needs of the child;
• The aims and objectives of the proposed placement (there needs to be great clarity about why this placement is being proposed) and long term plan for the child;
• Any identified areas of risk involved in the placement;
• The support and services to be provided to the family and child;
• Details of supervision of placement;
• Arrangements for the child's education
• Contingency plans in case of breakdown.

In particular, the manager will require evidence that the consultation, enquiries and checks required under this procedure have been carried out. 

1.6 What to include in the Placement Plan

As well as the usual contents set out in Decision to Look After a Child (Care and Permanence Planning) Procedure, Section 6, Other Required Plans and Documentation, 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.

1.7 Post Placement Arrangements

Once the child is placed, the social worker should undertake the following:

1. Notify all those consulted or involved in the decision-making process before the placement or within 5 working days of the placement.  The notification 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 parents and the arrangements related to the care and welfare of the child (see Note 1 below for notification arrangements);

2. Ensure that all Looked After Children (LAC) Records have been completed/updated;
3. Ensure that a Placement Planning Meeting has been arranged within 7 days of the placement starting; see Placement Planning Meeting Procedure;
4. Ensure that a Looked After Review has been arranged; see Looked After Review Procedure;
5. Ensure that a child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician;
6. Ensure that a Health Care Assessment has been arranged and the Health Care Plan is up to date; see Health Care Assessments and Health Plans Procedure;
7. Ensure hat suitable arrangements are in place to draw up or review the child’s Personal Education Plan;

Note 1: The parent(s) and child should be notified in a letter composed by the social worker. The letter should advise the child of the placement decision, the name and address of the person with whom s/he 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. A copy of the child’s Care Plan, Health Care Plan,  Personal Education Plan and Placement plan should accompany the letter or should be forwarded soon afterwards.

1.8 Support and Monitoring of Placement

The child's social worker must visit the child in the placement within one week of the placement and thereafter every six weeks - see Social Work Visits to Looked After Children Procedure.

If the child is placed with parents pending assessment (see Section 2, Unplanned Placements), social work visits must take place at least once a week until the first Looked After Review, thereafter at intervals of not more than 6 weeks.

1.9 Ending of Placement

Wherever possible the decision to end a placement should be made at a Looked After Review and the ending should take place in a planned way.

In emergencies, the social worker must discuss the case with his/her manager, who will make the decision. Legal advice should always be sought and the Care Order should give adequate power to enable the child to be removed by the social worker, but the use of other orders (e.g. Recovery Order) might be appropriate in some circumstances.

All those notified of the placement starting should be notified when it ends, preferably prior to the ending; or as soon as practicable thereafter.

At the end of all placements, or transfer from one placement to another, the social worker should collaborate with the carer to write an end of placement report.  If the child continues to be Looked After, it will be necessary to draw up (or update) the child’s Care Plan.

2. Unplanned Placements

The Designated Manager (Placement with Parents) can approve an unplanned placement without the necessary consultation and checks having been in the following circumstances:

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 set out in 1.2 above as can be readily ascertained at the interview ;
3. The accommodation has been inspected;
4. Information has been obtained about and the social worker seeks to meet 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 completed 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
   • If the decision is to confirm the placement, the Placement Plan is reviewed (and if appropriate amended);
   • If the decision is to 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 designated manager and placed on the child’s file.

If the child is placed in these circumstances, social work visits must take place at least once a week until the first Looked After Review, and thereafter at intervals of not more than 6 weeks.

In these circumstances, a Care Plan should be completed at the time or within a maximum of ten working days of the placement, if the Designated Manager (Placements with Parents) authorises it.

A Planned Plan must also be completed before or on the day of the placement or within 5 working days of the placement. 

AS indicated above, the full requirements of the procedure for planned placements (as set out in Section 1, Planned Placements) must be completed within 10 working days of the placement.

End