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Contents

1. Emergency Placements
2. Relevant Plans
3. Approval of placements
4. Assessment of Connected Persons
5. Financial Support to Relatives and Carers
6. Post Placement Arrangements and Support
7. Ending of Placements

N.B. Where any placement of a Looked After Child with a Connected Person is proposed for a continuous period of sixteen weeks or more, in addition to the assessment and checks set out in Section 4, Assessment of Connected Persons, the Connected Person will have to be assessed as a foster carer . The responsibility for the foster carers' assessment will lie with the fostering team.

Children who are the subjects of care proceedings may not be placed with, or removed from carers without the agreement of the court, except in an emergency.

A Connected Person is defined as "A relative, friend or other person connected with a child. The latter is someone who would not fit the term 'relative or friend', but who has a pre-existing relationship with the child.  It could be someone who knows the child in a more professional capacity such as (for example) a child-minder, a teacher or a youth worker."

Relative is defined as "a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) or step-parent."

Social Workers should complete the Placement of Children at Home Checklist, Placement with Parents Procedure

1. Emergency Placements

Before any placement with a Connected Person is made, the child's social worker must assess its suitability and consider 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 Connected Person.

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 people in the household;
• The proposed carer(s) and all members of the household aged 16+ must be checked against Local Authority and Police records;
• Family GP’s must also be consulted.

The social worker must arrange for the carers and others aged 16+ to complete applications for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and arrange for them to be sent as soon as practicable for checks to be made.

In addition, prior to the placement, a written agreement must be completed by the child's social worker for signature by the carer confirming their commitment to meet their duties in relation to the placement, as set out in the Placement Plan (recorded on the Placement Information Record).

The placement may only continue after sixteen weeks if the relative or friend is approved as a Foster Carer and this timescale should be achieved wherever possible. - see Section 4, Assessment of Connected Persons.

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. It will also be necessary to draw up a Placement Plan/Placement Information Record.

For other required documentation, see Decision to Look After Procedure

3. Approval of Placements

Prior to any placement with a non-approved Connected Person, the child's social worker must obtain approval for the immediate placement and the proposed financial arrangements to support the placement through the Nominated Officer.

All placements must be referred to the Funding Panel Procedure and the social worker should complete a Funding/Request Form

4. Assessment of Connected Persons

If the plan is for the placement to last longer than 16 weeks, the child's social worker must immediately refer the case to the Fostering Service for the assessment of the relative(s) as carers to commence.

The assessment will proceed on the basis of BAAF Form F although, having regard to the existing relationship between the child and the carers, the requirement for the carers to attend Preparation Groups prior to their approval will be waived. The assessing social worker should also, as part of the assessment, interview the child's parents and other significant family members, as well as reading the child's file and discussing the case with the child's social worker. During the assessment the relationship between the family and friends carers and the child's parents should be explored.

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.

On conclusion, the assessment should be booked into the first available fostering panel. The panel should be attended by the child’s social worker, the assessing social worker, and, wherever possible, the prospective carers.

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. See Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers Procedures

The foster carers, once approved, will be asked to sign a Foster Carer Agreement.

The procedures relating to the review and support of the foster carers will be the same as for any approved foster carer.

Should the carers be assessed as unsuitable and the child is with them, they should be advised in writing and other arrangements should be sought. The placement should be considered as a Private Fostering placement until other arrangements are made.

The placement may only continue after sixteen weeks if the carer is approved as a foster carer -  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.

5. Financial Support to Relatives and Carers

Where families place children with relatives or friends and request support and financial assistance from the department consider:

• Use of s17 for one-off payments for essential equipment;
• Use of s17 for a settling-in payment for a maximum of sixteen weeks. The maximum rate of payment is the boarding-out rate less child benefit, (which the carer should be asked to recover from the parent).

This period of support is intended to be available only to support the carer whilst arrangements are made for them to receive benefits and any other support that would have normally been available to the child's parent.

Consideration should be given to accommodating the child and assessing the carer as a kinship foster carer only where:

• The alternative will be accommodation of the child within a Bromley fostering (or agency) resource;
• The child is under 16;
• The placement is likely to be in the best interests of the child.

Where it is decided to assess Connected Persons as specific foster carers Financial assistance may be offered for up to sixteen weeks while an initial assessment is carried out. The level of financial assistance is dependent on the child's needs and what the family request, but will not exceed the boarding out rate less child benefit.

6. Post Placement Arrangements and Support

The child’s social worker must following procedures set out in Post Placement Arrangements including Same Day and Emergency Placements Procedure.

The child's social worker should inform the Quality Assurance Unit as soon as a child is placed with a connected person so that a date and time can be set for the initial LAC review and all the relevant people can be invited.

7. Ending of Placements

All those notified of the placement must also be notified when the placement ends.

End