Reviews and Meetings

Each child placed with foster carers must have a placement plan, detailing the arrangements and care for the placement of the child (see Care Planning Procedure).

This should be drawn up by the child's social worker in conjunction with the foster carer and their supervising social worker, at the pre-placement planning meeting. Where the placement is made in an emergency, the placement plan should be drawn up within 5 working days of the placement - see Matching and Placements with Foster Carers Procedure.

Placement Planning meetings should be convened as part of the process of identifying and placing a child. The first Placement Planning Meeting in relation to a placement should be held before the placement. Where this is not possible because of the urgency of the situation, it should be held in order that the Placement Plan is prepared within 5 working days of the start of the placement.

Further Placement Planning Meetings should be held at intervals agreed with the foster carers and their supervising social worker - or as required for example where there are issues to be resolved in relation to the day-to-day arrangements for the placement.

The child's social worker and foster carers supervising social worker will agree the best format and venue for the meeting and who will chair the meeting.

The people listed below may contribute to the meetings:

• The child's social worker and/or other professional associated with the child e.g. Personal Adviser or advocate;
• The child;
• The foster carers and their supervising social worker.

Before any meeting, the chairperson should obtain or be updated on the following, if available:

• The child's Placement Plan;
• Any work which has been undertaken in supporting the child's placement;
• If relevant: the child's Care Plan, Personal Education Plan and Pathway Plan.

The chairperson should also ensure that the child and others who have been asked to contribute understand the purpose of the meeting, how it will be conducted and are given the opportunity to put their views and suggestions.

If there are concerns about the suitability of the placement, consideration should be given to the following:

• Whether it is possible to sustain the placement until the next Looked After Review by, for example, providing additional support to the placement;
• Bringing forward the date of the next Looked After Review;
• Ending the placement.

The placement plan will be reviewed at the child's looked after review. However, if children are not settling into their placement, leaders and managers should take steps to ensure that the plan is reviewed with the placing authority, the carers and parents (as appropriate) to consider the best steps to take next. They will challenge effectively and take action when they are concerned that placing authorities are not making decisions that are in children's best interests, when the statutory requirements for looked-after children are not met, or when they cannot keep children safe.

Where it is necessary to review the placement arrangements between looked after reviews, then this can be done by the child's social worker in conjunction with the foster carer and their supervising social worker as well as with the child and others affected. This will usually take place at a placement plan review meeting convened by the child's social worker.

If the outcome of any review is that the placement plan is amended, then the amendment should be circulated by the child's social worker to all those participating in the review process.

When endings are unplanned, the welfare and well-being of children remain paramount and the Agency and carers must act at all times with this in mind. The needs and feelings of other children living in the foster home must be taken into account.

Consideration should always be given to convening a Disruption Meeting in relation to children whose placement has ended abruptly or on an unplanned basis.

This may take place under the procedures of the placing authority. However, where this is not the case and it is considered that a disruption meeting should take place under this procedure, a discussion should take place with the placing authority about whether they are prepared to engage with the Agency convening the meeting under this procedure.

In this case, the fostering manager will usually chair the meeting and the child and parents should be invited unless it is considered inappropriate to do so. Those invited, or asked to contribute, should be:

• The child;
• The parents;
• The child's social worker and manager;
• The link worker/keyworker (for residential care) and home manager;
• The foster carer(s) and supervising social worker;
• The child's Independent Reviewing Officer;
• The child's current carers;
• Other relevant staff/professionals.

The meeting will ensure the child (depending on their age and level of understanding) is given the opportunity to understand the reasons for and be supported with managing the transition.

Where appropriate, foster carers must be supported to maintain links with children who leave their care.

The precise agenda will depend on the child/circumstances, but the chairperson should ensure the circumstances leading to the disruption are properly reviewed, and that all concerned are provided with opportunities to express their views freely with a view to establishing:

• How and why the emergency/disruption occurred;
• To learn from what happened and avoid the same thing happening again - for the child or others in the placement;
• To contribute to the future planning for the child;
• To identify work to be done and to ensure it is completed;
• To ensure that appropriate notifications and other post placement arrangements have been undertaken.

The chairperson should keep minutes, which must be circulated to all concerned.

In relation to the disruption of a permanent foster placement, consideration should be given to holding an early Foster Carer Review to consider the foster carer's approval - see Review and Termination of Approval of Foster Carers Procedure.

Please note: The disruption meeting is not a planning meeting, but is an opportunity to review the past as a preparation for the child's future. Future planning should occur within the child's looked after review.

The meeting will ensure the child (depending on their age and level of understanding) is given the opportunity to understand the reasons for and be supported with managing the transition.

In order to understand the placement, it is necessary to consider the child's history and experiences of parenting the child has received, previous placement moves and any relationships in the child's life.

A crucial stage to look at is the matching process - i.e. the assessment of the child's needs at the time of seeking the placement to see how accurately these were understood at the time and the assessment of what the foster carers could offer and the support they were given in understanding and providing for the child's needs. The meeting will also look at the child's introduction to the placement, information they were given and any other issues relating to the placement.

The meeting should be recorded and any lessons for the Agency addressed.

Looked after reviews, sometimes called 'statutory reviews', are convened and conducted by the placing authority. Looked after reviews should normally be conducted at a meeting although this may not be required in respect of a child who has been in a designated long-term foster placement for longer than 12 months - The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations - Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review. The Agency will play their part in these reviews through the foster carers and/or the supervising social workers by providing information and, if appropriate to do so under the placing authority's procedures, attending the meetings.

They are formal meetings, chaired by an independent reviewing officer (IRO). The IRO must be satisfied that the wishes and feelings of the child's parents, any person who is not a parent but who has parental responsibility and the current foster carer have been taken into account as part of the review process.

The Agency will play their part in a child's looked after review through the foster carers and/or the supervising social workers by providing information and, if appropriate to do so under the placing authority's procedures, attending the meetings.

The purpose of the looked after review is to:

• Ensure that appropriate plans are in place to safeguard and promote the overall welfare of the looked after child in the most effective way and achieve permanence for them within a timescale that meets their needs;
• To monitor the progress of the plans and ensure they are being progressed effectively;
• To make decisions, as necessary, for amendments to those plans to reflect any change in knowledge and/or circumstances;
• For a young person living in foster care, the first looked after review following their 16th birthday should consider whether a Staying Put arrangement (whereby the young person remains in the foster home after the age of 18) should be an option.

The review should also take account of the child's placement plan and any other plans or strategies (e.g. behaviour management) ensuring that they are up to date or that arrangements are in place to update them.

Looked after reviews should normally be convened at the following intervals:

• The initial looked after review should be conducted within 20 working days of the child becoming looked after;
• The second looked after review should be conducted within 3 months (91 days) of the initial looked after review;
• Subsequent looked after reviews should be conducted not more than 6 months (183 days) after any previous review.

Looked after review should also be convened by the independent reviewing officer( IRO) where the circumstances of an event has a significant impact upon the child's Care Plan, as suggested in the following sorts of circumstances:

• A proposed change of Care Plan for example arising at short notice in the course of proceedings following directions from the court;
• Where agreed decisions from the review are not carried out within the specified timescale;
• Major change to the contact arrangements;
• Changes of allocated social worker;
• Any safeguarding concerns involving the child, which may lead to enquiries being made under Section 47 of the 1989 Act ('child protection enquiries') and outcomes of child protection conferences, or other meetings that are not attended by the IRO;
• Complaints from or on behalf of the child, parent or carer;
• Unexpected changes in the child's placement provision which may significantly impact on placement stability or safeguarding arrangements;
• Significant changes in birth family circumstances for example births, marriages or deaths which may have a particular impact on the child;
• If the child is charged with any offence leading to referral to youth offending services, pending criminal proceedings and any convictions or sentences as a result of such proceedings;
• If the child is excluded from school;
• If the child has run away or is missing from an approved placement;
• Significant health, medical events, diagnoses, illnesses, hospitalisations, or serious accidents; and panel decisions in relation to permanency.

^{DfE Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations - Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review}

This is not an exhaustive list and the IRO may judge that other events are significant and require an earlier review. The parents and child should also be consulted about the need for an additional review.

If looked after reviews are not arranged or conducted as set out above, the supervising social worker will initially raise concerns with the child's social worker. If matters are not resolved, they will contact the child's independent reviewing officer.

Independent reviewing officers (IRO) should be allocated to a child for the duration of the time that they are looked after. Siblings should share the same IRO.

Before the first review, the IRO should meet the child and arrange to meet the child as appropriate in advance of subsequent looked after reviews.

As well as the role of chairing looked after reviews, the IRO has a duty to have effective and independent oversight of a child's case which they should monitor. The child's social worker should provide the IRO with information about the child's progress and any significant events.

As part of the monitoring function, the IRO also has a duty to identify any areas of poor practice, including general concerns around service delivery (not just around individual children).

The responsibilities of the IRO include:

• A responsibility to consult the child about their care plan at each review and at any time that there is a significant change to the care plan;
• Ensuring that care plans for looked after children are based on a detailed and informed assessment, up to date, effective and provide a real response to each child's needs;
• Identifying any gaps in the assessment process or delivery of service;
• Offering a safeguard to prevent any 'drift' in care planning and the delivery of services;
• Monitoring the activity of the local authority: that care plans have given proper consideration and weight to the child's current views, wishes and feelings and that they fully understand the implications of any changes to their care plan; and
• Ensuring that, having regard to age and understanding, the child has been informed of the steps they may take under the Children Act 1989, and in particular, where appropriate, of:
  • The right to apply, with leave, for a Section 8 Order/discharge of a Care Order - if the child wishes to take legal proceedings under the Children Act 1989, the IRO must establish whether an appropriate adult is able and willing to assist the child to obtain legal advice or bring proceedings on their behalf, and, if there is no such person, assist the child to obtain such advice;
  • The right to access representations/complaints procedures
• Making sure that the child understands how an advocate could help and their entitlement to one.

The IRO has the authority to refer a case to CAFCASS if they 'consider it appropriate to do so'.

The IRO must consider whether it is appropriate to refer a case to CAFCASS if:

• In their opinion, the local authority has failed in any significant respect to prepare the child's care plan; review the child's case or effectively implement any decision in consequence of a review; or are otherwise in breach of their duties to the child in any material respect; and
• Having drawn this to the attention of persons of appropriate seniority in the local authority, the issues have not been addressed to the IRO's satisfaction within a reasonable period of time.