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Contents

1. Approving and Planning Contact with Parents
2. Approving and Planning Contact with Relatives and Friends
3. Recording Contact
4. Cancellation of Contact
5. Review of Contact Arrangements
6. Suspension or Termination of Contact

1. Approving and Planning Contact with Parents

All Looked After children should be encouraged and supported to maintain contact with their parents in a manner consistent with the child’s Care Plan; which, itself, must take account of any Contact Order that may be in force.

Arrangements for contact with parents should always be clearly detailed in the Placement Plan / Placement Information Record, setting out how contact will take place, the venue, the frequency and how the arrangements will be evaluated and reviewed - see Section 3, Recording Contact.

The need to supervise contact with parents should be considered as part of the assessment and planning process by the social worker and approved by his or her Team Manager.

The primary focus of the assessment of this issue will be the safety and welfare of the child.  Where supervised contact is deemed necessary, the reasons should be clearly recorded and the role of the supervisor or supervisors clearly defined.

A written risk assessment must be completed and approved before supervised contacts begin.  This assessment must take account of all factors that could impact on the success of supervised contact and relevant safeguards including:

• Any history of abuse or threats of abuse to the child, other carers or staff;
• Previous incidents of disruption or threats to disrupt contact or failure to co-operate with conditions agreed for supervised contact;
• Previous incidents or threats of abduction;
• Previous incidents of coercion or inappropriate behaviour during contact;
• The transient or unsettled lifestyle of parents, as opposed to long-standing local connections.

Where any of the above features in the risk assessment, and supervised contact is to continue, the risk assessment must state the specific measures to be put in place to minimise risks.

Before contact arrangements are set up to take place at the home of a parent, checks on all members of the household.

Where contact is unsupervised and the parents do not attend Looked After Reviews or any other review meetings (see Section 5, Review of Contact Arrangements), the social worker must ensure that he/she or another suitably qualified worker observe the parent and child together so as to assess the quality of the contact.  Where the parent refuses to allow this, the social worker must consider suspending the arrangements until such an assessment can take place - see Section 6, Suspension or Termination of Contract.

Where contact is extended as part of a plan to gradually return the child to the parents’ care, the Placements with Parents Procedure should be followed. 

Parents can be assisted with traveling expenses to enable contact to go ahead.  The social worker should submit a request for financial support to his or her Team Manager, with reasons.  Once the manager’s approval has been given, the social worker should ask the Unit’s administrative staff to arrange for the payments to be made or travel warrants to be issued.

For foster carers providing short breaks, the foster carer must maintain contact as agreed in the short break plan.

2. Approving and Planning Contact with Relatives and Friends

When the child's placement is made, information regarding any significant relationships including those with Parental Responsibility, siblings, other significant family members (including grandparents and half siblings), Connected Persons and friendships should be obtained, together with the parents' views on the child having contact with such relatives or friends.

If it is considered that contact is appropriate despite the parents’ views, legal advice may be required and any decision to allow such contact to go ahead notwithstanding the parents’ views must be clearly recorded, together with the reasons and explained to the parents.

Arrangements for contact with significant relatives/friends must take account of any Contact Order that may be in force.

Any planned contact arrangements should always be clearly detailed in the Placement Information Record, setting out how contact will take place, the venue, the frequency and how the arrangements will be evaluated and reviewed - see Section 5, Review of Contact Arrangements.

The need to supervise contact with relatives and friends should be considered as part of the assessment and planning process by the social worker and approved by his or her Team Manager, in the same way as set out in Section 1, Approving and Planning Contact with Parents.

Before contact arrangements are set up to take place at the home of a relative or friend on a regular basis, checks on members of the relevant household must be made and a Declaration of Suitability completed as set out in the Placements with Connected Persons Procedure.

3. Recording Contact

Any observations made during contact should be recorded, covering actions, behaviours and responses of individuals involved in contact, including time-keeping and risk management issues. 

Any interventions, for example to assist parents in difficulties or to intercede in a possible risk situation, must be noted in full.

4. Cancellation of Contact

Emergency restrictions on contact can only be made to protect the child from significant risk and must be notified to the placing authority (child's social worker) within 24 hours.

Where contact does not take place in accordance with the child’s Placement Plan / Placement Information Record, there must be a good reason, for example that the child is too ill to attend.  Wherever possible, the staff/carer should consult the child’s social worker in advance if they consider there is a good reason to cancel the contact. 

If contact is cancelled, the social worker or, if the social worker is not available, the staff/carer must ensure that the child and, as far as practicable, the parent or relative/friend is informed in advance and that the reason for the decision is explained.  The social worker or staff/carer should arrange an alternative contact. 

 If contact does not take place and consultation has not been possible with the social worker, the staff/carer must inform the child’s social worker as soon as possible and confirm in writing the decision to cancel and the reason.

For the Suspension or Termination of Contact, see Section 6, Suspension or Termination of Contact.

Contact arrangements must not be withdrawn as a Sanction imposed on a child - see Sanctions Procedure.

5. Review of Contact Arrangements

The social worker and his/her manager should keep contact arrangements, including the continuing need for supervision, under regular review.  The need for any change in the contact arrangements must be clearly recorded.

Any significant reactions that the child has to contact should be reported to the child's social worker by those observing contact arrangements, for example foster carers, residential staff and/or supervisors of contact.

The arrangements should also be reviewed at the child’s Looked After Reviews and in Placement Plan Reviews.

Any contact arrangements which are agreed as a result of new friendships formed during the child’s placement should be included in the Placement Plan / Placement Information Record when it is reviewed.

Where a Contact Order is in force and it is considered that the contact arrangements set out in the Order should be altered, the agreement of the child and the parents/other relatives should be sought and legal advice should be obtained as to the need to seek a variation of the Court Order.  An application to the Court will be required where changes are not agreed between all parties.

6. Suspension or Termination of Contact

Where it is considered that the child’s contact with the parents/relatives or friends should be suspended or terminated, the social worker must be consulted and legal advice should be obtained.

Any such proposal should be made in the context of the overall aims and objectives of the Care Plan.

Any proposal to suspend or terminate the contact should be considered as part of the child’s Looked After Reviews, unless the circumstances require an urgent decision to be made.

Where it not possible to hold a Looked After Review because of the urgency of the situation, the reasons for the proposal must be explained to the parents/other relatives and to the child, and their agreement obtained if possible. 

Where the proposal is to suspend the contact, the length and purpose of the suspension together with the basis upon which contact will be reinstated must be made clear.

The approval of the Designated Manager (Suspension/Termination of Contact) should be obtained to any proposal to suspend or terminate contact with parents.

Written confirmation of the decision made, together with the reasons, must be sent to the parents/relatives, child (depending on age) and any other relevant person (for example advocate, Independent Visitor or Children’s Guardian).  Staff/carers and other agencies involved with the child’s care must also be informed.

 Where the child is the subject of an Emergency Protection Order, Interim Care Order or Care Order, an application to the Court for authority to terminate the contact with a parent will always be necessary if contact is to be suspended for more than 7 days. 

As soon as such a decision is made, Legal Services should be contacted as a matter of urgency so that the necessary Court action can be initiated.

End