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Contents

1.	Placements Process - Planned Placements
	1.1	Definition of Planned Placement
	1.2	Placement Process
	1.3	Matching
	1.4	Placement Planning
	1.5	Notification of Placement
	1.6	Health Care Registrations and Assessments
2.	Placement Process - Emergency Placements
	2.1	Definition of Emergency Placement
	2.2	Normal Working Hours
	2.3	Outside Normal Working Hours
	2.4	Emergency Planning Meetings
3.	Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements
	3.1	Support and Monitoring of Placements
	3.2	Termination of Placements
4.	Assessment, Approval and Matching of Foster Carers for Permanent Placement

1. Placement Process - Planned Placements

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

1.1	Definition of Planned Placement
1.2	Placement Process
1.3	Matching
1.4	Placement Planning
1.5	Notification of Placement
1.6	Health Care Registrations 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 with the agreement of the social worker and Supervising Social Worker that the placement is suitable, having considered the needs of the referred child and all the other children in the home.

Where agreement is not reached, an Emergency Placement Planning Meeting must be convened within 3 working days of the placement starting to consider the suitability. 

1.2  Placement Process

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.

All Family Placement referrals must be directed to the Family Placement Team. If an out of borough placement is required, the Designated Manager (Placements Outside the Authority) must authorise it.

Where the proposed placement is with a foster carer living outside the borough, the views of the local authority where the foster carer lives must be sought and taken into account.  Where the foster carer has been approved by a different fostering agency, the written consent of that agency will also be sought by the child’s social worker.

If the proposed placement is for the child to be permanently placed with foster carers, the social worker seeking the placement must be mindful that procedures exist for obtaining approval to the matching of foster carers. 

These procedures are set out in Section 4, Assessment, Approval and Matching of Foster Carers for Permanent Placement.

1.3 Matching

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 identity/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.

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 during the matching process.

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 - see Education of Looked After Children Procedure.

1.4 Placement Planning

Before the child is placed, the child's social worker will arrange a Placement Planning Meeting after liaising with the foster carer and the foster carer's supervising social worker (who may be from an independent fostering agency). The meeting will usually be held in the new placement.

Participants will include:

• The parent;
• The child (if appropriate);
• The foster carer;
• The supervising social worker;
• 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 first Placement Planning Meeting is to finalise the Placement Plan (which will be recorded on the 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 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 a Child (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;
6. The obligation on the carers to comply with the terms of the foster care agreement.

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.

Except in emergency placements, 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 and Placement Plan to the child, parents and foster carers before or at the latest, within 5 working days of the placement.

At the time of the placement, the foster carers should 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.

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.

In addition, as indicated above, the social worker should ensure that any other information about the placement that is available for the child is obtained and given to him/her. Children must understand house expectations before the placement is made.

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.

1.5  Notification of Placement

Notification of the placement must be sent to all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process. 

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

If not consulted during the decision making process, the social worker must also notify the following:

1. The Independent Reviewing Officer. This notification may be given verbally or by email.
   
   This notification will trigger a Looked After Review.
2. The appropriate Health Trust, Local Education Authority and Education and Children's Services in the area where the child is placed.  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.

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, Dentists and Opticians Procedure.

It will also be necessary to arrange a Health Care Assessment; see Health Care Assessments and Health Care 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
2.2	During Normal Working Hours
2.3	Outside Normal Working Hours
2.4	Emergency Placement Planning Meetings

2.1  Definition of Emergency Placement

An Emergency Placement is a placement of a child without the agreement of the social worker and Supervising Social Worker that the placement is suitable having considered the needs of the referred child and all other children in the home.

2.2 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.

Where a request is made for a foster carer to exceed the number of children they are approved for, or look after a child outside the age range they are approved for, the Designated Manager (Foster Placement Exemption) can authorise this.

See the Procedure on Exemptions contained in Limit on the number of Children in Foster Homes Procedure.

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  Outside Normal Working Hours

1. The Emergency Out of Hours Service (EOOHS) is normally provided with a list of available family placements within the authority.
2. When a placement appears appropriate, the Emergency Out of Hours Service (EOOHS) staff identify a suitable placement using the available family placements given to them. 
3. Before placing the child, the Emergency Out of Hours Service (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. 
4. When a decision is reached the Emergency Out of Hours Service (EOOHS) staff should liaise with the placement staff/carers to agree the time and other suitable arrangements for the child’s placement.
5. 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. 
6. If the child is placed at beginning of a holiday period, e.g. Christmas Eve, the Emergency Out of Hours Service (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 Placement Planning Meetings

If a child is placed in a Foster Home 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
3.2	Termination 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 specified intervals; see procedures in Social Worker Visits to Looked After Children Procedure.

Also see:

Supervision of Foster Carers Procedure and Placement Planning Meetings Procedure.

3.2 Termination Of Placements

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

At the end of a foster placement, all written information on the child which the foster carer holds should be transferred to the Family Placement Team for transfer to the child’s social worker.

4. Assessment, Approval and Matching of Foster Carers for Permanent Placement

1.	Where the child is under thirteen years old, the plan to achieve permanence for the child through a long-term foster placement must initially be referred to the Adoption and Permanency Panel upon whose recommendation the Designated Manager (Permanence Plans) can give approval in principle.
2.	In relation to all children, where the foster carers are not already approved as long-term foster carers, it will be necessary to conduct an assessment to obtain such approval. For foster carers who are relatives or friends, the social worker should liaise with the family placements staff to agree who should undertake the assessment. In relation to internal foster carers, the assessment will be undertaken by a family placement worker.  Where the child is already placed with the foster carers the assessments must be completed within 4 months. In order to complete the assessment it will be necessary to undertake or update a BAAF Form F1 Assessment unless the request for approval is for a specific child, in which case a BAAF Form F2 Assessment should be completed. When complete, the appropriate form should be presented to the Adoption and Permanency Panel, who may recommend to the Designated Manager (Permanence Plans) that the foster carers be approved as permanent carers.
3.	In relation to all placements, an assessment of the suitability of the match of the permanent foster carers to the child or children in question should be conducted. In these circumstances, the social worker should liaise with the family placement worker to agree who should undertake the assessment. Where the child is already placed with the foster carers, the assessments must be completed within 4 months. When complete, the assessments should be presented to the Adoption and Permanency Panel, who may recommend to the Designated Manager (Permanence Plans) that the matching be approved. The Adoption and Permanency Panel will require a Checklist of Needs and Matching Report accompanied by the following information: In relation to the foster carers: BAAF Form F1 or F2 updated as necessary and focusing on parenting ability, family attitudes, place of child in family and fostering history Last foster home review report Adoption and Permanency Panel minute recommending approval of foster carer’s permanent status Up to date medical report from GP and any further information required by the Medical Adviser
	In relation to the child: BAAF Form E if available; full pen picture of child if not Looked After Review minute recommending the plan for the placement Personal Education Plan Any specialist assessments Report of any home-finding efforts Up to date medical information

End