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Contents

1. Consultation
2. Risk Assessment
3. Placement Request
4. Identification of Placement and Matching
5. Placement Planning
6. Notification of Placement 
7. Support and Monitoring of Placements 
8. Ending of Placements
9. Permanent Foster Placements
10. Disruption Meetings

1. Consultation

At the point that it is determined that a placement may be required, and throughout the subsequent process of identification, planning and placement, the social worker must consult and take account of the views of the following people:

1. The child
2. The child’s parents
3. Anyone who is not a parent but has been caring for or looking after the child
4. Other members of the child’s family who are significant to the child or who have a Contact Order in their favour in relation to the child
5. The child’s school or the education service
6. The Youth Offending Service, if the child is known to them
7. Any other relevant person, e.g. nursery, health care professional, Children’s Guardian

The views of these people should be given by them, in writing, or should be recorded by the social worker.

If the child’s wishes are not acted upon, the reason should be given.

2. Risk Assessment

An assessment of risk must be made before any placement in foster care is made. The assessment will be of the risk to the child about to be placed as well and of the risk to any child already living in the placement - particularly where there is a proposal that children will share bedrooms.

In relation to the sharing of bedrooms, each child over 3 should have their own bedroom, or where this is not possible, the placing authority must agree to the sharing of the bedroom and this must therefore be addressed as part of the risk assessment and during the matching process.

The assessment will be made in discussion between the Placement Team, the referring social worker and the prospective foster carer's supervising social worker, and will be recorded by the Placement Team before any decision as to the placement is made.

3. Placement Request

Where a decision has been made that a child requires a foster placement, the child’s social worker should request a placement by sending a Placement Request Form, signed by their Service Manager, to the Placement Team.

In making this request, the social worker will be asked to provide information about the child, the type of placement sought, the Care Plan, the date by which the placement is required, the likely length of time for which the placement is required and the expected level of contact between the child and parents. The social worker should also outline any risks associated with the placement - see Section 2, Risk Assessment.

Where the request is for a first Looked After placement, the Placement Officer may query the plan to look after the child and suggest alternatives to the child becoming looked after.

Where the child is already Looked After, the Placement Officer will expect the child's social worker to provide a clear profile of the child's placement needs, including the child's own wishes, any identity, cultural, religious and dietary issues, as well as the child's emotional and developmental needs.

Where the request is for a long term or permanent foster placement - see also Section 9, Permanent Foster Placements.

4. Identification of Placement and Matching

4.1 Matching Issues

The matching process should consider the child's needs especially regarding the following key areas:

• The child’s education
• The expectations around contact with relatives and friends
• The child’s identify/race/culture
• The child’s history
• The child’s behaviour
• The child’s health
• The focus of the placement.

The matching process should also consider the carer's availability and:

• Their experience
• Their strengths
• The family composition
• The distance from the foster home to the child’s school
• Other children in the placement
• The foster carer's children.

4.2 In-house foster placements

The Placement Officer will first check whether an in-house placement is available that appears suitable to meet the child's needs, by referring the request to the duty worker from the Fostering Team. The foster carer's profile, together with advice from the prospective foster carer's supervising social worker, is used to assist this process, which will have regard to the issues as set out in 4.1 above.

If such a placement is available or if there is a possibility of a placement by the required date, the social worker will be advised accordingly. At this stage, the social worker will also discuss the child with the prospective foster carer and, in particular, discuss the risk assessment including the sharing of bedrooms where relevant with the foster carers and their supervising social worker. – see Section 2, Risk Assessment. Wherever possible, the child's social worker should visit potential carers and as required consult with other professionals, prior to a decision about the appropriateness of a placement being made.

Where there is a child already in the proposed foster placement, contact should be made with the social worker for that child and where the child is from a different local authority, the consent of that child’s local authority should be sought by the Placement Officer.

If the proposed placement is suitable, the social worker will seek his/her team manager's approval.

If the placement is outside the foster carer’s terms of approval or an exemption is required, see Fostering Variations and Extensions Procedure. 

4.3 Placements with Independent Fostering Agencies

If no appropriate in-house placements are available and the child requires a placement without delay, the Placement Team should seek the authority of the relevant Service Manager to make enquiries with independent fostering agencies to identify a suitable placement. If given the go ahead, the enquiries will be made firstly with preferred providers (i.e. those who already have a service level agreement with the borough) and then those with Pan London contracts. The weekly fees for the resource should always be checked.

The Placement Officer will ask to read the Form F of any carers proposed by an independent fostering agency and also seek feedback from social workers of children currently or previously placed there. A matching pro forma will also be used to assist the process

The Placement Officer will consult with the duty manager of the Placement Team and the child's social worker throughout the process.

Where a placement is proposed, at this stage, the social worker will discuss the child with the prospective foster carer and, in particular, discuss the risk assessment with the foster carers and their supervising social worker, including the sharing of bedrooms where relevant – see Section 2, Risk Assessment. Wherever possible, the child's social worker should visit potential carers and as required consult with other professionals, prior to a decision about the appropriateness of a placement being made.

If the placement appears suitable and the social worker's Service Manager agrees, the proposed placement will then be presented to the Access to Resources Panel for approval if the level of costs involved requires this - see Financial Agreement in Children's Placements and the Role of the Access to Resources Panel Procedure. This will happen prior to the placement if it is a planned move - otherwise it will be presented to the next available weekly Panel meeting.

Where the placement is with independent foster carers who live outside the local authority area, see also Out of Area Placements Procedure.

Where there is a child already in the proposed foster placement, contact should be made with the social worker for that child and where the child is from a different local authority, the consent of that child’s local authority should be sought by the Placement Officer.

Once the placement has been agreed, the Placement Team duty admin. officer will draw up an Individual Child Agreement with the independent fostering agency, a copy of which will be sent to the child's social worker. Where there is no existing contract with the provider, a contract will also be negotiated by the Placement Officer (on similar terms to the Pan London contract). 

4.4 Avoidance of Disruption in Education

NB In addition to the above approvals, in order to avoid placements that disrupt a child’s education,the Nominated Officer must approve any change of placement affecting a child in Key Stage 4 except in an emergency/ where the placement is terminated because of an immediate risk of serious harm to the child  or to protect others from  serious injury.

5.  Placement Planning

Before the child is placed with in-house foster carers, the child's social worker will arrange a Placement Planning Meeting. If the placement is with an independent fostering agency, the Placement Officer will liaise with the foster carer and the foster carer’s supervising social worker to arrange a Placement Planning Meeting. The meeting will usually be in the new placement.

Participants will include:

• the parent;
• the child (if appropriate);
• the child social worker
• the foster carer;
• the supervising social worker;
• the Designated Teacher or a representative of the LACE Team;
• anyone else considered appropriate or to have a role in the Placement Plan, e.g. relative, nursery, health care professional, YOS worker, Placement Officer.

The purpose of the Placement Planning Meeting is to finalise the Placement Plan/which is recorded on the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record. This will involve a discussion of the child’s needs to ensure careful matching, including the child’s personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin, as well as the child’s health and education needs and their religious, racial, cultural and linguistic needs, and how these are to be met. It will also include the arrangements for registering the child with local health professionals (GP, dentist and optician).

In addition the placement planning meeting will consider the type of introduction process required, for example whether arrangements should be made for the child, parents and the social worker to visit the foster home and/or whether it may be appropriate to have an introductory overnight stay. Children should be able to visit the foster home and talk in private with the carer. If this is not possible, arrangements may be made for the carers to visit the child and parents; or for information about the foster carers to be sent to the child and/or the parents, for example about routines in the foster home, bedtimes, meals, visitors, pocket money, school, privacy and the overall expectations in relation to the child’s behaviour within the home.

For children placed in foster care, the Placement Plan should cover the following issues in addition to those for all placements set out in the Decision to Look After and Care Planning Procedure:

1. The type of accommodation to be provided and the address.
2. The child’s personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin.
3. Where the child is Accommodated, the respective responsibilities of the Local Authority and parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility; any delegation of responsibility by parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility to the Local Authority for the child’s  day-to-day care; the expected duration of the arrangements and the steps to bring the arrangements to an end, including arrangements for the child  to return to live with parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility; where the child  is aged 16 or over and agrees to being provided with accommodation under Section 20 Children Act 1989, that fact.
4. The circumstances in which it is necessary to obtain in advance the Local Authority’s  approval for the child to take part in school trips or overnight stays
5. The Local Authority’s arrangements for the financial support of the child during the placement

The obligation on the carers to comply with the terms of the foster care agreement. 

The delegated authority for the foster carers in day-to-day issues for the child should be recorded using the Fostering Network’s Decision Tool.

Where the placement arrangements include respite for the foster carers, these arrangements must be included in the Placement Plan.

The meeting also provides an opportunity to ensure that the foster carers have a copy of any relevant court order and that full information is shared with them about the child's needs and any behaviour management issues.

Wherever possible, the Placement Planning Meeting should be held before the placement. Where this is not possible, it should be held at the latest within 5 working days of the placement.

The child’s social worker will complete and arrange for the circulation of the Care Plan before or, at the latest, within 10 working days of the placement and the child’s Placement Plan/Placement Information Record to the child, parents and foster carers before or, at the latest, within 5 working days of the placement.

Before or at the time of the placement, the foster carers will also be given any additional information about details of the child’s day to day needs which are not covered by the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record but are important to ensure that the carers are in the best possible position to help the child settle in the new placement, for example any particular fears at night-time or the child’s favourite toys. 

Where the placement is the child's first placement as a Looked After Child, the child’s social worker must provide the child and the parent with written information about coming into care, including information on using the Complaints Procedure.

The child's social worker must prepare the child for the move and, where the placement is likely to be long term or permanent, this should include carrying out life story work - see Life Story Books Guidance.

In all cases, the child should be accompanied to the placement by the social worker and helped to settle in. Suitable luggage should be used and a child’s belongings should never be transported in bin-bags or other inappropriate containers.

6.  Notification of Placement

The child’s social worker will inform the Placement Team of the date of the placement. The Placement Team will then update the child's electronic record with the details of the placement and notify the finance section so as to trigger payments as appropriate.

Where a child is placed out of the borough, the Placement Team will also notify the relevant local Children’s Services Department.

The child’s social worker should notify in writing all those involved in the day to day arrangements for the child, including the GP, school and any health professional or YOS worker actively involved with the child.

The child’s social worker will also notify all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process of the placement. These notifications must be made in writing, advising of the placement decision and the name and address of the children's home where the child is to be placed.

All notifications should be sent before the start of the placement, wherever possible, or within 5 working days.

The child's social worker must also inform the allocated Independent Reviewing Officer of the placement or, if it is the first placement, the Review Coordinator in the Safeguarding Children and Quality Assurance Service. This will trigger the appointment of an Independent Reviewing Officer, and the setting up of arrangements for the child's first Looked After Review.

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 the child is placed. This responsibility may be carried out by the foster carer at the request of the social worker.

In relation to a first Looked After placement it will also be necessary for the social worker to liaise with the Looked After Children's Health Coordinator to arrange a Health Care Assessment (see Health Assessments and Health Action Plans Procedure).

The social worker must also contact the school and/or the LACE Team with a view to the completion of a Personal Education Plan (see Education for Looked After Children Procedure). For any new placement, 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 wellbeing.

7.  Support and Monitoring of Placements

The child’s social worker must visit the child in the placement within one week of the placement and then every six weeks during the first year, thereafter every six weeks (three months if the placement is intended to last until the child is 18) - see Social Work Visits Procedure.

The records of the visits should be monitored for quality, adequacy and retention.

The foster carer will also receive support and supervision from their supervising social worker (for in-house placements) - see Support and Supervision of Foster Carers Procedure and from the independent fostering agency (for external placements).

Where the placement is with an independent fostering agency, the Placement Team will monitor the ongoing progress of the placement through follow up calls to the allocated social worker and the independent fostering agency. In appropriate cases, the Placement Officer may also visit the placement.

Where the approval of the Access to Resources Panel was required for the placement, it will also be reviewed regularly by the Panel - the frequency of review will be determined when the placement is first approved.

Where there are concerns in relation to the progress of the placement, consideration should be given to seeking additional resources to assist the placement. However, no additional resources should be agreed without obtaining budgetary approval including from the Access to Resources Panel if the panel originally approved the placement.

Where there are any changes to the type of placement or to the child's legal status during the placement, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic record and inform the Placement Team so that any required actions can be taken in relation to finance.

8. Ending of Placements

When the placement ends, the child’s social worker will update the child's electronic record and inform the Placement Team who will notify the finance section so that payments to the carer/provider will cease. The social worker will also inform those notified when the placement was made that the placement has ended.

All written information on the child, which the foster carer holds, should be passed by the foster carer to the supervising social worker for transfer to the child’s social worker.

The child's social worker should complete an end of placement reports, which should be held foster carer's file.

Children must, when they leave the home, be helped to understand the reasons and be supported with the transition – including return home and independence.

Foster carers must be supported to maintain links with children who leave their care, where appropriate.

Foster Carers are required to make savings on behalf of foster children; these will be handed over to the child's Social Worker at the end of the placement.

Foster Carers are expected to develop a placement album of the child's time in the placement; this will also be handed over to the child's Social Worker at the end of the placement.

Where the ending of the placement is unplanned, but does not meet the criteria for holding a Disruption Meeting (see Section 10, Disruption Meetings), the social worker's team manager, in discussion with the Service Manager, will decide whether to convene a management review meeting to consider the reasons for the breakdown of the placement, whether there are lessons to be learned and whether there are implications for the child's next placement and any support needs that the child and/or prospective carers will need to address any risks of further breakdowns. The social worker's and foster carer's end of placement reports should be presented to any such meeting.

Where a former carer’s records are requested by a new agency, these must be made available within one month of the request.

9. Permanent Foster Placements

Where the permanence plan for a child is permanent fostering, the plan must be presented to the Adoption and Permanency Panel. When the plan is presented to the Panel, the child's social worker must present the Child's Permanence Report, the BAAF Form F in relation to the proposed permanent foster carers and a report on the proposed match.

The Adoption and Permanency Panel will make a recommendation in relation to the plan and the proposed match to the Agency Decision Maker who will make the decision.

See also: Permanency Policy and Permanence Planning Procedure and Permanence Planning for Children in Care Guidance.

10. Disruption Meetings

Where a permanent foster placement ends in an unplanned way, consideration should be given by the Adoption Team Manager to convening a Disruption Meeting. The Adoption Team will invite the child’s social worker, his or her team manager/assistant team manager, the foster carers, the supervising social worker, the current carers, the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer and any other relevant people. 

Usually, an ‘off-line’ manager will chair the meeting. However if the disruption issues are particularly complex , then funding can be sought to appoint an independent person to chair the meeting.

The precise agenda will depend on the child/circumstances, but the Chair should ensure the circumstances leading to the disruption are properly reviewed, and that all concerned are provided with opportunities to express their views freely with a view to establishing:

• How and why the disruption occurred
• To learn from what happened and avoid the same thing happening again - for the child or others in the foster home
• To contribute to the future planning for the child
• To identify work to be done and to ensure it is completed.

The Chair should keep minutes, which must be circulated to all concerned.  Where the report relates to a permanent foster placement, the report of the Disruption Meeting should be presented to the Fostering Panel.

The child needs to have resolved any of their issues that may have contributed to the disruption and their feelings arising from it before entering a new permanent placement.

The carers should also have the opportunity to discuss the events and their feelings of loss about them.

Consideration needs to be given to holding an early Foster Carer Review to consider the foster carer’s approval – see Review of Foster Carers Procedure.

End