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Contents

1. The Fostering Duty Team
2. Referral Process
3. Referrals for Parent and Baby Placements
4. Matching Process
5. Black and Minority Ethnic Children and Young People
6. Administration, including Notifications
7. Planned Emergency Placements
8. Placements with Independent Fostering Agencies

1. The Fostering Duty Team

The Fostering Service provides a duty service to fieldwork teams.

The Fostering Duty Team consists of one Practice Manager and 2 fostering service staff per day.

It operates 9 - 5 pm (Monday - Thursday), 9 - 4.30pm Fridays.

The Fostering Duty Team identifies emergency and planned placements for children aged 0 - 18, including respite placements.

2. Referral Process

The child’s social worker makes a referral to Fostering Duty on the Fostering Duty Referral Form, which should also include risk assessments on bedroom sharing, contact issues or any other behaviour that may cause concern.

The child’s social worker should also provide information on:

1. The purpose of the placement;
2. The Care Plan;
3. Time scales.

The referral (unless an emergency) is taken to the Fostering Teams Children Awaiting Placement (CAP) meeting which is usually held on a Monday morning.

A Professionals’ Planning Meeting can also be held if a child has complex needs.

3. Referrals for Parent and Baby Placements

An Agreement for Placement Request needs to be obtained from the appropriate Area Manager. The Head of Service (Fostering & Adoption) needs to give final agreement in writing for the placement request.

4. Matching Process

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 identity/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:

• 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.

There should be consultation with other professionals as required such as:

• School;
• Previous carers;
• Intensive Placement Team;
• Other social work teams;
• Other fostering agencies;
• Other agencies.

The carer’s supervising social worker/practice manager and/ or Service Manager must be consulted.

The various placement options should be discussed with the referring social worker.

The child’s social worker should be advised to contact or visit potential carers prior to a decision about a placement being made.

All the various parties involved in the matching process should feedback to the Fostering Duty Desk with any problems and gaps identified. An action plan should be agreed to see if any of the outstanding issues can be resolved, such as matching criteria not met, transport difficulties, and where trans-racial placements are made.

Once the child’s needs have been matched with the carer and a viable action plan agreed (to resolve any unmatched needs or outstanding issues) agreement should be sought from:

1. The carer(s);
2. The child’s social worker who should have gained the child’s view about the placement. If the child’s wishes are not acted upon, the reason should be given;
3. The supervising social worker;
4. Fostering Duty.

The placement match is passed to the Duty Practice Manager for final agreement.

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 Procedure.

5. Black and Minority Ethnic Children and Young People

The fostering service is committed to achieving a placement that is capable of positively promoting the child’s identity and meeting their own needs hence a placement of a black and minority ethnic  (BME) child with carers of the same race, ethnicity and religion will be the most desirable outcome for a child. However there may be occasions where a trans-racial placement may be the best available option for a child.

Where a trans-racial or trans-religion policy is being considered, the Fostering Duty Manager most be consulted about any placement options. This would include the possibility of placing a child with an Independent Fostering Agency.  Reasons for a proposed trans-racial placement must be recorded and made available to the Fostering Service Manager. The Service Manager must give written authorisation before the placement goes ahead. See Black and Minority Ethnic Children Placements Procedure.

6. Administration, including Notifications

A payment form must be completed by Fostering Duty in the first instance or by the Supervising Social Worker (SSW) and passed to the relevant team administrator who sets up a service package. In addition, if completed by fostering duty, the payment form is sent electronically to the SSW.

SSW's are alerted to placements made with their carers and encouraged to view the referrals in the fostering duty folder.

A duty referral form must be copied by Fostering Duty to the supervising social worker and placed on the child’s module linked to foster carer’s file.

The Recruitment & Publicity Officer for black and minority ethnic carers should be alerted to trans-racial placements by the SSW, post placement. If a trans-racial placement is made, Fostering Duty must complete the placement form and pass to the Recruitment & Publicity officer for BME Carers.

Notifications should be made before the start of the placement, wherever possible, or within 5 working days. The child's social worker will notify all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process of the placement. S/he must also notify the allocated Independent Reviewing Officer or, if it is the first placement, the Independent Review Unit of the placement. This notification will trigger the appointment of an Independent Reviewing Officer if it is the first placement, and the setting up of 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 child's social worker should also notify - preferably in writing but it may be verbally - all those involved in the day to day arrangements for the child, including nursery/school and any health professional or YOT worker actively involved with the child.

7. Planned Emergency Placements

It is the preferred practice that placements are planned rather than made in an emergency. Planned placements lead to better matching and better outcomes for the child.

Planned placements give an opportunity for the child and carers to have a planned introduction before moving to the placement on a full time basis.

It is recognised that emergency/crisis situations do arise. It is still expected that a matching process is undertaken. Children’s social workers will be asked to look at family, friends and other Connected Person carer options as an alternative to placing a child in an emergency placement until a more viable on-going placement can be identified.

The Fostering Service has a range of emergency carers they can contact at short notice who are available to take children/ young people in an emergency.

8. Placements with Independent Fostering Agencies

Consideration of placements with Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA's) should also follow the matching process already described for in-house placements.

If following the matching process it is not possible to identify a Brighton and Hove placement then Fostering Duty will seek agreement from the Head of Service (Fostering and Adoption) to contact the agencies on the Preferred Provider List. A written confirmation of the agreement needs to be obtained and placed on file.

Profile of the child

A profile of the child should normally be completed by the child’s social worker.

Fostering Duty sends the child’s profile to IFA's on the Preferred Provider List.

Following this, the matching process, as outlined earlier, is followed.

Information on potential foster carers provided by IFA's is sent to the child’s social worker for final decision as to their suitability.

Fostering Duty provides advice and guidance on matching issues to the child’s social worker and a quality assurance role about potential assessments/placements offered.

The placement match is passed to the Fostering Duty Manager for final agreement.

Administration for IFA placements

Payment forms must be completed by Fostering Duty and passed to the relevant team administrator who sets up a service package.

Senior Fostering Service managers and the Agency Placements Manager must be informed in writing about the new placement.

End