Placements in Foster Care

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 social worker must consult and take account of the views of the following people:

1. The child;
2. The child's parents;
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 or who have a Contact Order in their favour in relation to the child;
5. The child's school or the education service;
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.

2. Placement Request

Where a decision has been made that a child requires a foster placement, the child's social worker should request authorisation for the admission/change of placement from the Area Resource Panels. The panel will challenge the need for admission or change of placement and for any placement change resulting in increased cost (for example a move from in-house to external fostering). It will decide the type of placement to be sought and ensure that in-house foster care as close to the child's home as possible is given first consideration.

If the panel agrees the placement the Placements Service will ask the social worker to provide information about the child, the type of placement sought, the Care Plan, the date by which the placement is required, the likely length of time for which the placement is required and the expected level of contact between the child and parents. The social worker should also outline any risks associated with the placement. After making a verbal referral to the Placements Service the social worker will provide a completed E15 risk assessment and E10 Accommodation Request with evidence of appropriate approval to accommodate the child or change placements.

The Placements Service will check whether an in-house placement is available that appears to be appropriate to meet the child's needs. If such a placement is available or if there is a possibility of a placement by the required date, the social worker will be advised accordingly.

If no appropriate in-house placements are available and the child requires a placement without delay, The Placements Service will obtain the agreement of the appropriate budget holder within the Placements Service to make enquiries with independent fostering agencies to identify a suitable placement. The placements worker will initially refer to independent fostering agencies on the fostering framework contract and then, if not suitable placement options are identified, contact other approved independent fostering agencies.

3. Matching and Approval of Placement

Careful matching contributes to the stability of placements and the retention of foster carers. 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.

Once a potential placement has been identified and confirmed to the Placements Service, 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 Children's Trust, as the placing authority, must agree to the sharing of the bedroom and this must therefore be addressed during the matching process.

If the placement is outside the foster carer's terms of approval or an exemption is required, see Exemptions and Extensions/Variations to Foster Carer Approval Policy.

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 Children's Trust and the agency in relation to the placement. Where the placement is with independent foster carers who live outside the city, see also Out of Area Placements Policy.

N.B. 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 Supporting the Education and Promoting the Achievement of Children with a Social Worker, Looked After and Previously Looked After Children Policy.

If the relevant manager approves the foster placement, the placement planning process can start - see Section 4, Placement Planning.

4. Placement Planning

Children who are new in placement are welcomed sensitively and with careful and considered 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. See also Placement Planning and Disruption Meetings Policy.

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, savings and where savings will be deposited, 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 Policy:

1. The type of accommodation to be provided and the address;
2. Where the Children's Trust has, or is notified of, Child Protection concerns relating to the child, or the child has gone missing from the placement or from any previous placement, the day to day arrangements put in place by the appropriate person (placement provider) to keep the child safe;
3. The child's personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin;
4. Where the child is Accommodated:
   • The respective responsibilities of the Children's Trust and parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility;
   • Any delegation of responsibility by parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility to the Children's Trust in relation to the following matters:
     • Medical and dental treatment;
     • Education;
     • Leisure and home life;
     • Faith and religious observance;
     • Use of social media;
     • Any other matters upon which the local authority/trust/parents/others with parental responsibility consider appropriate.
   • 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.
5. Any delegation of responsibility by the parents and/or the Children's Trust to the foster carer(s) in relation to the following matters (and identifying any of these matters on which the Children's Trust/parents/persons with Parental Responsibility consider that the child may make a decision): 
   • Medical and dental treatment;
   • Education;
   • Leisure and home life;
   • Faith and religious observance;
   • Use of social media;
   • Any other matters upon which the local authority/trust/parents/others with parental responsibility consider appropriate.
6. The circumstances in which it is necessary to obtain in advance the Local Authority/Trust's approval for the child to take part in school trips or overnight stays;
7. The Local Authority/Trust's arrangements for the financial support of the child during the placement;
8. 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 Policy.

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.

5. Notification of Placement

The child's social worker will update the child's electronic records with the details of the placement by completing a Change Note. The placements worker will complete a Movement Sheet and send it to PSS to trigger payments to the foster carer or the independent fostering agency.

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

Notification of the placement will also be sent by the child's social worker to the Looked After Children Nursing Team, the Education Service (LACES), the relevant local Children's Services (if the placement is in the area of a different Local Authority/Trust 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 Reviewing Service of the placement. This notification will trigger the appointment of an Independent Reviewing Officer, and the setting up of arrangements for a Child in Care Review.

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.

In relation to a first Looked After placement it will also be necessary for the social worker to liaise with the Looked After Children Nursing Team to arrange a Health Care Assessment - see Health Care Assessments and Plans Policy for further details. The social worker must also contact the relevant school or, where the child does not have a school place, the relevant education officer with a view to the completion of a Personal Education Plan - see Supporting the Education and Promoting the Achievement of Children with a Social Worker, Looked After and Previously Looked After Children Policy.

For any new placement, every effort should be made to enable the child to remain at the same school unless there are reasons why this would be detrimental to his or her well being.

6. Support and Monitoring of Placements

NOTE: Any agreement to place a child in foster care or residential provision outside the Trust resources must be reconsidered annually (or more frequently in the case of high cost placements) by the External Placements Review Panel. The Head of Service will decide when each case should be referred to the Panel and will notify the social worker, who will complete and submit the request form. The request form is in the Practice Guidance.

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. If the placement is intended to last until the child is 18, the frequency of visits may be reduced after the first year, to a minimum of every three months. For children in long-term foster placements visits after the first year should not be less frequent than six monthly - see Statutory Social Worker Visits to Children in Care Policy.

The foster carer will also receive support and supervision from their supervising social worker (for in-house placements) - see Supervision and Support of Foster Carers Policy - and from the independent fostering agency (for external placements).

Where there are concerns in relation to the progress of the placement, consideration should be given to seeking additional resources to assist the carers. If the placement is with an independent fostering agency any additional funding required to support the placement must be agreed through the Placements Service.

Where there are any changes to the type of placement or to the child's legal status during the placement, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic records by completing a Change Note.

The records should be monitored for quality, adequacy and retention.

A Looked After Review should be convened at intervals of no more than 6 months and where:

• The child is, or has been, persistently absent from the placement;
• The placement provider, parents or area authority are concerned that the child is at risk of harm; or
• The child so requests, unless the Independent Reviewing Officer considers that an early review is not justified.

See also Children in Care Reviews Policy.

7. Ending of Placements

In a planned ending of a placement with an independent fostering provider, notice should be served to the placement provider. Ideally 14 days' notice should be given. Please refer to Commissioning or Placements if you require further information about notice.

When the placement ends or changes, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic records by completing and processing a Change Note and:

• If the placement was internal, this will go to the finance section so that payments to the carer will cease;
• If the placement was with an independent fostering agency it will go to the Placements Section and will trigger cessation of payments to the agency.

All written information on the child, which the foster carer holds, should be transferred to the supervising social worker for transfer to the child's social worker.

In appropriate cases, the foster carer should be asked to complete an end of placement report.

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.

The social worker should ensure that the child's belongings, and any long-term savings, are passed to the new placement, or to the child's primary carer if the child is being discharged from care.

Where the placement ends in an unplanned way, consideration should be given to holding a Disruption Meeting - see Placement Planning and Disruption Meetings Policy.

8. Temporary Approval as Foster Carers of Approved Prospective Adopters

A person who is approved as a prospective adopter may be given temporary approval as a Local Authority/Trust foster carer for a named Looked After child, where the Children's Trust consider that this is in the child's best interests.

Before giving such approval, the Children's Trust must:

• Assess the suitability of that person to care for the child as a foster care; and
• Consider whether, in all the circumstances and taking into account the services to be provided by the responsible authority, the proposed arrangements will safeguard and promote the child's welfare and meet the child's needs as set out in the Care Plan.

The temporary approval period expires when:

• The placement is terminated by the Children's Trust;
• The approval as a prospective adopter is terminated;
• The prospective adopter is approved as a foster carer;
• The prospective adopter gives 28 days' written notice that they no longer wish to be temporarily approved as a foster parent in relation to the child; or
• The child is placed for adoption with the prospective adopter.

9. Long Term Foster Placement

Long term fostering is an arrangement made by a Local Authority/Trust to place a child with a foster carer where:

• The child's permanence plan is for foster care;
• The foster carer has agreed to foster the child until s/he ceases to be looked after; and
• The Local Authority/Trust has confirmed the arrangement with the child, the birth parents and the foster carers.

A permanence plan for long term fostering is initially proposed at a review of the child's care plan. However the plan cannot progress until it has been approved by the Designated Manager (Long Term Fostering). 

If there is a court statement that adds to the information in the CPR, the social worker will consult Legal Services about obtaining permission to submit this to the Agency Decision Maker.

The child's social worker and the family finder will submit the papers to the Adoption Panel Team PSS Inbox, marking them as "Reversal of Adoption Plan".

The papers required from the child's social worker are:

• A brief memo from the child's social worker explaining why the change of plan is being requested and what the proposed plan will be;
• An updated Child's Permanence Report, including any amendments suggested at the time when the change of plan was proposed;
• The minutes, recommendations and decisions of the statutory review at which the change of plan was proposed, and of any subsequent reviews;
• The most recent medical report on the child (looked after medical or permanence medical); and
• The court statement, if permission to disclose it has been obtained.

The family finder will submit a report setting out the efforts that have been made to find a suitable adoptive family.

On receiving the papers, the Panel Team PSS will forward them to the Agency Decision Maker. When the decision has been made, the Panel Team PSS will notify the child's social worker within 5 working days.

If the ADM agrees that the plan for the child should be for long term fostering, the child's social worker will notify the child's birth parents.

Approval – All Other Situations

The papers required to approve the change of plan are:

• The social worker's report and minutes from the most recent looked after child review;
• The social worker's report and minutes of the review that first recommended long term fostering, if different;
• The child's consultation document from the most recent review;
• The carer's report (Profile of Behavioural and Emotional Well-Being) from the most recent review;
• The together or apart assessment (this is particularly important for younger children); and
• The Child's Permanence Report if one exists or, if not:
  • The single assessment or specialist assessment that concluded that the parents cannot care for the child; and
  • Information, in whatever form it is available, on why the extended family cannot care for the child under an arrangement other than long term fostering (this is the only document that may need to be created for this purpose – all the others should already exist).

The social worker will send the papers to the PSS for the Assistant Director South, who will forward them to the Designated Manager.

The Designated Manager will notify the social worker and the IRO of the decision.

The social worker will either refer the child for family finding or initiate the quick match process for a match with his/her current foster carers.

Matching a Child with their Current Foster Carers

This section applies when:

• A child has been in placement for more than 12 months; and
• The child's current carers have expressed a the long term commitment to look after him/her; and
• The child's social worker and IRO, the foster carer's supervising social worker and the child are all in agreement that the carers have the skills and capacity to meet the child's long term and developing needs and are committed to long term support of the child.

Clear evidence must be recorded that the child has been seen alone and has confirmed that s/he wishes to remain in this placement.

To initiate the quick match process the social worker will submit the following documents to the PSS Family Finding Inbox.

• Written confirmation that the Designated Manager (Long Term Fostering) has agreed that the plan for the child is long term fostering;
• The minutes of the review that proposed long term fostering as the child's care plan;
• The minutes of the most recent review of the child's care plan;
• The most recent review of the foster carers' approval, and confirmation that they are approved as long term foster carers; and
• A summary report supporting the match. The family finding team can provide the template for this report.

The PSS Family Finding Team will forward the papers to the Assistant Head of Adoption, for approval. The Assistant Head of Adoption will notify the child's social worker and the foster carers' supervising social worker of the decision and, if approving a match with external foster carers, will seek approval of long term external funding from the Commissioning Manager in the Placements Service.

Family Finding

If the child does not have a CPR, his/her social worker will create one.

When the plan for long term fostering has been agreed, the child's social worker will refer the case to family finding through the PSS Family Finding Inbox. The papers required for this are:

• A signed Plan for Fostering;
• A signed Long Term Fostering Referral Form;
• The Child's Permanence Report;
• A signed Carer's report (Profile of Emotional and Behavioural Well-Being);
• The minutes of the review that recommended changing the child's care plan to long term fostering; and
• The most recent medical report on the child (looked after medical or permanence medical).

When all the referral paperwork has been received the family finding team manager will allocate the case and family finding will begin.

The family finder will search internal resources for a suitable match. If this is unsuccessful after 3 months the family finder will contact the Commissioning Manager in the Placements Service to seek approval of funding for an external placement before starting wider searches.

Conditions to be Met before Placement

Before the child is placed with long term foster carers, or the current placement is confirmed as long term fostering, the following conditions must be met:

• The child's care plan has been amended so that the plan for permanence is for long term fostering;
• The child has been consulted and his/her wishes and feelings given due consideration;
• If appropriate, the child's relatives have been consulted;
• The IRO has been consulted;
• The Local Authority/Trust is satisfied that the placement will safeguard and promote the child's welfare;
• The foster carer has agreed to act as foster carer to the child for as long as the child remains a looked after child;
• The Local Authority/Trust has confirmed that the arrangement will be long term fostering with the child, the birth parents and the foster carer; and
• A placement plan for long term fostering has been drawn up.

Social Work Visits and Reviews

When a child is in a long term foster placement, the child's social worker must visit:

• Within one week of the start of the placement; and
• At intervals of no more than six weeks for the first year; and
• At intervals of no more than three months after the first year (this depends on the care plan being for the child to remain in this placement beyond his/her 18th birthday, which will be the case for most long term fostering situations); but
• If the child agrees, and is of sufficient age and understanding to do so, after the first year the frequency of visits may be reduced to intervals of not more than 6 months.

However the actual frequency of visits must always be determined by the needs of the child and the circumstances of the particular case.

When a child has been living in a long term foster placement for more than a year, the social worker and IRO should consider whether it remains appropriate to hold a meeting as part of each review. Before making a decision on this the social worker should consult the foster carer and, where appropriate, the child.

The review process must continue at intervals of no more than 6 months, whether or not a meeting will be part of the process. Review meetings must be held at intervals of no more than a year.