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Contents

1. Consultation and Planning 
2. Placements Process - Planned Placements 
3. Matching and Approval of Placement
4. Support and Ending of Placements 
5. Permanent Placements

1. Consultation and Planning

1.1 Consultation

At the point that it is determined that a placement may be required, and throughout the subsequent process of identification, planning and placement, the child's social worker must consult and take account of the views of the following people:

1. The child bearing in mind their age and stage of development;
2. The child’s parents or those 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 education authority;
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.

The views of these people should be given by them, in writing, or should be recorded by the social worker. If the child's wishes are not acted upon, the reason should be given. If a trans-racial placement is being proposed, the approval of the Assistant Director must be obtained before the placement can be made.

1.2 Planning

See Decision to Look After Procedure, for procedures relating to the initial decision to Look After a child, and the drafting and approval of the Care Plan.

2. Placements Process - Planned Placements

2.1 Definition of Planned Placement

A Planned Placement is the placement of a child in a foster home, following an assessment and planning process whereby, at the time of the placement, a Care Plan and Placement Plan are in place. In most circumstances a Core Assessment should have been completed.

Where the above plans are not in place, the placement is deemed to be an Emergency.

2.2 Placement Request

For placement with permanent/long-term foster carers, see Section 5, Permanent Placements below.

Before a placement request can be processed the child’s case must have been the subject of a planning meeting which has agreed the plan. The Children's Placement Panel must have given the planned placement financial approval before a provider can be approached.  

The planning meeting will only authorise a placement if satisfied that there are no alternatives to the child being or remaining Looked After. 

Once a placement has been approved the Children's Commissioning Team will contact prospective foster carers who may be able to provide a good match with the child based upon the information already provided by the social worker.

In addition to this they will need to be able to provide the prospective carers with:

• Initial Assessment or Core Assessment;
• Any relevant medical reports, including details of medication that the child may be taking at the point of placement;
• The child’s Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) (where relevant);
• The most recent Looked After Review minutes (in relation to a child already Looked After);
• The most recent Strategy Meeting or Child Protection Conference minutes (where applicable);
• Any other information that may be relevant in the care of the child.

2.3 Identification of Placement

The Children's Commissioning Team will always attempt to place children with 'in house' carers in the first instance. Only if they are unable to identify such a placement which will meet the child's needs will they seek approval for a placement with in Independent Fostering Agency. Either way, it is their responsibility to identify a suitable placement and they will contact neighbouring authorities and providers whose terms are in line with the Pan-London Consortium.

The children's Commissioning Team is responsible for the issues that relate to the costs, contract and payment of the carers.

The social worker will ascertain the services included in the basic cost, what would be regarded as extra cost and the conditions relating to the notice period.

If the placement is not in Bromley, the views of the local authority where the child will be living must be sought and taken into account and a letter of notification will also be sent to the Authority in question. A standard letter is available for this purpose.

In relation to placements provided by Independent Fostering Agencies, and where there is a child already in the proposed foster placement and they are from a different local authority; the consent of that child’s local authority should be sought by the Children's Commissioning Team for the child about to be placed.

It is preferable for the child and where appropriate, their parent/s to visit the proposed placement and the child's social worker should make arrangements for this to happen. If there is a good reason for this not to happen it should be recorded on the child's file.

2.4 Placement Planning

Before the child is placed, the child’s social worker will liaise with the foster carer’s supervising social worker. The child's social worker will then arrange a pre-placement planning meeting.

The child, parents and any other significant family members and relevant professionals should also be invited.

The purpose of the meeting is to share information about the child and the Care Plan, complete and update the Chronology, Referral and Information Record and the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record and plan the timing of the placement. 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 and Care 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. 

Once complete, the plan will be circulated to the child (where they able to understand it), the parent/s the foster carer or home manager and (in the case of a foster placement) the supervising social worker.

The social worker should ensure that any information about the placement that is available for the child is obtained and given to him/her.

The social worker must also ensure that the child (if they are of sufficient age and understanding) is provided with information on using the Complaints Procedure.

Information about children who have medical conditions or who are on a course of medication must be obtained by the child's social worker and passed on to the carer.

In all cases, the child should be accompanied to the placement by the child's social worker and helped to settle in.

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.

2.5 Notification of Placement

The Social Worker must complete the paper records and update CAREFIRST.

The notifications should be before the start of the placement, wherever possible, or within 5 working days. The Children's Commissioning Team should also be notified if they are not already aware.

The Children's Commissioning Team will send notification of the placement to the Designated Nurse for LAC, the education service, and the relevant local Children's Services (if the placement is in the area of a different local authority)

The Children's Commissioning Team must also notify the allocated Independent Reviewing Officer or, if it is the first placement, the Quality Assurance 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.

The child's social worker will notify all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process of the placement.

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.

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

It will be necessary for the foster carer 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.

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

NB Where a child is placed in another Local Authority area, the responsibility for ongoing and specialist medical treatment is retained by the home authority and notification to the Health Authority where the child will be living is no longer required. (The National Health Service (functions of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts and admission arrangements) (England) (amendments) regulations 2007)

It is still necessary for the social worker to ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician, either retaining practices known to them 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 arrange a Health Care Assessment (See Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure). 

The social worker must also complete a Personal Education Plan (see Education of Looked After Children Procedure).

3. Matching and Approval of Placement

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 identify/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.

Once a potential placement has been identified, the child's social worker will liaise with the foster carer's supervising social worker (who may be from an independent fostering agency) to agree arrangements for the placement.  At this stage, the social worker will also discuss the child with the prospective foster carer and, in particular, share/clarify any risks associated with the placement with the foster carers and the supervising social worker. Wherever possible, the child's social worker should visit potential carers and as required consult with other professionals, prior to a decision about the appropriateness of a placement being made.

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.

Where the proposed placement is an in-house placement, it will then be presented to the social worker's manager for approval.

If the placement is outside the foster carer's terms of approval or an exemption is required, see Fostering Exemptions and Extensions Procedure.

If the proposed placement is with an independent fostering agency, the Designated Manager (External Placements) must approve the placement and a written agreement must be drawn up with the fostering agency setting out the precise terms and conditions between the local authority and the agency in relation to the placement. Where the placement is with independent foster carers who live outside the local authority area, see also Out of Area Placements Procedure - to follow.

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.

If the relevant manager approves the foster placement, the placement planning process can start - see Section 4, Support and Ending of Placements. 

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

4. Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements

4.1 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 Social Worker Visits Procedure.

Where the needs of the child in the placement will involve costs in addition to those approved, the placement must be referred by the social worker to the Designated Manager (Placements) for authority for any such additional costs before they are incurred.

4.2 Ending of Placements

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

All written information on the child, which the foster carer holds, should be transferred to the child’s social worker.

A Disruption Meeting should be held whenever their is an unplanned break in the placement. The only exception to this is where a young person is displaying a chaotic or disruptive pattern of behaviour which can be demonstrated to be unrelated to the placement. An example of this is where a teenager continues a pattern of going missing after a placement has been made and the carers can not meet their needs.

Where a placement with an external provider ends in an unplanned way, the child’s social worker will call a meeting to discuss the causes of the breakdown and inform further placement planning.  The child’s social worker, the child, the parents, the Children's Commissioning Team and a representative of the external provider and any other significant people (as agreed by the child’s social worker) should be invited.

Children must, when they leave the home, be helped to understand the reasons and be supported with the transition - including return home and independence.

Foster carers must be supported to maintain links with children who leave their care, where appropriate.

5. Permanent Placements

5.1 Identification and Approval of Placement

Where a child’s proposed placement with a foster carer is to achieve Permanence or the plan is for the existing placement to become permanent, the request for a placement must be made directly to the Designated Manager (Placements). The referral must include minutes of the last review meeting, and a Core Assessment.

The following must occur in order to obtain the necessary approval:

1. The plan to achieve permanence for the child through a long term foster placement must initially be referred to the Adoption Panel upon whose recommendation the Designated Manager (Permanence Plans) can give approval in principle;
2. Where the identified foster carers are not already approved as long-term foster carers, it will be necessary for the fostering team to conduct an assessment to obtain such approval;
3. When complete, the assessment should be presented to the Fostering Panel, who may recommend to the Designated Manager that the foster carers be approved as long term;
4. In all cases, an assessment of the suitability of the match of the long-term foster carers to the child or children in question should be conducted. 
   
   In these circumstances, the child’s social worker should liaise with the foster carers’ supervising social 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 Fostering Panel, who may recommend to the Designated Manager (Permanence Plans) that the matching be approved.

5.2 Disruption Meetings

Where a long-term foster placement, which was intended to be permanent, breaks down, the child’s social worker will arrange a disruption meeting:

End