Understanding Placement Plans, Care Plans and Looked After Reviews

Before a child comes to live with you, you will have a number of questions and will need as much information as possible about them. Wherever possible planning meetings and documents should be held and provided to you prior to a child arriving. There also should be an opportunity for children to have introductory visits prior to moving in. However, where this is not possible, there must be a planning meeting at which a Placement Plan will be completed within five days. A Care Plan should be completed or updated within 10 days of the child coming into care. No information should be withheld from you without a manager’s approval and this will only be in very rare cases.

A Care Plan must be completed before the child’s first placement or within 10 working days of them coming into care.

This is a document that must be drawn up by the child’s social worker where a child/family is receiving a service from a local authority. It should provide information relating to the child and their family, and what work must be done to meet the needs of the child or young person in relation to future plans for them.

One of the main purposes of the Care Plan is to ensure that each child has a Permanence Plan in place by the time of the second Looked After Review. (Four Months after coming into care.) Permanence here could for example mean a return home, moving to family members, remaining in foster care, transitioning to independence, etc.

The child’s overarching Care Plan includes:

• Placement Plan (setting out why the placement was chosen and how you as carers will contribute to meeting the child’s needs);
• Permanence Plan (long-term plans for the child’s upbringing including timescales);
• Pathway Plan (where appropriate, for young people leaving care);
• Health Plan;
• Personal Education Plan;
• Education, Health and Care Plan. For children/young people who need additional support.

This is a document that must be completed in advance, on the day or within five days of a placement being made with you. This plan is drawn up at the Placement Planning Meeting by the child/young person’s social worker, with you and your Supervising Social Worker and family members. Where possible, the placement planning meeting should be chaired and organised by the fostering supervising social worker, include you, the birth parent or the person with parental responsibility, the child’s social worker and where appropriate the child, their advocate or Independent Reviewing Officer. The meeting would normally take place at your home.

The placement planning meeting is all about the child and your plans for the immediate living together arrangements, it focuses on the day-to-day important living issues for children and the foster carer. Subsequent meetings are scheduled as needed or agreed upon by the relevant parties involved. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss and plan the placement, address any issues or concerns, agree delegated authority and ensure everybody has a voice.

This plan details the expectations and routines of the child, as well as how their needs will be met in the foster placement.

The Placement Plan covers the following areas:

• Objectives and purpose of the placement;
• Arrangements for the child’s education and training, including the name and address of the child’s school/other educational setting/provider and designated teacher; the Local Authority maintaining any Education, Health and Care Plan;
• The child’s personal/cultural history;
• The child’s likes/dislikes;
• Arrangements for the child’s health (physical, emotional and mental) and dental care, including the name and address of registered medical and dental practitioners; arrangements for giving/withholding consent to medical/dental examination/treatment;
• The house rules;
• Agreements for contact between the child, their family and others;
• Frequency of social work visits to the child and yourself, and any review meetings;
• If an Independent Visitor is appointed, the arrangements for them to visit the child and their contact details;
• Delegated Authority where appropriate;
• The Placement Plan must show who can make decisions about situations such as:
• Medical and dental treatment;
• Education and school trips;
• Overnight stays. Fostering National Minimum standard 7.7 makes it clear this should be the foster carer unless there is a specific exclusion written into the placement plan. Foster carers must satisfy themselves of the safety and appropriateness of the arrangement, taking all steps that a reasonable parent would take;
• Leisure and home life;
• Faith and religious observance;
• Use of social media;
• Any other matters which the child, the carer, local authority/person with Parental Responsibility consider appropriate.

If the person with parental responsibility cannot be present the child’s social worker must have discussed the permissions aspect of the care episode with them prior to the meeting.

The placement planning meeting sets the scene for the first looked after review which will be held four weeks later and then at three months and six monthly after that.

As a foster carer, it is essential that you receive a signed copy of this plan as soon as possible following the meeting taking place.

A Looked After Review (CLA or Statutory Review as it is sometimes known) is a meeting that covers the arrangements for making sure the care plans put in place for a child in care are adhered to.

Looked After Reviews are held at specific intervals. They are normally chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). They will discuss with all those involved with the child’s life including the child/young person how they are progressing and how their needs will continue to be met. The Independent Reviewing Officer has a monitoring role for the child overall so is a good source of support if needed.

Looked After Reviews happen at the following intervals:

• Within 28 working days of the child becoming Looked After;
• Then within three months of an initial Looked After Review;
• Then subsequent looked after reviews should be conducted not more than six months after any previous review.

Looked After Reviews should be brought forward by the Independent Reviewing Officer where the circumstances or an event has a significant impact upon the child’s Care Plan, as suggested in the following sorts of circumstances:

• A proposed change of Care Plan for example arising at short notice in the course of proceedings following directions from the court;
• Where agreed decisions from the review are not carried out within the specified timescale;
• Major change to the contact arrangements;
• Changes of allocated social worker;
• Any safeguarding concerns involving the child, which may lead to enquiries being made under Section 47 of the 1989 Act (‘Child Protection Enquiries’) and outcomes of Child Protection Conferences, or other meetings that are not attended by the IRO;
• Complaints from or on behalf of the child, parent or carer;
• Unexpected changes in the child’s placement provision which may significantly impact on placement stability or safeguarding arrangements;
• Significant changes in birth family circumstances for example births, marriages or deaths which may have a particular impact on the child;
• If the child is charged with any offence leading to referral to Youth Offending Services, pending criminal proceedings and any convictions or sentences as a result of such proceedings;
• If the child is excluded from school;
• If the child has run away or is missing from an approved placement;
• Significant health, medical events, diagnoses, illnesses, hospitalisations, or serious accidents; and panel decisions in relation to permanency.

(DfE Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations - Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review).

This is not an exhaustive list and other events considered to be significant may prompt an earlier review. The decision whether to have an early review is the IRO’s.

The parents and child should also be consulted about the need for an additional review.

You should therefore:

• Discuss with your social worker any changes that occur for yourself or for your family;
• Ensure the social worker for the child is fully informed and aware of any of the issues that have been highlighted;
• Discuss with your social worker any other matter that you feel could reflect significantly or impact upon the child or their Care Plan.

The Independent Reviewing Officer can then review and consider whether an earlier review should be convened.

The first Looked After Review following a young person’s 15th birthday should consider whether a Staying Put arrangement (whereby the young person remains in the foster home after the age of 18) could be an option.

It is BFfC’s IFA’s expectation that you attend the reviews of the child/young person you are caring for.

The child/young person should be at their review, they should decide who else is present and in some circumstances be invited to chair, and usually children should invite their family, the child’s social worker and any other professionals working with the family.

If you are worried about these meetings or any specific topics that are due to be discussed, please talk with your supervising social worker.