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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Guiding Principles in Making a Placement
3. Placement Considerations
4. Consultation
5. Meeting the Racial, Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Needs
6. Approval of Placements
7. Matching Process
8. Placement Standards
9. Post Placement Arrangements

1. Introduction

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children should be cared for properly from day-to-day and have the right to proper standards of physical care, education, health and protection from harm. Article 12 also states that all children and young people have the right to express their views on every decision that affects them and to have those views taken seriously.

If a child cannot live with their birth family, the Convention states that they must be properly Looked After by another family. The child's gender, race, religion, culture and language must all be considered when a new home is being chosen and the child has the right to keep in contact with their birth parents unless to do so would be harmful to them.

These principles are also embodied in the Children Act 1989.

The Council uses a variety of placements for Looked After children, ranging from secure accommodation to placements with family or  Connected Person. A number of foster care placements are also used, some provided in-house, while others are provided by independent fostering agencies.

It is important that the best placement is found for children and young people at the earliest opportunity. This ensures continuity and stability for the child or young person that, in turn, will mean less disruption to their lives, and better outcomes for them. In an emergency the council will identify the most appropriate placement for the child available at the time. This may not be the most appropriate longer term placement and it may be necessary to seek alternative planned moves in the days after initial accommodation.

2. Guiding Principles in Making a Placement

The local authority's duties toward children who are looked after are set out in Sections 22 and 23 of the Children Act 1989 and the Arrangements for Placement of Children (General) Regulations 1991.

Section 22 identifies principles that underpin all decisions taken concerning a child's placement:

• To safeguard and promote the welfare of the child who is looked after
• To make use of services available to children cared for by their own parents
• To ensure decisions are made in partnership with the parent or person with parental responsibility and child / young person by ascertaining their wishes and feelings and taking them fully into account
• To ensure that regard is given to child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background

As far as is possible and practical, the placement should contribute to improving the looked after child's educational, health and social outcomes.

3. Placement Considerations

Bromley Council Children's Safeguarding and Social Care Division will provide a range of accommodation for children or young people who have been assessed as needing this service. This may include:

• Placement with Parents
• Placement with Connected Person
• Placement in Foster Care
• Placement in Residential Care
• Placement in Specialist or Boarding School
• Parent and Baby Placements (The Parent and Baby Placement Procedure is currently being developed)
• Placement for a court ordered secure remand.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Special Guardianship Policy and Permanence Planning Guidance and Procedure, Section 3.6 Residence Orders.

In making a placement choice the following issues will be considered:

• Children should be considered as individuals and likewise their parents. Decisions affecting a child must be made in the light of a full assessment of the child's situation and needs. Full attention must be given to the wishes and feelings of the child and their family, although resources may not be available to meet every requirement
• Service provision should aim to enhance parental responsibility and minimise intrusion into family life. Full consideration of preventative resources must have been made in order to assist the parents to fully exercise their responsibilities and to avoid the need to provide a Looked After Service
• If a child cannot remain at home then thought must first be given to placement with Connected Person providing this is consistent with the child's welfare, and giving appropriate consideration to the child's wishes and feelings bearing in mind his/her age and development
• That preference will normally be given to family care rather than residential care
• That a local placement should always be sought in order to facilitate contact, maintain social and community links and provide continuity of day care, education and health care
• Siblings should be placed together wherever practicable, unless this is contrary to the needs of each individual child, in which case there must have been an assessment to evidence the need for separation and separate placements
• That consideration must be given to the child's health, religious, racial, cultural, dietary and linguistic needs in achieving the best possible placement choice
• That social care staff will have regard to research information and other departmental guidance on specific types of placement, including relevant costs and value for money criteria
• That children with disabilities should have access to the same range of accommodation as those available to non-disabled children whenever practicable including respite arrangements
• The child's needs should take precedence where there is a conflict of interest between a child and those with Parental Responsibility. The child's welfare is paramount and safeguarding and promoting this is the first priority

For children remanded to local authority accommodation the child or young person will be treated for all procedural purposes as though they were remanded in custody. The local authority has considerable discretion as to the choice of accommodation, although the court may stipulate the young person is not placed with a named individual (usually a parent). In choosing how to accommodate the local authority must bear in mind its obligations to the court and the young person. Whilst accommodated the child/ young person is deemed to be looked after by the local authority under Section 22(1). The local authority does not acquire parental responsibility.

4. Consultation

Throughout the process of identifying and planning a placement, the following people will be consulted:

The child bearing in mind their age and stage of development

The child's parents and/or those with Parental Responsibility

Anyone who is not a parent but has been caring for or looking after the child

Other members of the child's family who are significant to the child

The Children in Care Education Service

The Youth Offending Service, if the child is known to them

The child's Independent Review Officer

The views of these people should be given by them, in writing, or should be recorded by the social worker, the exception being for those young people who meet the secure remand criteria.

5. Meeting the Racial, Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Needs

Bromley's expectation is that all foster carers, whatever their background are able to demonstrate understanding and sensitivity to the needs of individual children and young people. All foster carers are expected to demonstrate or develop an understanding of the needs of ethnic minority children/ young people, an understanding of racism and a commitment to challenging racism or discrimination and to helping a child/ young person maintain or develop positive links in terms of his/her racial, cultural, religious and linguistic needs.

When a child/young person is referred for placement, every effort will be made to place him/her with a family which reflects his/her racial, cultural and religious background. Where possible every effort will be made to enable the birth parents and/ or family members to maintain regular contact with the child/ young person as promoted in the Children Act 1989, and for the child/ young person to maintain meaningful links with his/her community. It is essential that a child/young person does not lose his/her identity, or feel that they have to 'lose' their identity because they are in care.

The Fostering Services Regulations (England) 2002 and 2010, place  a duty on local authorities, when making placement decisions to give due consideration to a child's/young person' religious persuasions, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background. In addition the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services (England) 2002 and 2010 require  that placements, made in an emergency, which may not be suitable in terms of the racial, cultural, religious and linguistic needs of a child/young person are reviewed within six weeks and are reviewed regularly thereafter to ensure that the needs of a child/young person are being met. Where placements of children/young people are made in an emergency and racial and cultural needs are not met such placements will be reviewed by the Placement Panel on a monthly basis.

For most looked after children/young people placement within a foster family is the best means of providing care and nurture. In practice this means that a child's racial, cultural, religious and linguistic needs will not be the sole determining or decisive consideration but will be balanced alongside other placement needs identified at the point of the placement request. Where a transracial placement is being considered then the placement decision will be authorised by the Assistant Director, Children's Social Care.

6. Approval of Placements

All cases which require a placement will be referred to the Children's Commissioning Team (CCT) by the social worker (with their manager's approval) using the referral form.

All placements must be authorised in accordance with the Funding Panel Policy and Procedure.

7. Matching Process

When the Placement Panel approve a placement, the Children's Commissioning Team will identify a suitable placement from within the borough's resources. When such a placement is not available, the Children's Commissioning Team will approach the Head of Service for the approval of a placement with a Independent Fostering Agency or Residential children's home provider. (See 'Placement in Foster Care Procedure' and 'Placement in Children's Home Procedure' .

Each child or young person for whom a family placement is requested is carefully matched with a carer who is capable of meeting his/her needs. It is not always possible to find a perfect/ideal match between a child and a carer, however, Children's Social Care will seek to ensure that all relevant factors are considered, balanced against one another, and priorities when matching decisions are made in the best interests of the child. The welfare of the child is paramount.

The Children's Commissioning Team will identify the most appropriate carer for the child available at the time and within the boundaries of the funding approval. This may not be the most appropriate longer term placement and it may be necessary to seek alternative planned moves in the days after initial accommodation.

There are occasions when Bromley Children's Social Care will need to place outside its own provision. This may be for reasons of a child's specialist need or on occasion because of a lack of capacity within Bromley's own resources. Where the reason for use of the independent sector is lack of internal capacity then it is important that the child and parents are given a clear message regarding the temporary nature of their placement until the appropriate resource becomes available.

8. Placement Standards

All placements will have a clear contract arranged through the Children's Commissioning Team (CCT) setting out:

• Requirements of the placement
• Expectations
• Initial planned duration and fee
• How success of placement will be monitored

The Placement Plan/Placement Information Record will outline the arrangements for looking after the child and a copy must be provided to the foster carer/ residential home at the time of the placement. Placement moves will be properly planned and accompanied by a social worker. When children and young people need to be found a placement on the same day as the referral is made or as a result of an emergency that has arisen to accommodate a child or as a result of a remand from court; the Post Placement Arrangements including Same Day and Emergency Placements Procedure should be followed.

Parent and Baby Placements

Parent and baby placements may be used on the occasion when a young person who is Looked After by the Local Authority or who is under the age of 18 and is not Looked After by the Local Authority has a baby and it comes to the attention of Safeguarding and Social Care pre or post birth due to child protection concerns.

All placements that are made with Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) providers of parent and baby placements will have child protection monitoring systems in place which will be checked by the Children's Commissioning Team (CCT). In accordance with the Parent & Baby Policy, the role and responsibility of both the parent and the foster carer will be set out. For parent and baby foster care placements, consideration should always be given as to whether the baby needs to be 'Looked After'.

9. Post Placement Arrangements

The key arrangements that must be made after a child becomes Looked After including the arrangements for referring and finding an emergency or same day placement are set out in the Post Placement Arrangements including Same Day and Emergency Placements Procedure. This includes the councils responsibilities as set out in the Arrangements for Placement of Children (General) Regulations 1991. These include notifying the relevant people and organisations including other authorities where a placement has been made out of borough, arranging Looked after Child Reviews and the frequency and purpose of social worker visits.

End