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Contents

1.	Consultation and Planning
	1.1	Consultation
	1.2	Planning
2.	Placements Process - Planned Placements
	2.1	Definition of Planned Placement
	2.2	Placement Request
	2.3	Identification and Approval of the Placement
	2.4	Placement Planning
	2.5	Notification of Placement
	2.6	The Linkworker (in-house placements)
3.	Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements
	3.1	Support and Monitoring of Placements
	3.2	Ending of Placements
	3.3	Disruption Meetings

1. Consultation and Planning

1.1 Consultation

At the point that it is determined that a placement in residential care 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 and others with Parental Responsibility;
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;
5. The child’s school or the relevant 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;
8. The child’s Independent Reviewing Officer.

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

1.2  Planning

See Decision to Look After, Care and Placement Planning Procedure for procedures relating to the initial decision to look after a child, and the drafting and approval of the Care Plan and other essential documentation.

2. Placements Process - Planned Placements

2.1  Definition of Planned Placement

A Planned Placement is the placement of a child in residential care following an assessment and planning process whereby, at the time of the placement, a Care Plan and Placement Plan/Placement Information Record are in place.

For emergency placements, see Emergency Placement Procedure.

2.2 Placement Request

Where a decision has been made that a child requires a residential placement, the child’s social worker should complete a Placement Request Form and send it, signed by the relevant 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, including any history of the child's violent behaviour or abuse of others, or abuse of drugs.

2.3 Identification and Approval of the Placement

The Placement Team will check whether an in-house residential placement is available that appears suitable to meet the child's needs. This will be the subject of a discussion involving the manager on duty at the relevant home and, as necessary, the Team Manager for Residential Services/Service Manager, Resources.

Whether the placement is regarded as suitable will depend on whether the age, gender and presenting issues of the child fit the home's Statement of Purpose, whether the proposed plan is compatible with the needs of the children already in the home and the likely effect that the proposed placement may have on these children.

If such a placement is available or if there is a possibility of a such a placement by the required date, the social worker will be advised accordingly and the placement planning process can start - see Section 2.4, Placement Planning.

If no appropriate in-house placements are available and the child requires a placement without delay, the procedure set out in Financial Agreement in Children's Placements and the Role of the Access to Resources Panel Procedure will be followed. Where there is a multi agency element, the Access to Resources Panel may refer the case to the Multi Agency Resources Panel - see Multi Agency Panel for Children with Complex, Multiple and High Level Needs Procedure.

Where the residential placement is outside the local authority area, see also Out of Area Placements Procedure.

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.

Once approval has been obtained, the Placement Team will make enquiries with other providers to identify a suitable placement. The enquiries will be made firstly with preferred providers (i.e. those who already have a service level agreement with the borough and thereafter those with Pan London contracts). The Placement Officer will consult with the duty manager of the Placement Team and the child's social worker throughout the process. Where a provider is identified who has not previously been used or is rarely used by Hillingdon, the Placement Officer should request the home's Statement of Purpose and latest inspection report, plus verbal references from two social workers who have children placed there. The weekly fees for the resource should always be checked.

Wherever possible, the child’s social worker should visit potential homes and as required consult with other professionals, prior to a decision about the appropriateness of a placement being made.

Once a possible resource has been identified, the social worker should contact the relevant registered manager directly to discuss the available placement further.

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 Panel approves the placement, the placement planning process can start - see Section 2.4 and the Placement Team duty admin. officer will draw up an Individual Child Agreement with the provider, 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. 

The social worker may then arrange visits to the proposed placement, with the child (if old enough) and parents (if appropriate).

2.4 Placement Planning

Before the child is placed, the child’s social worker will liaise with the relevant registered manager to provide details of the child’s immediate child care needs and to arrange a Placement Planning Meeting. The meeting will usually be held in the child’s new placement.

Participants will include:

• The parent;
• The child (if appropriate)
• The key residential staff;
• The Designated Teacher from the child's school and/or a representative of the LACE Team;
• Anyone else considered appropriate or to have a role in the Placement Plan e.g. relative, health care professional, YOS worker, the Placement Officer.

The purpose of the Placement Planning Meeting is to finalise the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record and the details of the child’s needs in the placement including the daily routine, identify the Link Worker and discuss the Care Plan. This will involve a discussion of the child’s needs, including their health and education needs, as well as their personal history, religious persuasion, racial origin, cultural and linguistic background, 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).

For children placed in residential care, the Placement Plan should cover the following issues in addition to those for all placements set out in the Decision to Look After, Care and Placement Planning Procedure, Section 6.1 Placement Plan/Placement Information Record:

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.

As part of the placement planning, a risk assessment will be completed in relation to any risks posed by the child to him or herself or others in the placement. This will inform the development of any specific strategies for managing and addressing any violent or inappropriately sexualised behaviour on the part of the child, or issues of substance misuse, including smoking and alcohol. This will include engaging specialist help and advice for the child as appropriate. It will also include a Contingency Plan if the strategy is not successful.

Where the purpose of the placement is for a short term assessment, the meeting will plan the assessment - its timescales, how the child will contribute, how the child's parents will be involved, whether any specialist input is required and what will happen once the assessment is concluded.

The meeting also provides an opportunity to ensure that the registered manager has a copy of any relevant court order.

Wherever possible, the Placement Planning Meeting should be used to plan any introductions to the placement and the date for the placement, for example whether arrangements should be made for the child, parents and the social worker to visit the home and/or whether it may be appropriate to have an introductory overnight stay. If this is not possible, arrangements may be made for residential staff to visit the child and parents; or for information about the home to be sent to the child and/or the parents, for example about routines in the home, bedtimes, meals, visitors, pocket money, school, privacy and the overall expectations in relation to the child’s behaviour within the home.

If it is not possible to hold a Placement Planning Meeting before the placement, it must take place within 72 hours of the placement.

The child’s social worker will complete and arrange for the circulation of the Care Plan and Placement Plan/Placement Information Record to the child, parents and residential staff before or within 72 hours of the placement.

At the time of the placement, the residential staff must also be given any additional information about details of the child’s day to day needs which may not covered by the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record but are important to ensure that the home is in the best possible position to help the child settle in the new placement, for example any particular fears at night-time or other emotional needs.

If this is the child's first placement, the child’s social worker must provide the child with written information about the Looked After service, including information on using the authority's Complaints Procedure.

The social worker should ensure that any Children’s Guide and other information about the placement that is available for the child is also obtained and given to him/her.

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.

2.5 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 also 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.

The notifications should be before the start of the placement 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 home or 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. 

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 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.

2.6 The Link Worker (in-house placements)

The allocation of the link worker will take account of the child's wishes and, so far as resources allow, will be sensitive to the child's gender and ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic background.

The main responsibilities of the Link Worker are:

• To be the main direct worker in planning the admission process, including introductory visits to the child where s/he currently lives and arranging an introductory visit for the child to the home;
• To be the responsible worker through the admission of the child to the home;
• Where assessment is the primary task of the placement, to coordinate the assessment process and to write and present the assessment report;
• To implement the child's Placement Plan;
• To undertake specific pieces of work as detailed in the Placement Plan;
• To ensure that the child's primary care needs are met and to encourage good self-care, helping to tidy the room, maintain clothes, monitoring personal hygiene and make effective use of clothing and any other allowances;
• To maintain effective liaison with family members, other professionals and other people significant to the child and to promote good relationships between the child and those people;
• To ensure that the child's health and educational needs are met as effectively as possible and to liaise with the child's school, GP and other health care and educational professionals to that end;
• To attend all planning and review meetings with the child;
• To ensure that the child's records kept in the home are kept up to date.

Link workers will normally undertake at least one 1:1 session each week with the child.

The Link Worker will write a monthly report on the child, shared with the child and placed on the child's case record. A copy will be sent to the child's social worker.

3. Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements

3.1 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 at a minimum of every six weeks; see procedures in Social Worker Visits Procedure.

Where the placement is with an external provider, the Placement Team will monitor the ongoing progress of the placement through follow up calls to the allocated social worker and visits to the placement. These visits will take place a minimum of 6 monthly but will be more frequent if the social worker identifies difficulties with the placement. The placement will also be reviewed regularly by the Access to Resources Panel - the frequency of review will be determined by the Panel when the placement is first approved - where the cost is more than £1,200 per week, the review will be a minimum of 8 weekly and the placement cannot last for longer than 6 months in total without the agreement of the Head of Service.

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 referring the matter to the Access to Resources Panel for approval.

3.2 Ending of Placements

For planned discharges, a discharge plan should be drawn up at a planning meeting involving the child, the parents, the child's social worker, the Link Worker and the new carer. it is the responsibility of the child's social worker to convene this meeting.

The discharge plan will set out:

• Plans for introducing the child to the new placement - dates, times, transport arrangements, how their belongings will be taken to their new home etc;
• How continuity of health care and educational provision will be ensured;
• Specific work/tasks to be undertaken, and by whom, in preparation for the move;
• Any arrangements for post-discharge contact between the residential staff, the child and the new carer;
• Arrangements for transferring the records held by the residential home to the child's social worker.

Unplanned discharges from in-house resources should only be considered in the following circumstances:

• Where the placement is unsafe for the child and all possible steps have been taken to minimise the risk; and/or
• The child poses a significant danger or risk of abuse to other children and/or staff; and/or
• A continuation of the placement would cause significant detriment to other children in the placement.

For young people leaving care, see the Leaving Care Procedure.

The child’s social worker must notify the Placement Team when a placement ends. 

The social worker must also update the child's electronic record and inform the relevant finance officer so that any payments to the provider will cease.  The social worker will also inform those notified when the placement was made of the ending of the placement.

The daily record kept on the child while in the residential placement will be transferred to the child's social worker at the end of the placement.

3.3 Disruption Meetings

Where a residential placement ends in an unplanned way, consideration should be given to holding a Disruption Meeting. If a meeting is held, it should be convened within 5 days of the placement breakdown. The child’s social worker will invite the manager of the home and key residential staff, the current carers, the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer and any other relevant people. The social worker's team manager/assistant team manager will usually chair the meeting. In complex cases, however, consideration should be given to appointing an independent person to chair the meeting.

The meeting will ensure the child is given the opportunity to understand and come to terms with the disruption.

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 residential 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.

End