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Contents

1. Decision to Look After a Child
2. Obtaining or Changing a Placement
3. Children's Resources Panel
4. The Care Plan
5. Other Plans and Arrangements

1. Decision to Look After a Child

Outside office hours, the Emergency Duty Team can make the decision to Look After a child (See Emergency Duty Team Procedure). Any decision to place the child outside office hours must be communicated to the relevant team by the beginning of the next working day. All unplanned placements must be discussed at the next available Children's Resources Panel, which meets on Thursday mornings. Where required, Emergency Out of Hours external placements must be made in accordance with the following procedure.

Emergency External Placements

Where there are no available placements for a young person needing accommodation with either Wandsworth approved foster carers or at Bridge House ARC, the EDT Social Worker may approach providers named in the Service Level Agreement for Out of Hours emergency Placements. (See Emergency Duty Team Procedure).

In normal working hours, a decision to Look After a child will be made by the Looked After Children's Panel or in an emergency, by the Service Head after discussion with the relevant Service Manager, where a Child and Family Assessment has identified that a placement is required to meet the child’s needs.

It is important that there is no delay in seeking approval and the Placements Duty Team are advised at the earliest stage of the process.

Detailed procedures for placing children, including use of the Placement Referral Episode and Risk Assessment (2 parts), and the completion of the Placement Plan recorded on the Placement Information Record are contained in Section 2, Obtaining and Changing a Placement.

A decision to Look After a child may occur in the following circumstances:

• All attempts or possibilities at intervention to maintain and support the child with his or her family have broken down; or
• The child would be at risk of Significant Harm by remaining with the family.

The decision should only be made if appropriate consultation has taken place on the necessity, purpose and nature of the proposed placement. Please see Checklist of Standards to be applied in advance of a child becoming looked after Section 3, Children's Resources Panel.

The Service Manager must record their agreement to accommodate a child within the frameworki Senior Management Authorisation episode

2. Obtaining or Changing a Placement

Where a change of placement is thought to be required for any reason, the social worker must seek approval for that decision from their Service Manager. The Service manager will take account of the need for Placement Stability and the possibilities of supporting a placement to avoid the need to change.

Once the Service Manager has agreed to accommodate a child, or to a change of placement, the social worker is responsible for making a referral to the Placements and Commissioning Service, which is 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. The process of making the referral is to contact CS Placements Duty who will open a Framework (i) Placement Referral episode which they will complete by taking information from the social worker and any other relevant member of the Team Around the Child. Further details on the recording requirements associated with placement and placement moves is set out in Part 4.2, Placement and Change of Placement - Placement Consent, Agreements and Recording of the Manual.

Placements Duty staff will seek an appropriate placement match from within Wandsworth resources and will notify the social worker of the outcome of that search. Where possible a choice of possible placements will be offered. Where time allows, Placements Duty staff will convene a meeting to discuss the placement and support needs of carers prior to agreeing the final match.

Once a placement has been agreed, the social worker should contact the Supervising Social Worker in Fostering Team to arrange the Placement Plan meeting which should take place before the placement commences or, in an emergency, within 5 working days of placement commencing.

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.

The Placement Plan will be recorded on the Placement Information Record on the child’s electronic database.

If a Placement Plan is not in place at the start of placement the foster carer must be provided with as much information as they will need to safely care for the child including consents to emergency medical treatment.

Where Placements Duty have been unable to provide a Wandsworth carer or resource, the social worker may wish to consider the need to seek permission to use an External Placement (see Section 3, Children's Resources Panel)

Where it is thought that a placement in Secure Accommodation may be required please refer to Placements in Secure Accommodation Procedure.

3. Children's Resource Panel

Purpose of the Children's Resource Panel:

To consider whether there are any other placement options and to decide on a recommendation to CSMT for funding from the External Placements Budget or joint funding.

Membership of the Children's Resource Panel:

• Service Manager Recruitment and Commissioning - Chair;
• Heads of Service - F&CS, CLA and SEN and Disability and YPL at least 2 Heads of Service will be present at each meeting);
• Representatives from Health or Adults services as appropriate;
• One of the Heads of Service will chair the panel in the absence of the Service Manager Recruitment and Commissioning.

Procedure for booking and presentation at Children's Resource Panel

• Cases will be presented to the CR Panel by the Service Manager;
• Meetings of the CR Panel will be minuted by a CSS Secretary;
• The CR Panel will meet weekly on Thursdays between 9.00am and 10.30am, unless there are no cases to be discussed;
• These arrangements will be subject to quarterly review.

Admissions to Accommodation

Appendix 1 - Checklist of Standards to be applied in advance of a child becoming looked after

Appendix 2 - Children's Resource Panel Admission to Accommodation

Appendix 3 - Referral to CR Panel (Report to CSMT)

1. If a child needs to become looked after, the social worker and team manager must seek approval from the Service Manager who must record their approval in the relevant frameworki episode;
2. The decision should only be made if appropriate consultation has taken place on the necessity, purpose and nature of the proposed placement;
3. A checklist has been prepared for use by Service Managers when deciding whether all actions have been taken to prevent accommodation, and to check that all standards have been met. See Appendix 1 - Checklist of Standards to be applied in advance of a child becoming looked after;
4. If it is agreed that all actions have been attempted to prevent accommodation, and that all standards have been met, the Service Manager will give approval for a referral to Placements Duty;
5. In the case of remands to accommodation by a court, the same process must apply. Often it will be the YOT worker who is making the request from court. In these circumstances approval should be given by the YOT manager for a referral to Placements Duty;
6. In the case of Police protection, approval should be given by the Service manager for a referral to Placements Duty;
7. If such approval is not given, the social worker and team manager will continue to work with the family, but the child/young person will not be offered accommodation;
8. Referral to Placements Duty requires discussion with Placements Duty staff to complete a Placement Referral episode;
9. If an in house placement is available, the placement may be taken up;
10. If no in house placement is available, the case must be referred to the next CR Panel by the Service Manager;
11. The Secretary of the Head of Service CLA will maintain the booking system for the CR Panel;
12. Cases will be referred to the CR Panel by submission of the CSMT Request for funding an External Placement form to the Secretary of the Head of Service CLA;
13. The Service manager will attend CR Panel to present the case;
14. CR panel will make a decision whether to make a recommendation to the Assistant Director;
15. The Head of Service present at the CR Panel will seek approval from the AD to submit the request to CSMT;
16. Following CSMT, the AD's secretary will inform the Chair of the CR Panel of the decision;
17. Chair of the CR panel will inform all parties of the decision.

Emergency placements in IFA or external residential care

In normal working hours, where a child needs to be accommodated in an emergency, and an in house placement is not available, agreement to place in IFA or external residential care can only be given by one of the Heads of Service.

Agreement in these circumstances is only given until the next CR panel can hear the case.

Outside office hours, the Emergency Duty Team can make the decision to look after a child. Any decision to place the child outside office hours must be supported by a Placement Plan or Placement Information Record which should be completed as fully as possible and communicated to the relevant team by the beginning of the next working day. If there is a need to place in an emergency in an IFA/P&V placements, agreement must be sought from the Assistant Director on duty. EDT will be provided with a resource list to assist them in the process.

Following placement, the case should be booked into the next available CR Panel by the Service manager for the case, and the CSMT request for funding an external placement form should be submitted to the Secretary of the Head of Service CLA.

Appendix 1: Checklist of Standards to be applied in advance of a child becoming looked after

The Service Manager and the Children's Resource Panel will need to know whether there:

1. Has been a Family Group Meeting;
2. Is parental consent for the child to become looked after;
3. Has been a clear assessment that has considered:
   • Support available from within the extended family and social network;
   • Family arrangements for alternative carers within their network;
   • Planned support available from other agencies;
   • Consideration of referral to other support agencies;
   • Support available from within Children's Services;
4. If all other options have been considered and utilised or excluded (for justifiable reason), the proposed legal status for the care of the child. (i.e. has the Service Manager decided to accommodate under S20 or to convene a legal planning meeting to initiate care proceedings?);
5. The anticipated plan for the child once looked after and the outcomes expected from the child becoming looked after;
6. Any special needs of the child (e.g. if the child has a statement there should have been consultation with school / special needs assessment section to take into account whether the school placement is stable or whether there are contributory factors);
7. Any special considerations for placement e.g. any potential risks to the carers/child, distance from school, contact, placement with siblings - or potential pairings of siblings etc.

Click here to view Appendix 2: Children's Resource Panel Admission to Accommodation

Click here to view Appendix 3: Request to CSMT for an Independent Placement

4. The Care Plan

The Child/Young Person's Plan - the tool for the Team Around the Child

Every child/young person who is receiving a service from Wandsworth Children's Department is to have a Child's Plan drawn up by the Team Around the Child (TAC). The TAC includes the family, the child/young person if appropriate, and key professionals who are working with them. Whilst it is the responsibility of the Social Worker to record the plan, the plan is owned by, and is the responsibility of, the whole team.

If the Child's Plan is designated a Care Plan for Looked After Child/Young Person there will be some circumstances when the birth family will no longer be involved.

The Child's Plan could be designated a:

• Child in Need Plan;
• Child Protection Plan;
• Care Plan; or a
• Combined Care and Child Protection Plan;
• A Child in Need Plan Supporting Short Break Care or an Adoption Plan.

but the essential and central features of these plans are all the same and are recorded on the same format.

There are additional sections in the Plan which are required if this is Care Plan or an Adoption Plan. For Care and Adoption Plans it is also essential that the Guidance and Timescales for Permanency Planning Record is completed. This record is located 'behind' the Child's Plan and can be accessed by clicking the 'create' button.

Different documentation and processes are in place for Pathway Plans.

A Child's Plan becomes a Child Protection Plan when it has been agreed at a Child Protection Conference that the child is at risk of Significant Harm. A Child's A Child's Plan becomes a Care Plan when a child becomes Looked After and an Adoption Plan once that has been agreed as the Permanence Plan for the child.

There will be occasions when the Child's Plan is designated A Combined Child Protection and Care Plan

Ideally, planning begins with a meeting of the TAC which reaches some agreement about the Overall Aim of the plan and the services and actions that everyone agrees are necessary to achieve it. The overall aim should be a concise statement capturing, in straightforward language what has to happen and what changes are needed to make sure that the child/young person is safe and well and their wellbeing is nurtured and promoted.

The TAC then need to agree important timescales. When do the changes need to be done by what if anything is urgent and what must happen quickly.

The TAC then need to agree the details of Why, What, Who, When services and or actions and most importantly the Planned Outcome of each particular service or action.

Why the service or action is needed i.e. the development need, strength or difficulty experienced by the child which the service or action is designed to support

What the action or service is,

Who is responsible for carrying out the service or action

When this action or services is going to begin, and finally

The Planned Outcome or what precisely the network hopes to achieve in respect of each action or service - what does success look like? in other words 'measures' which everyone can look at next time they meet to check progress
Remember A Child's Plan needs to be SMART: S - specific, M - measurable, meaningful, A - agreed upon, achievable, R - realistic, relevant, T - time-based, timely,

Contingency planning.

It is important that you are clear with the family and the rest of the TAC when you are preparing to take actions in the event of the plan not achieving the planned outcome - particular in respect of keeping the child/young person safe. Contingency planning will include, for example, legal planning meetings.

A child's plan should become a tool used by the Team around the child. Each member of the network should have a copy of the plan and should refer to it regularly with each other, and with the family. The TAC should be continuously working together, measuring progress of the plan at Team Around the Child meetings. The plan can be added but nothing should be deleted from the plan between each formal Review of the Child's Plan.

See Framework HOW 2 Guides on the Wandsworth Intranet if you are unsure how to access episodes or documents or talk to your Team Manager or Team Administrator

5. Other Plans and Arrangements

A Placement Plan/Placement Information Record must be drawn up outlining the arrangements for Looking After the child.

Where the child is placed on a planned basis, this plan/record should be completed fully, with copies circulated to the child, parent(s), carers/home and other significant people/agencies.

Also see The Placement and Planning Meetings: Responsibility for recording and distributing minutes.

If the child is placed out of hours or on an unplanned basis, it may not be possible to fully complete the plan/record. In these circumstances, as much of this plan/record should be completed as possible. As a minimum, the following should be recorded:

• Healthcare/medical needs, including Consent to urgent medical treatment;
• Contact arrangements;
• Arrangements for school, including transport;
• Financial arrangements including the need to purchase any clothing or urgent equipment;
• Support that may be required by the carer/home or child.

Other Plans/Records

The social worker should additionally complete or update the following records immediately or within specified timescales:

• The child's Chronology;
• A Personal Education Plan (PEP);
• A Health Care Plan (PHP);
• Report to Review: Progress and Updated Assessment.

End