3.3.1 Decision to Look After

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

The chapter summarises the key steps that must be taken in deciding that a child should become Looked After.

AMENDMENTS

This chapter was slightly updated in October 2011 in regard to Decision to Accommodate and amended in November 2011 in regard to Notification from Parents Private Family Arrangements.

Decision to Look After a Child
The Care Plan
Other Plans and Arrangements

1. Decision to Look After a Child

Decision to Accommodate

Where Social Care are requested to accommodate or consider Accommodating a child, timely assessments will incorporate consideration of providing supports to the family and or extended family to bolster their abilities to continue safely caring for the child.

Research clearly indicates that the outcomes for those children who become Looked After are significantly poorer than those who remain in their family of origin. It is therefore important that all attempts to exhaust the Local Authority duties, under Section 17 Children Act 1989, to promote & safeguard the welfare of children within their family are made.

Assessments will consider:

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 Social Care.

Consideration should be given to convening a Family Group Conference/ family meeting and or using mediation and support services such as:

Lewisham Action & Mediation Project, (LAMP);
Parents Support Group;
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service;
Meliot Road Family Centre.

Where it has been established that the child is likely to be at risk of significant harm and this harm cannot be mitigated by the family's own resources and the provision of support services by Social Care or other agencies the Service Manager should be consulted.

The Service Manager will:

Make a decision about agreement to provide accommodation under Section 20 Children Act 1989 if it is immediately required;

And/or

Will chair a Legal Planning Meeting (See Legal Planning Meetings Procedure) to decide whether Court Orders are required to safeguard the child's welfare through Local Authority applications to the Family Proceedings Courts;

And/or
Will request the social worker to present the matter to the next Care Planning Panel.

All cases where a Parent requests accommodation for a child of 3 or under and this is not agreed, must be have an Initial Assessment completed within 24 hours. This must include a Home visit and the child and her/his Parents must be seen. In all these cases, the decision not to agree accommodation must be signed of by the Service Manger within 24 hours of the visit.

It must also be noted that all children where Children's Social Care are responsible for making the arrangements for children to stay with relatives should be regarded as LAC. If the family are responsible for making their own arrangements then this can be seen as a private matter. If in doubt, legal advice should be sought.

Outside office hours, the Emergency Duty Team can make the decision to Look After a child (See Emergency Duty Team Procedures). 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.

In normal working hours, a decision to Look After a child should be considered by the Social Worker in consultation with their Manager, and recommended by the Service Manager. A Care Plan and other plans should be completed, as set out below.

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.

There are some cases where the child is not able to reside in the same household as their parents due to safeguarding issues whilst further assessments are undertaken. In these instances the parents along with member of the extended family may prefer to place the child with a trusted member of the family or close friend instead of foster care.

In such cases the family should be asked to complete the Notification from Parents Private Family Arrangements Template, where the parents make it clear that they do not want their child in care and specify the arrangements they have made to keep the child safe.

Their acceptance of this notification is subject to satisfactory checks and assessment of the extended family member/friend and the social worker's confidence in the ability of all concerned to work openly and honestly with professionals. Given that this is a family arrangement, it is up to the parents to make financial arrangements to pay the family member or friend. Once the notification is completed and signed by the parent, a copy should be placed on Meridio with a case note in ICS stating: Family Notification of Safeguarding Arrangements on Meridio dated xx/xx/xx)

Before a recommendation is made to the Service Manager, consideration should be given to other extended family members or friends who might be prepared to care for the child without the need for the child to be Looked After. Any such arrangement would have to be agreed with the Parent, and the Social Worker and Manager must be satisfied that such an arrangement is sufficiently secure to meet the child's needs. Such an arrangement must be supported by a Child in Need Plan.

If no such arrangement can be identified or is unlikely to meet the child's needs, and the Service Manager has approved the plan to Look After, a Pre-Placement Planning Meeting should be held, if possible, to plan or consider the matters listed below (See Placement and Disruption Meetings Procedure). At this stage, the Social Worker should contact the Placement & Procurement Service and complete the following forms: 'PL1' and 'Needs and Risk Assessment' - see Placement and Procurement Process Procedure.

The matters that should be considered, preferably at a planning meeting with the Parent(s) and child(ren) are:

The date for the child's placement in the Looked After Service;
The child's immediate placement needs, including whether a Looked After placement with a relative or friend may be possible (see Placement with Family and Friends Procedure);
The longer term plan;
Whether a Family Group Conference needs to be considered in order to assist the family the overall planning for the child;
A date for the child to return Home or when the decision will be reviewed;
An action plan of support and work to enable the necessary change for the child to return Home;
The obtaining of Parental consent to look after the child and Consent to medical care;
The need for Care Proceedings to secure the child's placement.

The Social Worker will be responsible for seeking an appropriate placement for the child via the Placement & Procurement Service and making the necessary arrangements in relation to the placement, in accordance with the Placement Procedures contained in Placement and Procurement Process Procedure of this manual. Form PL1 should be updated as necessary throughout the process.

2. The Care Plan

See Care Plan Guidance.

Where a decision is made to look after a child, the child must have a Care Plan.

The child's Social Worker is responsible for drawing up and updating the Care Plan in consultation with:

The child;
The child's Parents;
Anyone who is not a Parent but has been caring for or looking after the child;
Other members of the child's family network who are significant to the child;
The child's school or education authority;
The relevant health trust;
The Youth Offending Service, if the child is known to them;
Any other agency involved with the child's care.

2.1 Timescales for completion of the Care Plan

The Care Plan must be drawn up as soon as the need for the child to be Looked After has been identified but, at the latest, within 1 working day of the child's placement in accordance with the outcome of the Planning Meeting referred to in Section 1, Decision to Look After a Child.

If there are exceptional reasons that prevent the Care Plan from being drawn up prior to the child's placement, the key objectives of the child's proposed placement must still be identified and recorded. If satisfied, the Manager can then approve that the Care Plan is drawn up within a maximum of 7 days of the placement.

2.2 Approval of the Care Plan

Any Care Plan taken before the Court within Care Proceedings must be endorsed and signed by the Service Manager

All other Care Plans must be endorsed and signed by the Social Worker's Manager.

The Care Plan can be updated by the Social Worker, with the Manager's approval, at any time

The Care Plan is subject to scrutiny at each Looked After Review.

2.3 Circulation of the Care Plan

The Care Plan must be circulated to the following people:

The child;
The Parent(s);
Providers/Carers - if no Care Plan has been drawn up prior to the child's placement, the Social Worker must ensure that the providers/Carers understand the key objectives of the plan, and how the placement will help achieve these objectives.

3. Other Plans and Arrangements

This summarises the other plans that must be drafted. For more detail see Post Placement Arrangements Procedure.

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.

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 arrangement;
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.

3.1 Other Plans/Records

The Social Worker should additionally complete or update the following records immediately or within specified timescales:

The child's Chronology (or Essential Information Record);
A Personal Education Plan (PEP): in time for the first Looked After Review;
A Health Care Plan: in time for the first Looked After Review.

End