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Contents

1.	Placements Process - Planned Placements
	1.1	Definition of Planned Placement
	1.2	Placement Process
	1.3	Placement Planning
	1.4	Notification of Placement
	1.5	Health Care Registration and Assessments
2.	Placement Process - Emergency Placements
	2.1	Definition of Emergency Placement
	2.2	Arrangements During Normal Working Hours
	2.3	Arrangements Outside Normal Working Hours
	2.4	Emergency Planning Meetings
3.	Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements
	Appendix 1 - External Placements Checklist
	Appendix 2 - Secure Placements for Children Under the Age of 13

1. Placements Process - Planned Placements

Emergency Placement procedures are contained in Section 2, Placement Process - Emergency Placements.

1.1	Definition of Planned Placement
1.2	Placement Process
1.3	Placement Planning
1.4	Notification of Placement
1.5	Health Care Registration and Assessments

1.1 Definition of Planned Placement

Emergency Placement Procedures are contained in Section 2, Placement Process - Emergency Placements.

A Planned Placement is the placement of a child in the following circumstances:

• In a children’s home, where the social worker and provider agree that the placement is suitable for the referred child, having considered the needs of all the other children in the home;
• In Secure Accommodation, where a child is placed with an appropriate Court Order.

1.2 Placement Process

In some circumstances it will be possible to arrange joint funding of placements between the Education and Children's Services and the Education Arts & Leisure (EAL). 

See Funding Arrangements for the Placement of Children in Residential Care Protocol.

Before this process begins, the social worker’s manager must approve the proposed placement, as set out in Decision to Look After, Care and Permanence Planning Procedure.

It is assumed that the following approval process will be undertaken via the line management structure.

Out of borough children’s home and secure accommodation placements must be approved by the Designated Manager (Placements Outside the Authority)  The Designated manager should consider Funding Arrangements for the Placement of Children in Residential Care when coming to a decision.

If Secure Accommodation is being considered, the social worker must provide written evidence that the criteria for such a placement are met; as set out in Placements Prioritisation Criteria Guidance.  It may also be necessary to seek legal advice and a suitable Court Order. 

If authorisation for a Secure Placement up to 72 hours (without a Court Order) is required, the Designated Manager (Secure Placements) must be consulted. N.B. If a placement is required for a Child under the age of 13, see Appendix 2 - Secure Placements for Children Under the age of 13.

The social worker must also ensure that suitable checks are undertaken.  This will include ensuring that independent providers are registered with OFSTED or, in Wales, the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSIW).  The following checklist should be gone through before any placement is made: Financial agreement for External Placements can only be given by the Assistant Director, Principal Manager (Children Looked After and Leaving Care) or Principal Manager (Safeguarding & Family Support); All searches for P&V Fostering Placements will be undertaken by the Duty Social Worker (Fostering Team). Ideally the Social Worker should visit the placement before it is made; All searches for P&V Residential Placements will be undertaken by individual social workers.  Formal agreement for the placement search will be done in agreement with the Principal Manager (Children Looked After and Leaving Care); It is expected that any P&V placements sought will be those who are signed up to and approved by the Pan London Consortium.  If there is any uncertainty about a placement status contact should be made with the Pan London Team based at the London Borough of Harrow (telephone 0208 424 2589) or the Business Manager (Specialist Children’s Services); When a P&V placement is identified specific checks and reports need to be undertaken:

1. The Fostering Agency and Residential Unit should be asked to e-mail or fax a copy of their most recent OFSTED Report.  This will provide information on inspections to the appropriate minimum standards.  In addition it will name the link OFSTED inspectors who should be contacted if the reports provided raise any concern;
2. There should be a check undertaken with the Business Manager (Specialist Children’s Services) as to whether the identified provider is being or has been used by Richmond in the past.  If it is then the social worker’s responsibility to check on any available information to ascertain the appropriateness or otherwise of pursuing the placement;
3. The placement provider should be asked by the social worker to provide details on 3 other local authorities who are currently using the placement.  Name of social worker/team managers should be obtained.  Contact should be made with at least 2 of these authorities and the impression or details of services provided determined.  If there’s any negative comments the case should be referred to the Principal Manager (Children Looked After and Leaving Care) for a decision as to whether to take the enquiry further;
4. The placement should be asked to provide details on the number of young people admitted in the past 6 months.  They should also be asked to provide details on the number of unplanned placement breakdowns or withdrawals of placements in the past 12 months;
5. The Agency should be asked to send a copy of their Policy and Procedures;

A Checklist is provided below: See Appendix 1 - External Placements Checklist

This Checklist should be completed in all instances, with copies sent to the Principal Manager (Children Looked After and Leaving Care) and placed on the young persons file.  A separate form for each placement request should be completed.

1.3 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 - see Placement Planning Meetings Procedure. 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;
• Any other relevant professionals, e.g. a representative from the child's school;
• Anyone else considered appropriate or who will have a role in the placement.

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

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 Permanence 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 meeting also provides an opportunity to ensure that the registered manager has a copy of any relevant court order and that full information is shared about any behaviour management issues.

Wherever possible, the Placement Planning Meeting should be used to plan any introductions to 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, because of the urgency of 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 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. 

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.

1.4 Notification of Placement

The child's social worker will update the child's electronic record with the details of the placement.

Where the placement is within an external provider, the Placements Officer will notify the finance section so as to trigger payments as appropriate.

Notification of the placement will also be sent by the child's social worker to the Designated Nurse for LAC, the relevant person in the education service, the local Children's Services (if the placement is in the area of a different local authority) and the child's GP.

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 must also notify the allocated Independent Reviewing Officer or, if it is the first placement, the Independent Review Unit of the placement.  This notification will trigger the appointment of an Independent Reviewing Officer, if it is the first placement, and the setting up of arrangements for a Looked After Review.

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.

The notifications should be before the start of the placement or within 5 working days.

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 school and any health professional or YOT worker actively involved with the child.

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 they are placed.

In relation to a first Looked After placement it will also be necessary for the social worker to liaise with the Designated Nurse for LAC to arrange a Health Care Assessment - see Health Care Assessments and Health Care Plan Procedure. The social worker must arrange for the completion of a Personal Education Plan - see Education of 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 well being. 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.

1.5 Health Care Registration and Assessments

It will be necessary for the social worker to ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician within a week of the placement, either retaining practices known to them or in the area where they are placed.  See General Practitioners, Opticians and Dentists Procedure.

It will also be necessary to arrange a Health Care Assessment; see Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure for these procedures

2. Placements Process - Emergency Placements

Planned Placement procedures are contained in Section 1, Placements Process - Planned Placements.

2.1	Definition of Emergency Placement Placement
2.2	Arrangements During Normal Working Hours
2.3	Arrangements Outside Normal Working Hours
2.4	Emergency Planning Meetings

2.1 Definition of Emergency Placement

An Emergency Placement is a placement made in the following circumstances:

• In a children’s home, where a child is placed without the social worker and provider agreeing that the placement is suitable, having considered the referred child’s needs and those of other children living in the home.
• In Secure Accommodation, where a child is placed without an appropriate Court Order but approved for 72 hours by the Designated Manager (Secure Placements).

2.2 Arrangements During Normal Working Hours

Where an Emergency Placement is required, the social worker should, if possible, follow the consultation and pre-placement planning procedures set out Decision to Look After, Care and Permanence Planning Procedure.  If it is not possible to follow these procedures, the manager may still authorise the placement but may require that the procedures are followed at a later date.

In all cases, even where a child is placed in an emergency, a Placement Information Record must be completed, providing as much information as possible, given the circumstances. 

Unless agreed by the social worker, and set out in the Placement Information Record, no contact may be permitted between the child and parents or siblings. 

An Emergency Placement Planning Meeting must then be conducted within 3 days of the placement, when the suitability of the placement can be explored and outstanding procedures followed.  See Placement Planning Meetings Procedure.

2.3 Arrangements Outside Normal Working Hours

1. When a placement appears appropriate, the Emergency Out of Hours Service (EOOHS) staff identify a suitable placement but will seek approval from the relevant Manager
2. Before placing the child, the EOOHS staff should take account of the procedures outlined in Decision to Look After, Care and Permanence Planning Procedure, regarding Consultation, and should take all reasonable steps to ensure these procedures are followed. 
3. When a decision is reached the EOOHS staff should liaise with the placement staff/carers to agree the time and other suitable arrangements for the child’s placement.
4. Before a child is placed, the EOOHS staff must ensure that a Placement Information Record is completed, as far as possible depending on the information available, and a copy given to the staff/carers. The original must be passed to the relevant social worker without delay. 
5. If the child is placed at beginning of a holiday period, e.g. Christmas Eve, the EOOHS staff placing the child will arrange for the child to be visited at least once during the holiday period to ensure the child’s need are being attended to and the staff/carers have all they require to meet the child’s needs until the relevant social worker can follow the placement up.

2.4 Emergency Planning Meetings

If a child is placed in a Children’s Home or Secure Accommodation in an Emergency (as defined in Section 2.1, Definition of Emergency Placements), an Emergency Placement Planning Meeting must be convened within 3 working days of the start of the placement. 

See Placement Planning Meetings Procedure.

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 every six weeks; see Social Worker Visits to Looked After Children Procedure.

Where there are concerns in relation to the progress of the placement, consideration should be given to seeking additional resources to assist the placement.

Where there are any changes to the child's placement and/or legal status during the placement, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic records.

3.2 Ending of Placements

The child's social worker must notify the Placement Officer when a placement ends and arrange to 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.

Appendix 1 - External Placement Checklist

Click here to view Checklist

Appendix 2 - Secure Placements for Children Under the Age of 13

If consideration is given to placing a child under 13, the Secretary of State must given approval, see the following guidance issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (now known as the Department for Education):

See Guidance for the Placement of Children under the Age of 13 in Secure Accommodation

Notification of the placement must also be sent by the child's social worker to all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process.

The notification should be before the start of the placement or within 5 working days.

End