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Contents

1.	Consultation and Planning
	1.1	Consultation
	1.2	Planning
2.	Placements Process - Planned Placements
	2.1	Definition of Planned Placement
	2.2	Placement Request
	2.3	Matching and Approval of Placement
	2.4	Placement Planning
	2.5	Notification of Placement
3.	Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements
	3.1	Support and Monitoring of Placements
	3.2	Ending of 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 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;
5. The child’s school or education authority;
6. The Youth Offending Service, if the child is known to them.

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.

1.2 Planning

See Decision to Look After and Care Planning Procedure for procedures relating to the initial decision to look after a child, obtaining the approval of the Placement Matters Meeting to the placement and the drafting and approval of the Care Plan.

All short term placements in foster care require the approval of the Placement Matters Meeting.

NB Placements with permanent/long-term foster carers require additional approvals - see Long Term Plans for Children Looked After and Referrals to Oxfordshire Adoption and Permanency Panel and the Fostering Panel Procedure.

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, the necessary approvals have been obtained for the placement and a Care Plan and Placement Plan (recorded on a Placement Information Record) Placement Information Record) are in place.

Where the above has not occurred, the placement is deemed to be an Emergency.  See Emergency Placement Procedures.

2.2 Placement Request

Where a decision has been made that a child requires a short term foster placement, the child’s social worker should complete and send by e-mail a Referral Form to the Team Manager (Placements). 

For placements in permanent fostering, see Long Term Plans for Children Looked After and Referrals to Oxfordshire Adoption and Permanency Panel and the Fostering Panel Procedure.

The Team Manager (Placements) will arrange for the social worker to attend the next meeting of the Placement Matters Meeting and will pass a copy of the Referral Form to the Family Placement Service. 

The Referral Form contains information about the child, the type of placement sought, 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 child’s social worker should bring to the Placement Matters Meeting at least one of the following to support the request:

• Initial Assessment or Core Assessment;
• A recently completed Chronology;
• The child’s Statement of Special Educational Need;
• The child’s Care Plan;
• The most recent Looked After Review minutes (in relation to a child already Looked After);
• Minutes of the most recent Strategy Meeting or Child Protection Conference or other relevant meeting.

The Placements Matters Meeting will discuss alternatives to the child being/remaining looked after or changing placement, and consider whether the services of the Placement Support Team, Route One Outreach Project or Prevention and Intervention Team should be requested.

Where a placement in foster care is agreed, the Placements Matters Meeting will identify an appropriate in-house resource wherever possible. 

Where there is no suitable available in-house resource, the Placement Matters Meeting will approve in principle the child’s placement with an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA).  All internal resources must have been explored before seeking the agreement of the Designated Manager (External Placements) to a placement with an independent fostering agency.

For referrals to and placement with the Multi-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care Programme, see the Multi-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care Procedure.

2.3 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.

Where an in-house resource is identified, the duty FPS officer will then contact the foster carer, the foster carer’s family placement social worker and the child’s social worker to agree the proposed placement .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. See also Section 2, Sharing Bedrooms of Children's Bedrooms Procedure.

The placement planning process can start - see Section 2.4, Placement Planning. If the placement is outside the foster carer’s terms of approval or an exemption is required - see Altering the Approval of a Foster Carer and Exemptions Procedure.

If a placement with an independent fostering agency has been authorised by the Placement Matters Meeting and the Designated Manager (External Placements), the duty FPS officer will consult appropriate providers, identify possible placements and liaise with the social worker about their suitability. This will include a consideration by the FPS and the social worker of the prospective carer’s Form F’s. Where the placement is with independent foster carers who live outside the local authority area, see also Out of Area Placements Procedure.

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 Guidance.

The duty FPS officer should initially approach providers approved through the Pan-London Consortium.

The duty FPS officer should arrange for a copy of any brochure or written material that is available for the proposed placement to be forwarded to the social worker. 

At this stage initial discussions will be held with the providers as to the appropriateness of the referral, time-scales for vacancies and the basic costs of the placement. 

The duty FPS officer will ascertain the services included in the basic cost, what would be regarded as extra cost and the conditions relating to the notice period, and liaise with the child’s social worker and relevant manager as necessary. 

If an external placement appears suitable and a vacancy is available, the FPS should notify the Team Manager (Placements).  Where the provider is not a Pan London provider or a provider known and used on a regular basis, the Team Manager (Placements) will undertake the following:

• Contact and discuss the provider with OFSTED;
• Request a copy of the provider’s registration certificate and the most recent inspection report;
• Obtain at least 3 verbal references from other local authorities who have placed children with the provider in the last 12 months;
• Liaise with social workers who have previously used the provider.

Where the proposed placement is with a foster carer living outside the county, the views of the local authority where the foster carer lives must also be sought and taken into account.

Where there is a child already in the proposed foster placement from a different local authority, the consent of that child’s local authority should be sought by the Team Manager (Placements).

As long as no concerns have been raised in relation to a proposed external placement, and where time permits, the child’s social worker will arrange to visit the placement and then discuss its suitability with the FPS and the Team Manager (Placements).

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

When the placement has been agreed as suitable, the Team Manager (Placements) will negotiate the terms and conditions of the placement with the provider. Where the provider is a member of the Pan London Consortium, this will be in line with the standardised Pan London Contract.  All contracts will provide for a review after 3 months.

The provider’s admissions procedure will then be followed.

2.4 Placement Planning

As part of the placement planning process, the social worker should carry out a Risk Assessment in relation to the risks to the placement, unmet needs of the child and risk of harm to the child and/or the carers.

Before the child is placed, the duty FPS officer will liaise with the child’s social worker, foster carer and the foster carer’s family placement social worker (where the placement is with in-house carers) or independent fostering agency to 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 finalise the Placement Plan (recorded on the Placement Information Record), consider the Risk Assessment, plan the timing of the placement and ensure that a Placement Information Record is drawn up. The Placement Information Record should address issues raised in the Risk Assessment.

In addition the pre-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/Placement Information Record 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. 

Following the meeting, 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, within five working days of the placement. 

The social worker should ensure that any Children’s Guide or other information about the placement that is available for the child is obtained and given to him/her.

If the child is being placed in a placement from an independent fostering agency, the social worker must also ensure that the child is provided with information on using the authority’s Complaints Procedure.

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

The social worker will update Framework-i with the placement details including foster carer payment details or service package details in the case of independent fostering agencies.

2.5 Notification of Placement

Notification of the placement must be sent to all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process.

The social worker must complete a Movement Form and arrange for the team administrator to send copies to the relevant finance officer (to trigger payments), the Designated Nurse for Looked After Children, the relevant local Children’s Social Care Services (if the placement is outside the county) and the appropriate education officer.

The allocated social worker must also notify an already allocated Independent Reviewing Officer or, if it is the first Looked After Placement, the Independent Chairs/Quality Assurance Unit.  This notification will trigger, if necessary, the appointment of an Independent Reviewing Officer, who will contact the social worker to make arrangements for a Looked After 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 notifications should be sent before the start of the placement, wherever possible, or within five working days.

It will 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 - with in-house foster placements, the foster carer will actually make the necessary arrangements. 

In relation to a first Looked After placement it will also be necessary for the social worker to arrange a Health Assessment (see procedures contained in Health Assessments and Health Action Plans Procedure).

The social worker must also complete a Personal Education Plan (see PEP Procedure).

3. Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements

3.1 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 procedures in Social Worker Visits Procedure.

Also see Placement Plan Reviews Procedure

The Team Manager (Placements) will maintain contact with independent fostering agencies in relation to the children placed with them, taking up with them any concerns or funding issues.

Where the needs of the child in the placement will involve costs in addition to those approved, the placement must be referred to the Designated Manager (External Placements) for authority for any such additional costs before they are incurred. The Team Manager (Placements) must be involved in these negotiations and kept informed of any changes.

Where there are any concerns that the child’s placement may break down, the social worker must consult with the foster carer’s family placement social worker and consider the need to hold a Placement Plan Review as a problem solving meeting where the need for additional resources to support the placement can be considered.  Where necessary, a referral to the Placement Matters Meeting should be made for access to the services of the Placement Support Team.  The procedure for the referral to the Placement Matters Meeting is the same as a request for a change of placement - see paragraph 2.2, Placement Request.

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

3.2 Ending of Placements

All those notified of the placement should be notified also when a placement ends and Framework-i should be updated.

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

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 child’s social worker should also provide an End of Placement Report for the foster carer’s family placement social worker.  This will contribute to the foster carer’s next annual review - see Review of Foster Carers Procedure.

Where a former carer’s records are requested by a new agency, these must be made available within one month of the request.

End