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Contents

1. The Care Plan
2. Notifications
3. Health Care
4. Education
5. Complaints and Advocacy
6. Placement Planning Meetings
7. Support and Monitoring of Placements

1. The Care Plan

Where a decision is made to look after a child, the child must have a Care Plan. See Section 2, The Care Plan of Decision to Look After Procedure.

The child’s social worker should have made arrangements for the Care Plan and other plans e.g. Placement Plan (recorded on the Placement Information Record) to be drawn up, as set out in Section 2, The Care Plan of Decision to Look After Procedure.

The Social Worker must make arrangements for a Looked After Review to take place within 20 days of the placement being made. (See Looked After Reviews Procedure).

2. Notifications

After the child becomes Looked After (including changes in placement or placement endings), the social worker should also notify all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process.  If not consulted in the decision making process, the social worker must notify the child’s parent(s) and/or those who have Parental Responsibility, significant relatives, Connected Person or friends and previous carers.

The social worker should ensure the following notifications are made (notifications must be in writing, notifying them of the placement decision and the name and address of the person with whom the child has been placed):

1. Looked After Review and, if placed in Secure Accommodation, Secure Criteria Review (See Secure Accommodation (Criteria) Review Procedures - to follow).
2. Local Education Authority in the area where the child is placed and within the Borough, and child’s school.
3. If the child is placed outside the authority, Children’s Services Department in the area where the child is placed.

3. Health Care

The social worker should arrange for the child to have a Health Care Assessment before the placement, or if not reasonably practicable before the first Looked After Review (i.e. within 20 working days of the placement), (see Health Care Assessments and Health Care Plans Procedure) and ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician. 

NB. Whilst there is no change in the arrangements for registration with a GP, dentist and optician, there is no longer an obligation to inform the Health Authority in the area where the child is moving.*

*(National Health Service (functions of Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and administration arrangements (England) (amendment ) regulations 2007)

4. Education

The social worker should ensure that there is minimal disruption to the child’s education.  If the child can not continue to attend his/her previous school, the social worker should liaise with the carer/home to ensure the child is registered with a school or that his/her educational needs are addressed.  This will include ensuring that a Personal Education Plan (PEP)is drawn up as part of the Care Plan before the child becomes Looked After (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement) and can be available in time for the first Looked After Review. Ideally this should be done before the child moves but if this is not possible, the placement should only be made if suitable educational arrangements can be realistically envisaged. See Education of Looked After Children Procedure.

5. Complaints and Advocacy

The social worker should ensure the child is given literature/information about:

• The City Corporation Children’s Social Care Service Complaints Procedure
• Advocacy Services provided by the City Corporation

6. Placement Planning Meetings

If the child is placed on a planned basis, the social worker must liaise with the carer/or home to conduct a Placement Planning Meeting within 7 days of the placement.

If the child is placed in an emergency or outside office hours, the social worker must conduct an Emergency Review within 3 working days to review the suitability of the placement. 

See Placement Planning and Disruption Meetings Procedure.

7. Support and Monitoring of Placements

If the child is placed out of hours, the EDT Worker must consult carers/the home and provide necessary immediate support to the placement.

The social worker must undertake a visit within a week of the placement and then at intervals required in Social Worker Visits Procedure.

End