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Contents

1. The Care Plan
2. LAC Review
3. Notifications
4. Health Care
5. Education
6. Complaints and Advocacy
7. Permanency Planning Meetings
8. Support and Monitoring of Placements

1. The Care Plan

Whenever a child becomes looked after, whether through a court order or voluntarily under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, the child must have a written Care Plan. The Care Plan should comprehensively set out, in plain English, the child’s needs and how the local authority proposes to meet these needs whilst the child is looked after.

A Care Plan should be written by the child’s social worker before a child’s first placement, or if it is not practicable to do so, within 10 working days of the child’s first placement. Where the child becomes looked after in an emergency, allowing limited planning time, the social worker must ensure that a Care Plan is prepared within 10 working days the child becoming looked after and in time for the initial LAC Review.

The child’s social worker should have made arrangements for the Care Plan and other plans (e.g. Placement Plan recorded on the Placement Information Record to be drawn up, as set out in Section 2 of the Decision to Look After and Children's Resource Panel Procedure.

2. LAC Review

It is a statutory requirement for an initial LAC Review to take place within 20 days of any child becoming looked after. (See Looked After Reviews Procedure). As soon as the child becomes looked after the child’s allocated social worker must ensure that the Independent Child Care Review Unit is notified so that a date and time can be set for the initial LAC Review and all relevant people invited in good time to the review meeting.

3. Notifications

After the child becomes Looked After the social worker should also notify all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process. The notifications should be before the start of the placement or within 5 working days. If not consulted in the decision making process, the social worker must notify the child’s parent(s), significant relatives or friends and previous carers.

If the child has been a subject of a Child Protection Plan prior to becoming looked after, the child’s social worker must inform all members of the Child Protection Plan Core Group and the relevant Child Protection Co-ordinator.

The social worker should ensure the following notifications are made (notifications must be in writing, notifying them of the placement decision and the name and address of the person with whom the child has been placed):

1. Looked After Review and, if placed in Secure Accommodation, Secure Criteria Review Secure Accommodation Panel Reviews Procedure
2. The Primary Care Trust for the area where the child is placed
3. The CLAESS Team (Children Looked After Education Support Service)
4. The child’s school (Head or designated teacher for Looked After children)
5. Special Needs Assessment Section where the child is subject to a Statement
6. The child’s Independent Reviewing Officer

If the child is placed outside the authority, the Children’s Services Department in the area where the child is placed.

4. Health Care

The social worker should arrange for the child to have a Health Care Assessment before the placement of, if not reasonably practicable before the first Looked After Review (see Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure) and ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician (if necessary). A Personal Health Plan (PHP), which is an integral part of the Care Plan, must be drawn up as soon as practicable. The child’s social worker should seek advice as required from the Clinical Nurse Specialist (Children Looked After).

5. Education

The social worker should ensure that there is minimal disruption to the child’s education. If the child can not continue to attend his/her previous school, the social worker should liaise with the carer/home and with CLAESS to ensure the child is registered without delay with a school appropriate to the child’s assessed needs. This will include ensuring that a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is drawn up as part of the Care Plan before the child becomes looked after (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement and be available in time for the first Looked After Review. This should be recorded in the documents section of the ESCR entitled PEP.

6. Complaints and Advocacy

The social worker should ensure the child is given literature/information about:

• The Children’s Services Department's Complaints Procedure
• Advocacy Services provided by the authority

7. Permanency Planning Meetings

See Permanence Planning Procedure.

Permanency Planning meetings are held regularly on all children who are looked after for longer than 4 months and who are not in an agreed permanent placement. Permanency Planning Meetings are normally chaired by the relevant Team manager or Service Manager.

8. Support and Monitoring of Placements

If the child is placed out of hours, the EDT Worker must consult carers/the home and provide necessary immediate support to the placement.

The social worker must undertake a visit within a week of the placement and then at intervals required in Social Worker Visits Procedure.

If the child is placed with Foster Carers, the carers will receive support (provided by the Placement Support Team) and supervision (provided by the Fostering team) as set out in the following chapter: Supervision of Foster Carers Procedure

End