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Contents

1.	Planned Placements
	i.	Consultation Before Placement
	ii.	Assessment and Checks Before Placement
	iii.	Recommending the Plan
	iv.	Approval of the Placement
	v.	Short Term Placements
	vi.	Post Placement Arrangement
	vii.	Ending of Placement
2.	Unplanned Placements
3.	Placement During Care Procedures

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.

i. Consultation Before Placement

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
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. Relevant health practitioners including any Health Visitor known to the child (via the Health Visitor Manager), District Health Authority for the area where the child will live, the child’s GP and the GP and any Health Visitor known to the person whom it is proposed the child will be placed (with the person’s consent)
5. The child’s school and the local education authority where the child will live
6. The Foster Carer or Manager of the children’s Home currently caring for the child
7. The Probation Service if it has contact with the family
8. The Police
9. The Youth Offending Service
10. The relevant Children’s Social Care Services if the child is placed in another local authority’s area.
11. Existing Carers (foster Parent, residential worker etc.)
12. The foster Carer or Manager of the children’s Home currently caring for the child

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.

ii. Assessment and Checks Before Placement

The suitability of the proposed placement should be assessed in accordance with Schedule 3 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010:

• 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, the Carer’s GP, NSPCC and Children's Social Care records.

Schedule 3 sets out:

Matters to be taken into account when assessing the suitability of a Parent (P) to care for a Child (C).

1. In respect of the parent (P) -
   1. P’s capacity to care for children and in particular in relation to C to -
      1. Provide for C’s physical needs and appropriate medical and dental care,
      2. Protect C adequately from harm or danger, including from any person who presents a risk of harm to C,
      3. Ensure that the home environment is safe for C,
      4. Ensure that C’s emotional needs are met and C is provided with a positive sense of self, including any particular needs arising from C’s religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background, and any disability C may have,
      5. Promote C’s learning and intellectual development through encouragement, cognitive stimulation and the promotion of educational success and social opportunities,
      6. Enable C to regulate C’s emotions and behaviour, including by modelling appropriate behaviour and interactions with others, and
      7. Provide a stable family environment to enable C to develop and maintain secure attachments to P and other persons who provide care for C,
   2. P’s state of health including P’s physical, emotional and mental health and medical history including any current or past issues of domestic violence, substance misuse or mental health problems,
   3. P’s family relationships and the composition of P’s household, including particulars of -
      1. The identity of all other members of the household, including their age and the nature of their relationship with P and with each other, including any sexual relationship,
      2. Any relationship with any person who is a parent of C,
      3. Other adults not being members of the household who are likely to have regular contact with C, and
      4. Any current or previous domestic violence between members of the household, including P,
   4. P’s family history, including -
      1. Particulars of P’s childhood and upbringing including the strengths and difficulties of P’s parents or other persons who cared for P,
      2. P’s relationships with P’s parents and siblings, and their relationships with each other,
      3. P’s educational achievement and any specific learning difficulty or disability,
      4. A chronology of significant life events, and
      5. Particulars of other relatives and their relationships with C and P,
   5. Particulars of any criminal offences of which P has been convicted or in respect of which P has been cautioned,
   6. P’s past and present employment and other sources of income, and
   7. The nature of the neighbourhood in which P’s home is situated and resources available in the community to support C and P.

In respect of members of P’s household aged 18 and over, so far as is practicable, all the particulars specified in paragraph 1 except sub-paragraphs (d), (f) and (g).

iii. 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, where the child is still subject to a Child Protection Plan, the placement may only be authorised upon the recommendation of a Child Protection Review Conference.

The written reports/plans outlined in the next paragraph should be seen and endorsed by him/her prior to the review. The Designated Manager may then authorise the placement upon the recommendation of the Looked After Review or Child Protection Review Conference.

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

• A written report outlining the matters covered in Section above: What to include in the Written Report
• A copy of the child’s Care Plan, if available (the Manager may authorise that this be completed up to 7 days after the placement starts
• A Placement Plan/Information Record

iv. Approval of the Placement

The Designated Manager (Placement with Parents) may authorise the placement upon the recommendation of the review, having considered any reports. The Designated Manager should have seen the reports/plans referred to above prior to the review; if not, s/he should see them before authorising the placement.

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

What to include in the Written Report

The matters that must be covered in the written report or in the Care Plan, Placement Plan/Placement Information Records, placed before the Looked After Review or Child Protection Review Conference, and considered by the Designated Manager (Placement with Parents) before authorising the placement are as follows as set out in Schedule 3 above.

• summary of child’s & family’s history
• summary of how and why the child came to be in care
• summary of plan for the child when he/she originally came into care
• details of proposed placement with Parent
• 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
• 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
• support and services to be provided to the family and child
• details of supervision of placement
• arrangements for education
• contingency plans in case of breakdown.

v. 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

vi. Post Placement Arrangements

Once the child is placed, the Social Worker should undertake the notifications and other arrangements set out in Post Placement Arrangements Procedures.

vii. 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, 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; the standard letter SSD 1076 can be used for this purpose when 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 Care Plan and Placement Plan/Placement Information Record.

2. Unplanned Placements

The Designated Manager (Placement with Parents) 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,
3. The accommodation has been inspected and
4. Information has been obtained as to the other people in the household.

The reasons for a decision to place a child on this basis must be fully recorded on ICS In these circumstances, the Care Plan should be amended at the time or within a maximum of seven days of the placement.

A Placement Plan or Placement Information Record must also be completed, as far as possible, before or on the day of the placement and approved by the Designated Manager.

A Placement Plan/Placement Information Record should be completed prior to the placement, but the Designated Manager may authorise that this be completed up to 7 days after the placement starts.

For unplanned placements the Placement with Parents Procedure to be undertaken and the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record presented to the Designated Manager within within six weeks.

3. Placements During Care Procedures

The designated Manager may approve a placement during the course of care proceedings. Placement with Parents regulations to be completed within six weeks.

End