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Contents

1. Assessment and Checks Before Placement
2. Relevant Plans
3. Approval of Placements
4. Notification of Placements
5. Assessment of Connected Person
6. Support and Monitoring of Placement
7. Ending of Placements

 
1. Assessment and Checks Before Placement

Before any placement with a Connected Person is made, the child’s social worker must assess its suitability including the level of support likely to be required and the effect of the proposed placement upon the child’s contact with parents, siblings and other relatives and friends who are significant to the child. 

In making such an assessment of suitability:

• The proposed carer must be interviewed
• The accommodation must be inspected and
• Information must be obtained about other persons in the household. 
• The proposed carer and all members of the household aged 16 and above must be checked with the Police Family Protection Team, the family’s GP and Social Services records

The wishes of those with parental responsibility for the child must also be ascertained.

The social worker must arrange for the carers to complete applications for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks then send the completed applications as soon as practicable to the Commissioning Team. The Designated Manager (Criminal Records Bureau) must sign the forms before they are sent for checks to be made.

The Initial Assessment should be carried out by the social worker and present to the Agency Decision Maker prior to the child being placed so that the Agency Decision Maker can make the decision as to whether or not the placement can happen. The manager of the Fostering Assessment Team should be notified of the decision with a copy of the viability assessment which they will use to allocate work to meet the 16 week deadline. If the placement is approved, request a more thorough (Luton Fostering Assessment Form) Assessment of the carers to be completed within sixteen weeks. See Section 5, Assessment of Relatives/Friends as Foster Carers.

The placement may only continue after 16 weeks if the Connected Person is approved as a foster carer - see Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers Procedure.

Matters to be taken into account when assessing the suitability of a Connected Person to care for the child are:

1. The nature and quality of any existing relationship with the child
2. Their capacity to care for children and, in particular in relation to the child (or children) concerned,  to provide for his/her physical needs and appropriate medical and dental care; to protect the child adequately from harm or danger including from any person who presents a risk of harm to the child; to ensure that the accommodation and home environment is suitable; in relation to the child’s age and developmental stage, to promote his/her  learning and development; to provide a stable family environment which will promote secure attachments for the child, including promoting positive contact with parents  and other connected persons, unless this is not consistent with the child’s welfare.
3. State of health (physical, emotional and mental), and medical history including current or past issues of domestic violence, substance misuse or mental health problems
4. Family relationships and the composition of the household, including particulars of all other members of the household, their age and the nature of any relationship with the connected person and each other including any sexual relationship; any relationship with the parents; any relationship between the child and other members of the household; other adults (not members of the household) likely to have regular contact with the child; any current or previous domestic violence between members of the household, including the connected person
5. Their family history, including their childhood and upbringing, and the strengths and difficulties of their parents or others who cared for them; their relationship with parents and siblings and each other; educational achievement and any learning difficulty/disability; chronology of significant life events; particulars of other relatives and their relationships with the child  and the connected person
6. Any criminal offences
7. Past and present employment and other sources of income
8. Nature of the neighbourhood and resources available in the community to support the child and the Connected Person.

The home must be visited by the social worker as part of the assessment of the suitability of arrangements.

The child’s wishes and feelings (subject to age and understanding) must be ascertained and recorded and wherever possible, an opportunity must be provided for the child to visit the home before the decision.

The views of parents/ those with Parental Responsibility must also be obtained.

2. Relevant Plans

The child’s placement with a Connected Person must be part of the Care Plan, which should be drawn up before the placement begins or, in exceptional circumstances, within a maximum of seven days of the placement starting.

For the required documentation, see Decision to Look After Procedure and the Post Placement Arrangements Procedure.

In addition, prior to the placement, a written agreement must be completed by the child’s social worker for signature by the carer and a copy sent to the Commissioning Team. A Pro-Forma Agreement is available for this purpose. 

3. Approval of Placements

Prior to any placement with a non-approved Connected Person, the child’s social worker must complete a written report to be signed by his or her team manager; approval for the placement and the proposed financial arrangements to support the placement must then be obtained through the Nominated Officer signing this report.

The placement may only continue after sixteen weeks if the carer is approved as a foster carer - see Section 5, Assessment of Connected Person - or in exceptional circumstances where the temporary approval is extended.

This temporary approval can be extended for a further period of up to 8 weeks (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 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 Local Authority must consider if the placement is still the  most appropriate placement available, and it must be considered by the Fostering Panel before the above approval is given.

4. Notification of Placements

In order to ensure the appropriate arrangements to pay carers are in place, the child’s social worker must notify the Fostering Team and the Children and Family Finance Team of all new placements within one working day, by sending the following information:

• The child’s name
• The date of the placement
• Reason for placement (e.g. risk of Significant Harm, breakdown of previous placement)
• The child’s legal status
• Name and address of new carer

In addition, the child’s social worker must provide the necessary information to the relevant administrative staff so the child’s records can be updated. 

Notification of the placement must also be sent by the social worker to all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process, including the Independent Reviewing Officer. The notification must advise of the placement decision, the name and address of the new carers, details relating to the child’s contact with parents and the arrangements related to the care and welfare of the child.

If the placement is outside Luton, the Social Worker must notify the local authority for the area where the child is placed.

The social worker must also ensure that the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician, and that a Health Care Assessment takes place.

5. Assessment of Connected Person

If the plan is for the placement to last longer than 16 weeks, the Social Worker must immediately notify the Manager of the Fostering Service of the placement in order to enable the case to be allocated within the fostering service for a full Luton Fostering Assessment Form assessment. In the meantime the referral form will contain sufficient information for the Fostering Panel to consider and approve the placement subject to the completion of a more in depth assessment by a fostering Social Worker. The referral must be considered at the fostering panel within 16 weeks of the placement being made. 

This temporary approval can be extended for a further period of up to 8 weeks (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 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 Local Authority must consider if the placement is still the most appropriate placement available, and it must be considered by the Fostering Panel before the above approval is given.

The Fostering Service will send out an application form and ‘Consent to Enquiries Form’ for completion by the carers. The process of taking up references will also begin, and the administrative staff in the Fostering Service will follow up, as necessary, the return of the application form and ‘Consent to Enquiries Form’.

The child’s social worker should contact the Administrator to the Fostering Panel (pre -approval) to arrange a time and date for presentation of an interim assessment report on the carers to the Panel to meet the 16 weeks time-scale. As much information as possible on the carers, and a brief report on the child, must be included in the assessment report.

The social worker should attend the Panel meeting when the report is considered. Panel will be requested to consider approval of the carers pending their full assessment. The Panel’s recommendation will be presented to the Nominated Officer for a decision to be made. 

The Nominated Officer will notify the carers in writing of the decision, and the process by which the full assessment will be carried out. The carers will also be sent a letter outlining the terms of their approval and the Foster Carer Agreement for their signature and return to the fostering service or the worker allocated to undertake the assessment.

If the carers are given approval, a fostering social worker will be allocated to carry out the full assessment. 

As for all foster carers, the assessment will proceed on the basis of the Luton Fostering Assessment Form. 

However, having regard to the existing relationship between the child and the carers, the requirement for the carers to attend preparation and training groups prior to their approval may be waived.

The procedure for approving the assessment via the Fostering Panel is the same as the procedure for the approval of all local authority approved foster carers. 

The timescale for the presentation of the full assessment is 5 months from the date of the completed referral.

See Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers Procedure.

6. Support and Monitoring of Placement

The child’s social worker must visit the child in the placement at least once each week during the first 16 weeks of the placement and thereafter at intervals of no more than 6 weeks during the first year of the placement.

In the second year of the placement and subsequent years, the child should be visited at least every three months and whenever reasonably requested by the child or the carer. 

Wherever possible, the child must be seen with the carer and alone.  If this is not possible, a further visit must be made at short notice in order that the child can be seen alone and observed with the carer.

The social worker must ensure that Placement Plan Reviews are conducted as set out in the Placement Plan Reviews Procedure.

7. Ending of Placement

All those notified of the placement should be notified also when a placement is ended.

End