Out of Area Placements

This procedure applies to any placement of a Looked After child outside the area of the local authority, EXCEPT WHERE the placement is with a Connected Person, or a local authority foster carer approved by the placing authority.

The decision to place the child out of area must be approved by the Nominated Officer, unless it is a Placement at a Distance, (i.e. outside the area of the local authority and not within the area of any adjoining local authority), in which case the approval of the Director of Children’s Services is required. 

The Nominated Officer/ Director of Children’s Services must be satisfied of the following:

• That the child's wishes and feelings have been ascertained and given due consideration;
• That the placement is the most appropriate placement available for the child and consistent with the Care Plan;
• That relatives have been consulted where appropriate;
• That the area authority has been notified or, for a Placement at a Distance, the area authority have been consulted and have been provided with a copy of the child’s Care Plan (see Section 3, Notification of Placements);
• That the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) has been consulted (usually the IRO will discuss with the child after the child has visited the proposed placement).

See also Appendix 1: Suggested Core Information Items to be Shared when Making a Notification of Placement (or During Consultation Phase).

In the case of a placement made in an emergency, the approval of the Nominated Officer is still required and (s)he must be satisfied that the child's wishes and feelings have been ascertained and given due consideration, and must take steps to ensure that within 5 working days: the IRO has been informed; relatives have been consulted (where appropriate) and the area authority notified.

For placements in Wales, the Welsh Government has developed a protocol for notifying the local authority and the local health board when a child has been placed there from outside the area, and again when the placement ends.

Local authorities must not place a child under 16 in ‘other arrangements’ out of authority placement in Wales except where the placement is in one of the exempted regulated settings:

• Accommodation provided by a registered care home service equivalent to a registered care home in England;
• Hospitals;
• Schools providing accommodation that are not also registered as a care home service;
• Residential family centres.

Other arrangement placements in Wales may also be used for residential holiday schemes for disabled children as long as the placement setting is one of the alternatively regulated exemptions listed above.

It is essential that the responsible authority takes every step to establish that the child’s needs are matched to the services provided by the placement and that the notification protocol is completed by the responsible authorities and submitted to Care Inspectorate Wales and Ofsted.

This includes guidance taken from: The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations - Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review and ADCS guidance on Out of Area Looked After Children Notifications.

Basic information about the child

• Child’s full name (and names Also Known As), gender and date of birth;
• Legal status (subject of a care order (s.31 Children Act); voluntarily accommodated (s.20) remanded (s. 21);
• Number of previous placements – outline reasons for child leaving earlier placements.

Placing Authority

• Placing authority;
• Social worker name and contact details (particularly phone, email);
• Emergency details for home authority.

Placement

• Whether this is notification of a new placement, a change or end of placement;
• Date placement started or date due to change or end;
• Carer/institution type (foster carer, children’s home or other);
• What the carer has been contracted to provide, if specialist, for example;
• Carer contact details including address.

Plans for the child’s care

• Particular needs or risks to the child such as SEN, disability, youth offending, mental health needs etc – a copy of the care plan should be shared to highlight needs;
• Details of the assessment of the child’s needs, with information about the child’s wishes and feelings, with reasons the planned placement is suitable;
• Duration of placement (emergency/short-term/long-term/permanent). If it is not possible to assess the intended duration of placement – reasons for this and when this information will be available;
• Arrangements for contact;
• Details of who will be responsible for implementing plans for the child’s day to day care (the ‘placement plan’) including details of arrangements for delegating responsibilities to the child’s carer(s);
• Details of any plans to offer the child care leaving support (as an ‘eligible child’) during the anticipated duration of the placement;
• Contingency arrangements if the plan to support the child in the current placement does not succeed.

Services to support the child

• Details of plans to meet the child’s educational needs – school name and address (old and planned new school if known); information about the school the child is expected to attend; details of plans for supporting the child if a school has not been identified;
• Information about plans to meet the child’s health needs, e.g. whether the child requires secondary health care (including metal health and other specialist health care), including details about the ICB acting as “responsible commissioner; GP details (old and new if known);
• Details of any youth justice supervision order that would need to be overseen by youth justice services in the area authority.

Local authorities have a common interest in supporting high standards of corporate parenting for all looked-after children.

When approached for consultation about potential placements, area authorities should be able to offer a professional view about the benefits of a planned placement, the benefits of living in the neighbourhood where the placement is located and the potential for local services to respond appropriately to the needs of the child concerned.

Local authorities could also advise about other sources of information to assist social workers and commissioners in determining whether a distant out of authority placement is the most appropriate for the child concerned (e.g. the Virtual School Head or the Designated Nurse for looked-after children).