Pre-Publication Draft. Content Not Yet Approved

PRE-PUBLICATION DRAFT. CONTENT NOT YET APPROVED.

THIS DOCUMENT APPLIES IN THE FOLLOWING DIRECTORATES/UNIT(S)

All Children’s Services

THIS DOCUMENT AFFECTS THE FOLLOWING GROUPS OF STAFF AND / OR OTHERS:

• All practitioners in children’s services
• All professionals working with children/young people
• Private foster carers.

THIS DOCUMENT IS DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES:

• To safeguard and promote the welfare and healthy development of privately fostered children/young people.
• To a consistent system of approving the suitability of private foster carers and private fostering arrangements in order to meet the requirements of the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005.
• To ensure all relevant staff has an understanding of the local authorities’ duties and functions in relation to private foster carers are assessed as being able to meet all the needs of the child/young person placed with them.
• To ensure that partner agencies are aware if their responsibilities in assisting the local authority carry out its duty under Section 67(i) of The Children Act 1989, in particular through notifying and ensuring that the authority is aware of a private fostering arrangement.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT: THIS PROCEDURE TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE FOLLOWING EQUALITY ISSUES:

• Race
• Disability
• Rurality

CONTENTS

1.POLICY STATEMENT

2.PROCEDURE......

3.PRACTICE GUIDELINE

1.POLICY STATEMENT

Cumbria County Council aims to ensure that all parents, whose child is staying with people who are not close relatives for over 28 days and the carer in this situation, are aware that they are required to notify the council that there is a private fostering arrangement in existence. Those professionals who become aware of such arrangements are aware of their responsibility to give advice to parents/carers of their duty to notify and ensure that the Local Authority is aware of these arrangements.

Cumbria Children’s Services is committed to:

• Assessing and monitoring the welfare of children in private fostering arrangements.
• Assessing the adequacy of the care provided to the private fostered child.
• Following the Private Fostering National Minimum Standards
• To prevent the arrangement from continuing if the child/young person is not being satisfactorily safeguarded and their welfare promoted.
• Assisting the successful return of children to their birth families where it is in their long term interests to do so.

Cumbria Children’s Services will be rigorous in ensuring that the welfare of a child in private foster placement who lives in the country is being satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted by ongoing assessments and monitoring of the placement arrangement, and that this is done with the statutory timescales.

2.PROCEDURE

The Children’s Services Electronic Handbook webpage has a section on Private Fostering with a word document called, Private Fostering -Information and Notification Form. This form is to assist practitioners in completing the assessment and includes template letters for contacting relevant agencies. The webpage can be found here;

1.Notification.

a) New case.

1.1 On receiving a notice of Private Fostering referral from any source, the Customer Services Advisor in Children’s Services Triage will record the contract and transfer this to the duty worker in the appropriate Locality Support Team.

1.2 The duty worker from the Locality Support Team must complete the referral and information record and recommend the outcome of Private fostering assessment. The Team Manager after authorising this recommendation will transfer the case to a social worker in their Team.

1.3 If there is a clearly known issue of safeguarding arising out of the Private Fostering placement, then it will be appropriate for there to be a Strategy Discussion under the Safeguarding Procedures.If the child is likely to remain in the placement, beyond 28 days from notification and concerns continue to exist, it will ne necessary for the relevant Team to follow both these procedures and those for Safeguarding Children.

1.4 A Child and Family Assessment under the National Assessment Framework does not nullify the requirement to initiate the Private Fostering Assessment. A new Private Fostering Assessment must also be undertaken if the child is transferring from another area where they were already being Privately Fostered.

b)Open Case

1.5 In the event of the child/young person already being an open case, the customer advisor will create a new contact. In the section of the contact, “further action”, the outcome option Private Fostering Arrangement Assessment will be available and this should be selected. The contact should then be transferred to the child’s caseworker.

c.Child/Young person already in private foster placement.

1.6 Where a Social Worker or Family Worker becomes aware of a child/young person who is already in a private fostering situation and has been notified. They should notify their Team Manager who must inform Triage, who will enter this as a contact on Protocol as above.

1.7 The social worker writes to the parents of the child/young person to ensure that parents agree with the placement and to let them know that there will be an assessment undertaken. The worker will then continue as with any notification/ the only exception to this is if the Social Worker/Family in discussion with the Team Manager has serious and immediate concerns for the child’s welfare, safeguarding children who may be at risk of significant harm procedures and the LSCB website, chapter 6 should be followed.

2. Initial Checks and Assessments of Arrangements.

2.1 The worker must start the private fostering arrangement assessment following the notification being allocated.

2.2 Within 7 days the worker must visit and speak to the child/young person alone (an interpreter who is independent of the child/young person’s parents and of the private foster carer(s) must be used where the child/young person’s preferred language is not English)

2.3 The worker must seek the child’s views on the arrangement and contact with their family. They must consider the child’s views in the light of the age and understanding. The visit must be recorded, in the Private Fostering hub section of ICSby using the, add a new case note facility within this electronic form. The case note, using type of contact, should be recorded as Initial Visit (Private Fostering) in Protocol, ICS. The ICS guidance, which is comprehensive and an invaluable tool for all workers placing Private Fostering information on ICS is available (hyperlink here).

2.4 The carer’s details must be recorded by using the “Find Carer” button within the Private Fostering Arrangement Assessment Record on ICS, and the details in the following fields completed in discussion with the Carer and the Parent.

2.5 The worker must provide a copy of the relevant Private Fostering Leaflet to the child, the carer and the parent, and must ensure their contact details are on the leaflet. It is essential that each has an identified named point of contact at all times. It must be recorded that this information has been passed to all parties.

2.6 The worker must:

i) Checks should be made about the sleeping arrangements for the child, ensuring that the child/young person has their own bed.

ii) Visit and speak to the proposed private foster carer and all members of his/her household.

iii) Speak to and if practicable visit each parent or any person who holds parental responsibility for the child and obtain a signed consent form and agreement. This agreement must be scanned onto the child’s file using the ICS template letter.

iv) Immediate PNC Criminal records check must be completed on the Private Foster Carer and on any other member of the household who is over 16 years. Also any person who regularly visits or stays in the household, who is likely to have significant contact with the child or are likely to be involved in the care of the child. At any early stage DBS checks must also be initiated. If any member of the foster carer’s household refuses permission for a criminal record check, the worker will look at all the information available and discuss this with their manager to consider whether the child’s welfare can satisfactorily be safeguarded. The worker and their manager in making this decision must consider: The paperwork from these checks must be scanned onto the child’s and the DBS clearance form onto the carers electronic file.

v)Obtain a signed consent form for contacting their GP and/or Health Authorities to check that the carer is medically capable of looking after the child. The consent forms and reply must be scanned onto the child’s file using the ICS template letter.

vi) Once the assessment is complete a letter outlining that the Private Fostering agreement is in a place a letter is to be sent to the Benefits Agency requesting that the Child Benefit is to be transferred to the carer. The letter and reply must be scanned onto the child’s file using the ICS template letter.

a) Whether it may be appropriate to advise the child’s parents that there is a problem with the assessment.

b) What further information might be obtained and how.

c) Whether requirements should be imposed. Requirement for any person to comply with a PNC/DBS check cannot be imposed, but it can require that the child will not be left alone with any adult who has not been checked.

2.6In order to obtain DBS forms for household members to complete the DBS Request Form should be requested for each member of the household. Capita must be contacted for the DBS forms and application processing.The resultant Disclosure Record should be returned to the worker.

2.7 The worker must keep a record of PNC and DBS checks on the carers file, including the date the check form was sent off, the date it was received and the date it must be renewed, if the carer is still caring for the child/young person. A copy must also be scanned onto the carer’s electronic file.

2.8 If any member of the household has moved into Cumbria recently, the Private Fostering Officer must contact the local authority responsible for the area in which they used to live and ask whether they hold any records relevant to the suitability of the person to care for children or to live in the same household as a child.

2.9 The assessment should be recorded on the Private Fostering Arrangement Assessment Record the assessment record also consists of information regarding the proposed/actual arrangements and the assessment of the suitability of the arrangements. Visit the premises where is proposed that the child/young person will be cared for and accommodated to decide whether the accommodation satisfies the suitability having regard to the child’s age and any disabilities.

2.10 Contact arrangement between the child and his parents, other person with parental responsibility for the child and other persons who are significant to them should be agreed by all parties and recorded on the Private Fostering Arrangement Assessment Record. If their views differ significantly, the situation may need to be handled with great sensitivity. The child/young person views must be taken into consideration when any decisions are being made about the arrangement.

2.11 The Local Authority may need to support the contact arrangements, and if necessary provide a venue to meet if to do so would help safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. In normal circumstances the cost of contact is a matter between the parent and carer; however reasonable financial assistance must be considered under section 17 of the Children Act, 1989.

2.12 Although there is no legal required for the parents and the carer(s) to enter into written agreement between themselves, Good Practice, dictates that they should be encouraged to do so, with regard to Medical Consent, Contact, and the Duration of the Placement.

2.12 The assessment follows the dimensions and domains of the NAF:

To ensure that the Child/young person’s developmental needs are/will be met,

To address the Family and Environmental factors which impact on the child and the family, to record relevant historical as well as current information to assist in assessing why the child/young person is, or is proposed to be privately fostered and appropriateness of this course.

2.14The report should identify which action or combination of action is to be followed with regard to the imposition of requirements or prohibitions:

• Consider extent to which the child’s identified needs are being or will be met and the need for support and/or services. The starting point for assessment must be that the child is a Child in Need and that a new or updated care plan is required.

• If it becomes apparent that the child/young person’s development needs are not being met the worker may decide in consultation with their manager that an initial assessment or a core assessment is required to establish the level of needs and what services could meet those needs under section 17 of the Children Act 1989. This may include action under the Safeguarding of Children who may be at risk of significant harm procedures LSCB website chapter 6.

• Imposing one or more of the following requirements:

-Number, age and sex of child who may be privately fostered

-Standard of accommodation and equipment to be provided

-Arrangement to be made in respect of Health and safety

-Particular arrangements, which may be made with respect to the provision of the care for the child.

• Imposing prohibition
• Imposing prohibitions with condition upon non-compliance with requirements
• Consider to what extent there is a need to exercise the local authority duty of care.

2.15Before making the decision that the arrangements are suitable or not, the worker must discuss with their manager whether there is a need to impose requirements and/or further action through either Section 17, Child in Need or how the child should be cared for if the arrangement is to be prohibited.

2.16The decision regarding suitability of the arrangements must be made within 42 days or soon as the outcome of the CRB checks are known. In making a decision regarding suitability the Local manager should refer to the relevant Manager.

2.17The private fostering coordinator should ensure that the child/young person, parents, and proposed/actual private foster carer have read the assessment and that any comments or areas of disagreement are recorded in the Private Fostering Arrangement Record in ICS. If the assessment is not shared then the reason for this must be recorded on the assessment.

2.18The worker must notify the Private foster Carer, in writing of any requirements. This must include the reason for the requirements and inform them of their right to appeal and the time limit for them doing so. The worker must also inform the Private Foster Carer that a requirement is to be made in order for any negotiations to take place if it is consistent with the welfare of the child to prevent unnecessary appeals to court.

2.19A requirement does not have effect while an appeal is pending, as the court will make the decision on the outcome.

3. FAILURE TO CO-OPERATE WITH THE ASSESSMENT.

3.1 If the private foster carer fails or refuses to cooperate with the assessment, the worker must discuss this with their manager. The following action should be considered:

1. Informing the child’s parents about the problem.

1. Impose a prohibition on the foster carer (Note that this requires evidence that the arrangement is unsuitable)

1. If the private foster carer refuses the private foster coordinator access to the child, or the accommodation, the worker, and their manager must consider liaising with the Legal Department.

3.2If the Private Foster Carer refuses to allow a child to be visited or the worker to visit their home and there is reasonable cause to believe that a child is being accommodated or is proposed to be accommodated under a Private fostering arrangement within the Authority’s area, the worker must discuss this with their Manager about seeking legal advice.

1. Fostering Limits and granting of exemption.

4.1 The usual fostering limit is three children a person may not privately foster more than three children unless either:

• They are all siblings with respect to each other

Or

• The local authority has exempted the person.

4.2If the worker, on the receipt of notification of proposed or actual private fostering arrangement is aware that the limit will be exceeded then they must discuss this with the private foster carer and advise them that they should complete part one of the Application for Exemption from the Usual Fostering Limit form in order for consideration about exception being granted.