Care Planning Procedure - Section 20

When an admission to Section 20 care is considered to be necessary to safeguard a child or young person, the case must be referred to the Strategic Lead (Safeguarding) or the Assistant Director Social Care, for consideration. Other than in an emergency, the decision to admit a child to care will be based on a full assessment that indicates that it is in the child’s best interests to become Looked After. This assessment should be sent to the Strategic Lead/Assistant Director with an outline of what the admission is intended to achieve.

If it is necessary to admit a child to care in an emergency the Out of Hours Duty Manager will refer the matter to the Strategic Lead or the Assistant Director for authorisation.

Following consideration by the Strategic Lead/Assistant Director it may be decided that an alternative plan is more appropriate. If the child is to be supported to remain at home a support plan will be put in place. If it is decided that an Interim Care Order would be more appropriate, a Legal Gateway/Planning Meeting must be convened and the Care Planning Procedure - Care Proceedings should be followed.

If the admission is approved the following Care Planning Procedure will apply.

The procedure detailed here is similar to that which is set out under the Care and Supervision Proceedings and the Public Law Outline Procedure – Letter before Proceedings and must be carried out with the same rigour.

In most cases of S20 care the desired permanency option will be a return to the care of a parent or someone else with Parental Responsibility and it is important that this option is explored thoroughly and without delay. Care planning must be based on a thorough assessment and given considered decision-making to ensure that children are safeguarded and that support is in place to minimise the risk of readmission into care.

The detailed work that will inform the plan will include the development of the assessment in respect of the child’s needs, parenting capacity to meet these needs and their motivation and capacity to change; contingency planning for the possibility that the child or children may not be able to return the family home; collation of information from other agencies working with the family; completion of a chronology of significant events and genogram.

If a child is placed in an emergency with a family member, Fostering Services Regulation 24 applies; The Strategic Lead, Safeguarding, should authorise the placement and an immediate referral to the Fostering Service must be made for an assessment.

The social worker will refer for a Family Group Conference to assist extended family members to contribute to the plan for the child. The process may also be used to develop a contingency plan. The meeting should consider who within the birth family or child’s network may be able to care for the child should long term care be required. It should not be assumed that a person who has taken a child in an emergency will be the right person to provide on-going care. Permanency orders available to family members to secure a child with them should be explained. There should be no presumption that the child will remain in care if he is placed long term with a relative – children must end up with the legal status that will best meet their needs and secure their placement.

If a Family Group Conference is not held, the reasons for this should be recorded at the planning meeting and a plan must be in place to ensure the information about family relationships and Connected Persons are gathered at an early stage.

The Intensive Family Intervention Team (I-FIT) should be considered as a resource to which a family can be referred to address specific concerns. The intensive programme of work lasts for six weeks and has been shown to effect change in difficult and intractable family circumstances. Referral to I-FIT is through the Early Intervention Panel.

This meeting will be convened by the child’s social worker, immediately following a decision that a child should become Looked After. The meeting will be chaired by a Team Manager.

The meeting should be attended by the parents, the social worker, a representative from the Fostering Service and the Contact Centre Manager if required. It will be chaired by the A&A or Safeguarding Team Manager.

The meeting will address what needs to be done to put in place an initial Care Plan for the child and the actions and information that are required to plan for the child’s future:

• Has a non resident parent been made aware of the situation and does he/she want to be involved?
• Do they have PR?
• Have they been advised to seek legal advice?
• Can they offer a safe home as an alternative to the child being Looked After? If so the child should be placed with the parent as soon as is practicable;
• Placement – Regulation 24 or mainstream carer?
• CoramBAAF medical forms;
• Contact arrangements;
• Family Group Meeting;
• Viability assessments of Connected Persons;
• Genogram;
• Assessment of parents – what further information is required?
• Assessment of child’s needs – what further action is required?
• Date of placement planning meeting and whether all the information for PIR is available or who will gather it. At the very least a skeleton PIR must always be available in particular the medical consent is required;
• Ensure that:
• A date for 1st LAC review has been requested;
• An initial medical has been booked;
• A PEP has been initiated (if required).

The Fostering Team supervising social worker will arrange and chair this meeting, which will be held within 5 working days of the child being placed if it has not been possible to do so before placement. For placements made with Independent Fostering Agencies the child’s social worker will arrange and chair the meeting.

The meeting will be attended by the carers, the child’s social worker and the parents. The child’s social worker will invite the parents.

The meeting will complete the PIR and ensure suitable arrangements are in place in respect of contact, medical consent and delegated responsibility.

This will be arranged by the Independent Reviewing Officer and will be held within 15 working days of the child coming into care.

The review will consider the initial Care Plan to ensure that:

• Appropriate arrangements have been made in respect of the child’s placement, contact, health and education;
• Appropriate assessments have been or are being undertaken to assure that a robust permanency plan can be achieved;
• Other work such as tracing a non resident parent or family members is underway.

The review will also consider whether Section 20 remains the best option for the child – alternatives are that:

• The child is reunified with his family;
• Care Proceedings are initiated.

The child’s social worker has responsibility for arranging this meeting no later than 13 weeks after the child’s admission to care. The meeting will be chaired by a Team Manager and the outcomes will be endorsed by the Strategic Lead.

N.B. If at any point during the proceeding 3 months it seems probable that an order will be necessary to secure a permanency plan this meeting must be brought forward.

Attendance is:

The parents, social worker, foster carer’s supervising social worker, social worker undertaking Connected Person’s assessment, Contact Centre Manager if required and other relevant persons.

The care planning meeting will formulate a plan for the child’s future. This will be based on the assessment of:

• The child’s needs (including age and vulnerability);
• The parents’ capacity to meet these needs;
• The suitability of connected people to care for the child;
• The working relationship between the parents and the service i.e. do the parents play an active and positive role in determining what is in the child’s best interest; are they able to make measured judgements that takes account of the child’s best interests.

The meeting will address the following questions: 

• Can the child be returned to parents’ care – if so what is the proposed timescale and what support/intervention is required?
• If the child cannot return to parents’ care what are the proposals for the child’s care?
• Is a legal order required to secure appropriate care? If so a legal gateway/planning meeting should be held.

N.B. There are options other than a Care Order e.g. the parent may relinquish the child either for adoption or to be cared for under an SGO or RO by a family member.

To be held within 12 weeks of the initial review (i.e. 15 weeks after the child entered care).

This review will ensure that a permanency plan is in place:

• If the child is to return home that there are appropriate support/monitoring plans in place and the timescale is realistic;
• If the child is to remain in care the appropriateness of the plan;
• The child’s proposed legal status.

At this point the plan for the child should be set and the social worker should refer to the appropriate procedure i.e.

• Child in Need Plans and Reviews Procedure;
• Care Planning Procedure - Care Proceedings;
• Children in Care – planning and review. 

In exceptional circumstances (e.g. waiting for the completion of a specialist report or an intervention) the plan may require additional time to be finalised; to accommodate this, the planning meeting/review process outlined in Sections 3 to 5 above will be repeated. A maximum of 12 weeks will be allowed before another review is held.