• contents
• keywords and contacts
• quick guide
• values
• alerts and suggestions
• search
• minimum standards

Contents

1.	Planned Placements
	1.1	Consultation before Placement
	1.2	Assessment and Checks before Placement
	1.3	Recommending the Plan
	1.4	Approval of the Plan
	1.5	What to Include in the Written Reports/Plans
	1.6	Short Term Placements
	1.7	Post Placement Arrangements
	1.8	Ending of Placement
2.	Unplanned Placements
3.	Placements during Proceedings

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

When undertaking assessments social workers must complete Placement of Children with Parents Form.

Before a child is placed, the following people must be consulted and their views accounted for (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. The child. This should be done directly with the child in a manner which recognises their stage of development and communication needs, including translation and signing;
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 including anybody else who has Parental Responsibility or any Order bestowing Parental Responsibility for the child;
4. The district health authority (Consultant Paediatrician);
5. The district health authority for the area in which the child is to be placed;
6. The Education Authority;
7. 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;
8. The education authority for the area in which the child is to be placed;
9. The child’s G.P;
10. The G.P. of the person whom it is proposed to place the child with (that person’s consent should be obtained);
11. The child’s Health Visitor (this should done through appropriate Health Visitor Manager);
12. The Health Visitor (if there is one) of the person with whom it is proposed to place the child;
13. The child’s school;
14. The Police and Youth Offending Team;
15. The Probation Service, if it has contact with the family;
16. The relevant Children’s Social Care Services if the child is placed in another local authority’s area;
17. Existing carers (foster parent, residential worker etc);
18. The foster carer or manager of the children’s home currently caring for the child;
19. The child’s Independent Reviewing Officer.

The consultation should be formal. The persons being consulted should be written to, 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.

If appropriate a letter should also be sent to the child, as part of the consultation process with the child.

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, this includes consideration of the nature and the quality of the relationships of these people and the impact that the child's placement would have. The social worker should meet all the people in the household before the placement is made;
• Inspecting the accommodation including living, sleeping and washing/toilet facilities;
• If a child is to share a bedroom particular attention should be given to ensure that the arrangement is in the child's best interests;
• Checking the proposed carer and all members of the household aged 16 or over with the Criminal Records Bureau, the carer’s GP, NSPCC and Children’s Social Care Services records. Such checks will require the permission of the parents and household members;
• If the child is returning to a placement that broke down or that ended, the social worker must give explicit consideration as to what has changed to make the placement suitable now;
• A full assessment of the child's needs in placement including any risk attached to the placement;
• Identification of the extent of support that will be required by the child and the family if the placement is made. All children in such placements must have an allocated social worker.

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 provide 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 a 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 metal 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 member 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 the 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 the social work involvement, and any indication that the capacity of the parent bringing up children has changed.

1.3 Recommending the Plan

Where it appears desirable for a child who is the subject of a Care Order or Interim Care Order to be placed with birth parent(s), the relevant Head of Service must be approached for permission to begin the assessment.

The written reports/plans referred to above are as follows:

• A written report outlining the matters covered in Section 1.5, What to Include in the Written Report;
• A copy of the child’s Care Plan, if available;
• A Placement Plan recorded on the Placement Information Record.

1.4 Approval of the Plan

The (Designated Manager) Head of Service will consider approving the plan.

In particular, the Head of Service will require evidence that the consultation, enquiries and checks required under this procedure have been carried out. In particular the Head of Service 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 What to Include in the Written Report

The matters that must be covered in the written report or in the Care Plan/Placement Information Record, placed before the Looked After Review or Child Protection Review Conference, and considered by the Designated Manager (Placements with Parents) before authorising the placement are as follows.

• 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 the plan for the child when he/she originally came into care;
• Details of proposed placement with parent;
• The outcome of the assessments, consultations and enquiries made as required by the assessments outlined above; 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 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;
• The arrangements for education;
• The contingency plans in case of breakdown;
• The financial circumstances and benefit entitlement of the carer.

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 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 Child's Plan and Placement Plan.

1.6 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.

1.7 Social Work Visits during the Placement

Once the child is placed, the social worker should undertake the notifications and other arrangements set out in Post Placement Arrangements Procedure.

Visits to the child should take place at the following intervals:

• Within one week of the placement being made;
• And thereafter every six weeks;
• The child should be seen alone. See Social Work Visits Procedure.

If the child is placed with parents pending assessment, 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.

1.8 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 approach the Service Manager to make the decision. Legal advice should always be sought, preferably by way of a Legal Planning Meeting, 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. an Emergency Protection Order or Recovery Order) might be appropriate in some circumstances.

All those notified of the placement starting should be notified, in writing, when it ends; preferably notifications should be made prior to the ending, or as soon as practicable thereafter. If the child is moving from one placement to another or his/her legal status has changed, the relevant Business Support Officer must be notified.

Notification must be in writing to agencies and professionals, but an individually composed letter should be sent to the parents and child.

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 Plan and Placement Information Record.

2. Unplanned Placements

The Nominated Officer (Head of Service) 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 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 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 Nominated Officer and placed on the child’s file. An example of this could be the unforeseen breakdown of a foster placement requiring the child's immediate removal where placement with parents was the least traumatic move for the child.

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.

3. Placements during Proceedings

The Head of Service may approve a placement during the course of care proceedings. Placement with Parents Procedures to to be completed within six weeks.

End