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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Situations Where these Procedures do not Apply
3. Approval of Immediate Placements of Looked After Children with Family and Friends / Connected Persons
4. The Placement
5. Assessment and Approval of Family and Friend/Connected Persons as Foster Carers
6. Ending the Placement

1. Introduction

The following procedure covers immediate placements of looked after children with family and friends/a Connected Person where the carers are not already approved as foster carers. Placements under this procedure should only be made in exceptional or unforeseen circumstances. This could include following a court remanding a child to local authority accommodation - see Remands to Local Authority Accommodation or to Youth Detention Accommodation Procedure.

A Connected Person is defined as: "A relative, friend or other person connected with a child. The latter is someone who would not fit the term 'relative or friend', but who has a pre-existing relationship with the child. It could be someone who knows the child in a more professional capacity such as (for example) a child-minder, a teacher or a youth worker."

Relative is defined as “a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) or step-parent".

The procedure sets out the checks that need to be made before such a placement can be made.

It also covers the procedure to be followed to carry out the required assessment and approval of the Connected Person as foster carers if the placement is to last longer than 16 weeks.

2. Situations Where these Procedures do not Apply

These procedures do not apply where a child (under 16 yrs) goes to live with a relative or friend and this is a private arrangement between the parent/person with Parental Responsibility and carer. Legal advice maybe required in individual cases.

3. Approval of Immediate Placements of Looked After Children with Family and Friends / Connected Persons

Where it is identified that a child is not able to live with their birth family and that the best place for a child to be placed is with a family or friend, if it has been necessary for the child concerned to be accommodated by the local authority, the placement made is a foster placement and the carers become foster carers from that point.

Under Regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010 a child may be placed with someone who is considered as a connected person before they have been fully assessed and approved as a foster carer, providing a Regulation 24 assessment has been completed and it is deemed likely that a full fostering assessment will be completed. If temporary approval as family and friends foster carer is granted under Regulation 24, the full assessment must be completed within 16 weeks. Only in exceptional circumstances can applications for an extension of a further 8 weeks be put forward (Regulation 25 of the care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010). This is subject to approval by the nominated officer (who is also the Agency Decision Maker in Rochdale) following the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer being notified and the views of fostering panel being sought).

The completed family and friends assessment is presented to fostering panel by the assessing social worker and the child care social worker. The applicants are also invited to attend panel to share any additional information and answer any questions which panel may have.

Assessments of family and friends foster carers must cover all aspects of a family or friends ability to care for a named child(ren) and detail how they will be able to do this. Statutory checks, DBS checks and medicals are undertaken on applicants and DBS checks are completed for anyone in the household over the age of 18. Heath and safety checks and safer caring policies must be completed which consider the suitability of accommodation, house rules and how the child will be cared for in a safe way. Assessment as to whether the accommodation and home environment is suitable will include, where relevant, an initial risk assessment of any pets together with the environment in which the pet is kept – for further information, see Placements with Dogs Policy.

Family and Friends Foster carers may also be assessed and approved (where they meet the Fostering Service Regulations and Standards) before a child is placed with them. 

Once approved (either temporary or following full assessment) they are entitled to the same level of support, supervision, training and financial support as general foster care. This includes membership to the Fostering Network.

All foster carers must sign a written agreement (the Fostering Agreement) setting out the expectations they will need to meet and the support they will receive. All Foster carers are subject to at annual reviews (or more frequently if required) and must be visited announced and unannounced. All Foster carers are allocated a Supervising Social Worker from the fostering team and any children placed receive support from a Child Care Social Worker.

4. The Placement

A Placement Planning Meeting should be held before the placement or, where this is not possible because of the urgency of the placement, within 5 working days.

On the placement of the child, the child's social worker will ensure the child's Care Plan and the written Placement Plan is given to the carer.

If the child was not previously Looked After, the child's social worker will send a notification of the child's placement and a request for the child's first Looked After Review to the Independent Review Unit.

If the child was already looked after, the social worker will send notification of the placement to the child's Independent Reviewing Officer.

If the child was already looked after, the social worker will send notification of the placement to the child's Independent Reviewing Officer.

The child's social worker must visit and see the child alone in the placement (unless she/he refuses) each week until the first Looked After Review and thereafter at intervals of not more than 4 weeks during the period of temporary approval. The visits are to be fully recorded as statutory visits.

The child's social worker will update the electronic record with the details of the placement and notify the finance section of the placement to trigger payments to the carer.

Notification of the placement will also be sent by the child's social worker to the relevant local Children's Services Department if the placement is in a different local authority area.

These notifications must be made in writing, advising of the placement decision and the name and address of the person with whom the child is to be placed. They must be sent before the placement wherever possible or within 5 working days of the placement.

The child's social worker will notify all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process of the placement.

The child's social worker should also notify - preferably in writing but it may be verbally - all those involved in the day to day arrangements for the child, including nursery/school, GP and any health professional or YOS worker actively involved with the child.

It will be necessary for the child's social worker to ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician, either retaining practices known to him or her (which is preferable) or in the area where they are placed.

In relation to a first Looked After placement it will also be necessary for the social worker to arrange a Health Assessment - see Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure.

The social worker must also arrange for the completion of a Personal Education Plan - see the Supporting the Education and Promoting the Achievement of Children with a Social Worker, Looked After and Previously Looked After Children Procedure. Every effort should be made to enable the child to remain at the same school unless there are reasons which would be detrimental to his or her well being.

5.Assessment and Approval of Family and Friend/Connected Persons as Foster Carers

The full fostering assessment  should be completed after the placement is made. The Regulation 24 assessment  will contribute to this.

The temporary approval can be extended for a further period of up to 8 weeks in exceptional circumstances (if it is likely to expire before the assessment is completed) or until the outcome of the Independent Review (if the outcome of the assessment is that the family and friend / Connected Person is not approved and seeks a review of the decision - see Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers Procedure).

Before deciding whether to extend the approval, the Nominated Officer must consider if the placement is still the most appropriate placement available, and must seek the views of the Fostering Panel and inform the Independent Reviewing Officer before the above approval is given.

A file will be opened for the foster carer's assessment. The allocated assessing social worker will immediately arrange for a slot to be booked on the Fostering Panel within 16 weeks for the assessment to be considered.

The procedure for the assessment and approval is as for all applicants - see Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers Procedure.

6. Ending the Placement

When the placement ends, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic record and  notification will be sent to the finance section so that payments to the carer/provider will cease.

The social worker must also notify the Independent Reviewing Officer.

The social worker will also send copies to those notified when the placement was made.

Where appropriate, consideration may be given to holding a Disruption Meeting in which case the procedure set out in Placement Planning and Disruption Meetings Procedure should be followed.

End