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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Care Proceedings Panel
3. Resources for Care Proceedings

1. Introduction

From September 2006, any decision to commence proceedings for a care or supervision order can only be made following a recommendation made by the Care Proceedings Panel to the Strategic Leads for CLA/Prevention and Protection Head of Service or in an emergency, by the Strategic Leads for CLA/Prevention and Protection or the Head of Service – see also Applications for Emergency Protection Orders Procedure.

A decision to initiate Care Proceedings is outside the remit of a Child Protection Conference and, where a conference considers the risks of a child remaining at home are too high, the relevant social worker/Team Manager must refer the case in accordance with this procedure and/or Applications for Emergency Protection Orders Procedure.

Since the Public Law Outline, the Care Proceedings Panel must also authorise the sending of a pre-proceedings letters to parents, agree timescales and set up procedures for monitoring them. The relevant service manager will take responsibility for chairing Pre-Proceedings Meetings.

2. Care Proceedings Panel

The Panel will meet weekly on Thursday afternoons at County Hall and will consist of a member of the Legal Department and one of the Area Service Managers. 

An appointment can be made through contacting the relevant administrative staff. The social worker should arrange an appointment at the earliest opportunity following appropriate consultation with his or her team manager. The team manager must have the approval of his or her service manager.

Each case will be allocated one hour’s discussion time.

The Panel will in no way replace the case management process, which will remain with the social worker/senior practitioner and the team manager. The intention is to combine a legal planning meeting with a decision-making and case planning process in relation to the proceedings only.

The following documents (signed off by the team manager and service manager) should be sent to the Legal Department in time for the Panel meeting:

• Core Assessment
• Up to date Chronology
• Most recent Child Protection Conference report and minutes (if applicable)

The relevant social worker (with the team manager if desired) should attend the Panel meeting during consideration of their case and prepare a brief (6 to 10 bullet points) of key issues or be prepared to provide a similar summary verbally.

A very brief record of decisions and actions agreed will be provided by the Panel and sent to the social worker/senior practitioner, team manager and Panel members.

The Panel will consider if there are sufficient grounds to meet the Threshold Criteria for a Care Order or Supervision Order, whether a pre-proceedings letter to parents should be sent in accordance with the requirements of the Pre-Proceedings Checklist in the Public Law Outline, whether other pre-proceedings requirements have been satisfied and whether initiating Care Proceedings would be in the child’s interests.

The guiding principle is that, generally, Care Proceedings should only be initiated where the child or children concerned cannot live at home.  Alternatives to Care Proceedings, therefore, should be considered where:

• The intention is for the child to remain at home or with a family member, or
• The plan is for the children to return home within a short period of time or
• Little is known about the child and family and further assessment is required or
• The parents are in agreement with the child being Accommodated and will not contest the Care Proceedings

The Panel will also consider the following:

1. Are the file and all the recording in order and up to date?
2. What timescales need to be taken into account?
3. What interventions have been tried so far?
4. How successful were these?
5. Have the parents been made aware of our planning at all stages and have they been notified of the circumstances in which Care Proceedings may be initiated?
6. Has this been put in writing to them?
7. What other possible options are there? For example, extended family, further assessments, a Family Group Conference.
8. What is the ultimate plan, including proposed contact arrangements?
9. Is it possible to identify a receiving team?

Minutes will be copied to the Head of Service for Social Care, Strategic Leads for CLA/ Prevention and Protection and Area Service Managers.

If pre proceedings actions are recommended, a timescale for returning to Panel will be agreed.

In the case of failed Care Proceedings, i.e. cases where the outcome did not follow the local authority’s recommendation, a Child Protection Conference should be called by the social workers with legal and chaired by a Child Protection/Independent Reviewing Officer to ensure that the ongoing plan reflects all the new information which emerged during the Care Proceedings.

3. Resources for Care Proceedings

No Social Worker or Team Manager is authorised to sanction any resource commitment in the courts without explicit permission from their Service Manager, in conjunction with the Strategic Leads for CLA/Prevention and Protection/Head of Service. This includes any acknowledgement that the County Council will provide services if ordered to by the court.

It should also be noted that residential parenting assessments will not be agreed outside care proceedings and must never be agreed with full discussion with the placement service in advance of any commitment.

End