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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Permanence planning – key principles
3. Long term or permanent foster Carers
4. Permanence Planning for Looked After Children aged 0 – 9 years
5. The Matching Process for Children who can remain with existing Carers
6. The Matching Process for children who are not able to remain with their existing Carer(s)
7. Permanence Planning for Looked After Children aged 9 – 12 years
8. The Matching Process for Children who can remain with existing foster Carers
9. The Matching Process for children who are unable to remain with their existing foster Carers
10. Permanence Planning for young people over 12 years of age.

1. Introduction

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Fostering Service Statement of Purpose and the Adoption Service Statement of Purpose. These documents detail the key principles that underpin the department's work with looked after children, their birth families, foster Carers and all parties in the adoption process.

The policy in relation to the placement of Black & Minority Ethnic Looked After Children (See Black and Ethnic Minority Procedure) is also relevant and needs to be reflected in permanence planning for BME looked after children. The policy in relation to Family & Friends care details the planning and decision making process in relation to Kinship care and highlights the significance of children having the opportunity to achieve stability and security within their extended family or friendship network.

This policy focuses on planning and decision making in relation to permanent foster care for looked after children. It highlights the need to ensure that there is sufficient rigour and scrutiny in the decision making process and the need for plans to be made in a timely way to prevent children drifting in the care system.

The policy is accompanied by practice guidance, which details the role of the Permanence Panel in decision making in relation to long term fostering plans for looked after children, but also provides for the Looked After Review to have a more prominent role in this process in relation to matching decisions. The policy also lowers the age from under 12 years to under 9 years as the cut off age for plans for permanent foster care to be presented to Permanence Panel.

2. Permanence planning – key principles

This section should be read in conjunction with: Permanence Planning Guidance - to follow.

The child’s welfare is the paramount consideration and all children are entitled to grow up as part of a loving and caring family, which can meet their needs during childhood and beyond. The needs and wishes, welfare and safety of the child or young person are at the centre of the adoption and permanence planning process.

When a child or young person cannot live safely with their own Parents then active consideration will be given to that child being cared for within the wider family and friendship network.

If it is not possible for a child or young person to remain with their birth family or to be placed within the wider family a placement with foster Carers or adopters will be arranged. Good childcare planning is essential to prevent children drifting in the care system.

All Looked after Children will have a Care Plan which will be reviewed regularly and at the 4-month review the plan for permanence will be addressed. This plan will be based on the needs of the individual child and will include consideration of permanence being achieved ideally by return to the birth family but if that is not possible through permanent foster care or adoption. Clear timescales will be drawn up to expedite the permanence planning.

Adoption should be considered for all children that can not be cared for within their birth family. However it is acknowledged that for some older children adoption is not always appropriate as it severs all legal links to the birth family. Permanence can be achieved by the child or young person remaining or being placed with foster Carers that are able to offer the child a permanent Home with them. Other legal orders that enable the child to achieve security and stability within the placement such as Special Guardianship Order or Residence Order should be actively considered.

Brighton & Hove provides a comprehensive range of support services to all their foster Carers and also ensure that Carers that go on to provide permanence through Special Guardianship or Residence Order continue to have access to support services including financial support dependent on their individual needs.

Siblings will be placed together if at all possible provided this meets their individual needs. Every effort will be made to match children with Carers that are best placed to meet their needs and Brighton & Hove will continue to place a high priority on maintaining an inclusive and active recruitment campaign for foster Carers and adopters.

Appropriate contact arrangements will be considered for each child that is placed with permanent Carers or adopters. This will include contact with birth Parents, siblings, extended family and those with significant relationships with the child. Contact arrangements will be kept under regular review.

Consideration will always be given to the child remaining with their existing foster Carers if appropriate.

Brighton & Hove will endeavour to place children if at all possible with their own in-house foster Carers if foster placements are available that meet the child’s needs.

Brighton & Hove has a commissioning strategy with the local independent fostering sector and will look to place children if necessary with fostering agencies that are on the authority’s preferred provider list. Careful consideration will always be given to the child’s matching needs and the support services available for that placement.

Permanence Panel will consider any plan for permanent foster care for children under 9 years. Adoption should always be actively considered for children of such age, however it is recognised that for some children it might not be possible or appropriate to achieve permanence through adoption. There may be specific family finding difficulties or the child under 9 may be being placed with an older sibling group where permanent fostering is the plan. It is essential that permanence plans for children under 9 are subject to the rigour and scrutiny of Permanence Panel to ensure every effort has been made to achieve adoption where possible.

For children between 9 and 12 years permanent plans and matches can be endorsed at the Looked After Child Review. A clear matching process must be followed to ensure that the placement meets the child’s needs and the Carers are able to make a permanent commitment to the child. The process is detailed in the practice guidance for permanent foster care.

For children and young people over 12 years it is recognised that many foster placements will provide a permanent Home but some may appropriately be a bridging through to independence. Plans for the child will continue to be reviewed regularly at LAC reviews.

Independent Reviewing Officers have a key role in the oversight of the care planning process for looked after children and the Professional Advisor to Permanence Panel can also give advice about the permanence policy and the role of the Permanence Panel in this process.

3. Long term or permanent foster Carers

It is recognised that many successful long term or permanent foster placements develop from an initial 'short term' placement. Few foster Carers are recruited specifically to undertake 'permanent' foster care. Foster Carers often start their career in fostering offering time limited or respite fostering and this may fit with the needs of their own family. However there are a significant number of foster Carers that go on to offer a long term permanent placement to a child because they have developed a particular attachment to that child and wish to continue to offer them a Home as a permanent member of their family.

Permanence planning for looked after children should always include consideration of the child staying with their current Carers if appropriate. In such circumstances, Carers would be offering to make a permanent commitment to a child based on their experience of caring for that child as part of their family and with a full understanding of the child's family situation. They are therefore making a decision based on real experience. This is very different to practice in adoptive placements where children are 'matched' with adoptive Carers and this match has to be recommended by Permanence Panel and approved by the Agency Decision Maker/Permanence Planning before the adoptive Carers are able to meet the child.

Within the Fostering & Adoption Service the Fostering team plays the primary role in the recruitment, training, assessing, supervising and supporting of 'task focused' foster Carers that provide a range of foster placements that vary in length dependent on the needs of the child and the care plan. The Permanence Team takes on the role of Supervising Social Worker for Carers that are providing a permanent placement to a child.

The Fostering Team will provide a duty service to all prospective foster Carers irrespective of the type of fostering they wish to undertake. This is in recognition of the fact that most prospective foster Carers do not come into fostering with a clear view about the type of fostering they wish to provide. Having one duty point for all prospective foster Carers also ensures that Carers receive a consistent and rapid response overseen by one lead Practice Manager.

Following the initial Home assessment process, all prospective foster Carers will attend the Fostering team's preparation training group. The Fostering team will undertake the majority of the fostering assessment work and all assessment reports in relation to prospective foster Carers will be presented to the Fostering Panel. The only exception to this will be the assessment reports in relation to concurrent Carers, as they are approved as foster Carers and adopters they will continue to be presented to Permanence Panel.

Recommendations for approval of new foster Carers will be kept general i.e. unless it is for a specific child they will just be approved as 'foster Carers' rather than for a specific type of fostering. The age range will be kept as broad as is appropriate. Existing foster Carers will have their approval status changed to reflect this new approach following their foster care review. Variation to the foster care approval will be made at foster care reviews or by the Head of Service, Fostering & Adoption if a change of approval is needed in advance of a review meeting.

4. Permanence Planning for Looked After Children aged 0 – 9 years

All adoption 'best interest' decisions and adoptive matches for any child or young person must continue to be presented to the Permanence Panel.

The Permanence Panel will continue to make recommendations in relation to long term fostering being in the best interest of a child for children up to their 9th birthday. Panel will therefore be able to fully scrutinise why this plan is being proposed instead of adoption, which is generally the more appropriate permanence plan for children of this age.

The Permanence Panel will also continue to consider the matches for all children under nine years of age or within 2 years of the best interest decision being made whichever is the later (i.e. if Panel made a long term fostering best interest decision when the child was eight and half years old any long term match would have to be presented back to panel until the child was 10 and half years old).

Permanence Planning meetings should take place for all children under 9 years. A family finding strategy will be decided upon depending on the circumstances of the child needing a placement. The Permanence Planning meeting will consider whether there is a possible option of the child remaining in his or her current placement and the assessment work that would need to be undertaken.

5. The Matching Process for Children who can remain with existing Carers

An initial agreement to proceed with the assessment of the current foster Carer(s) should be made by the Service Manager with responsibility for the child and the Service Manager for the Permanence Team. If the child is currently living with agency foster Carers who wish to offer permanence this plan must also involve discussion with the Head of Service (Fostering and Adoption) and the Agency Placement Manager.

A Matching Report will be completed jointly by the Social Worker for the child and the family finding Social Worker in conjunction with the worker for the prospective permanent foster family. The Matching report will follow a similar structure to the Matching report completed for adoptive placements. It will detail:

• the up-to-date needs of the child and any significant changes in his/her circumstances since the completion of the form E (this section will be written by the child’s Social Worker)
• what the Carer(s) has to offer and any significant changes since the form F was completed (this section will be written by the Carers Supervising Social Worker). Two written references must be appended from people that are able to comment on the relationship the Carer already has with the child.
• a summary of the main strengths of the match and any areas of vulnerability or potential difficulty
• the support plan.
• what consideration has been given to the options for legally securing the placement in the future (i.e. Special Guardianship, Adoption or Residence Order)

The completed Matching report must be presented to the Permanence Panel. If the child is to be placed with a sibling whose needs are not being considered by the Permanence Panel (i.e. the older sibling is over 9 years of age) a copy of the older child’s last Looked After Child Review should be appended to the Matching Report. It is not necessary to update the child’s BAAF Form E or the foster Carers BAAF Form F as any updated information should be contained in the extended matching report.

If specific Carers are being considered as permanent Carers for more than one child the related matching reports should be presented and considered by the Permanence Panel at the same meeting if at all possible (whether or not the children in question are related).

6. The Matching Process for children who are not able to remain with their existing Carer(s)

The needs of these children will be considered at the weekly Children Awaiting Placement (CAP) meetings run by the Fostering team. In-house fostering resources must be fully considered for any child needing a permanent fostering placement before an approach is made to an independent fostering provider.

It is essential that there is close liaison between the Practice Managers and Service Managers in the Fostering and Permanence teams to ensure all potential in-house fostering resources are fully considered for children needing placements. A Practice Manager from the Permanence team should attend the Children Awaiting Placement meetings as often as possible with a minimum expectation of at least fortnightly attendance. Practice Managers in the Permanence team will ensure that Practice Managers in the Fostering team are kept up to date on a weekly basis of any potential fostering vacancies within the fostering resources supervised by the Permanence team.

If there is no suitable resource available or likely to become available in the near future consultation must occur with the Head of Service (Fostering and Adoption) and the Agency Placement Manager about approaches being made to the independent and voluntary sector. If agreement is given to seek a permanent foster placement within the independent or voluntary sector but no appropriate placement is immediately available full consideration of the suitability of any in-house Carers that become available should continue. If a child placed permanently with foster Carers from the independent or voluntary sector subsequently has to move further consideration must be given to in-house Carers prior to another placement within the independent agency being agreed.

The matching process as outlined in 5 above will be used once a suitable permanent Carer has been identified.

7. Permanence Planning for Looked After Children aged 9 – 12 years

The decision about whether long term fostering is in the best interests of a child over 9 years of age will be made via the Looked After Child Review process.

Any proposed long term/permanent fostering match must be referred to the Permanence Panel if either of the following criteria are met::

1. A long term fostering best interest decision has been made by the Permanence Panel within the last 2 years.
2. An ‘adoption in best interest’ decision has been made by the Permanence Panel and the proposal is to change the care plan to long term fostering.

Children over 9 years of age who need to be placed either on a long term or permanent basis with foster Carers must be referred by the child’s Social Worker to the (Family Finding) Practice Manager in the Permanence team for an initial consultation. This consultation will focus on the child’s emotional, physical, developmental and identity needs, extended family options, contact etc. and the most appropriate way of proceeding with family finding.

8. The Matching Process for Children who can remain with existing Carers

An initial agreement to proceed with the assessment of the current foster Carer should be made by the Service Manager with responsibility for the child and the Service Manager for the Permanence Team. If the child is currently living with agency foster Carers who wish to offer permanence this plan must also involve discussion with the Head of Service (Fostering and Adoption) and the Agency Placement Manager.

A Matching Report will be completed jointly by the Social Worker for the child and the family finding Social Worker in conjunction with the worker for the prospective permanent foster family. The Matching report will follow a similar structure to the Matching report completed for adoptive placements. It will detail:

• the up-to-date needs of the child and any significant changes in his/her circumstances since the completion of the form E (if a form E has previously been completed). This section will be written by the child’s Social Worker
• what the Carer(s) has to offer and any significant changes since the form F was completed. The Carers Supervising Social Worker will write this section. Two written references must be sought and copies appended from people that are able to comment on the relationship the Carer already has with the child.
• a summary of the main strengths of the match and any areas of vulnerability or potential difficulty the support plan.
• what consideration has been given to the options for legally securing the placement in the future (i.e. Special Guardianship, Adoption, or Residence Order).

The completed Matching report must be presented to the Permanence Panel if Panel have made a best interest long term fostering recommendation in relation to the child within the last two years.

If the child is over 9 years of age, and Panel have not made a long term fostering best interest decision within the last two years, the completed Matching report must be presented to the Service Manager (Permanence) for a decision to be made in consultation with Service Manager for the relevant fieldwork team. This decision will be made by the Service Manager within 3 weeks of receiving the report. A copy of the matching report must be sent to the relevant Independent Reviewing Officer prior to the decision being reached for his/her comment. The Independent Reviewing Officer will ensure that they read the report and make any comments within 3 weeks of receiving the report. The decision, and any associated discussion, about the suitability of the proposed placement will be made as outlined in a timely way outside of the LAC review meeting. However, if the placement is recommended it will be formally endorsed at the next LAC review. Consideration can be given to bringing forward the next LAC review, if appropriate, so that the decision can be endorsed and the child or young person and other parties can be informed formally of the agreement to the plan. Decision making about the appropriate timing of the next LAC review should be made in consultation with the Independent Reviewing Officer. The match will not need to be ratified further by the Permanence Panel.

9. The Matching Process for children who are unable to remain with their existing foster Carers

For children under 12 years of age where permanent fostering has been agreed as the plan but who are not able to remain with their existing foster Carer a family finding strategy needs to be devised at the Permanence Planning meeting.

The needs of these children will be considered at the weekly Children Awaiting Placement (CAP) meetings run by the Fostering team. In-house fostering resources must be fully considered for any child needing a permanent fostering placement before an approach is made to an independent fostering provider.

If there is no suitable resource available or likely to become available in the near future consultation must occur with the Head of Service (Fostering and Adoption) and Agency Placement Manager about approaches being made to the independent and voluntary sector.

The matching process outlined in 8 above will be used once a suitable permanent Carer has been identified.

10. Permanence Planning for young people over 12 years of age

All decisions regarding the planning and placement of young people over 12 years of age will be made and reviewed via the Looked After Child Review process.

A copy of the last Looked After Child Review, or care plan prepared for Court, must be appended to the Matching report presented to the permanence panel for any younger siblings with whom the young person is to be placed.

End