Looked After Children and Leaving Care

Children can be looked after by the local authority for a variety of reasons, and whilst the aim is that where possible children should remain with family members, some for some children there is unfortunately no other option than to provide accommodation for them.A 'looked after child' is a child who is subject to:

• a community parenting order,
• emergency child protection order,
• secure accommodation order,
• subject to police powers and accommodated by the department,
• fit person order to the department,
• subject to a care requirement and accommodated by the department, or
• voluntarily accommodated by the department to fulfil its social services functions.

We are the corporate parent For all children in care and those who receive leaving care services, the local authority is the corporate parent.  Whilst ethos is best practice, it also reflects the legal duty on local authority, its members and staff, to ensure that every child and young person in their care has the opportunity to reach their full potential.  This duty places requirements on staff and members at all levels, and the council has an active Corporate Parenting Panel which oversees work undertaken.

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• Accommodating a child

  When a child comes into our care there are many things to think about. The following checklist sets out they key things that need to be done at each stage. Click the title to go to the procedure giving more detail, or download the page to use as a checklist to make sure everything is done. Make sure while you meet each of the targets you don't miss the point - keep the child at the centre of your thinking and talk to them about what they need done.

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• Returning a Child Home Read more
  
• Education of LAC

  All looked after children must be given every opportunity to achieve and all school age children to have 25 hours of educational input per week. This should be set out in their Personal Education Plan (PEP). There is a legal duty to ensure that the child's education is always considered when making decisions (e.g. to change placement).

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• Health of LAC

  Health does not only refer to physical health, but also emotional health. Good health is vital as a child to ensure that they are able access all opportunities available to them as they grow older. Children must live in a healthy environment where their all their health needs are met and promoted and where they are able to access the services as required. This page looks at how to achieve this, with subsequent pages looking at specific areas such as health assessments and substance misuse screening.

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• Independent visitors

  Independent Visitors can provide vital support to children, particularly where they are far from their home area and have little or no contact with family and friends. As the name suggests, Independent Visitors are completely independent of the process and there for the child, with few requirements to report back to others. Through remaining child focused they are able to provide a critical friend and form of support for the child outside of the system that provides day to day care for the child.

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• Permanency planning

  Permanence is something that is talked about when children are looked after, however are we sure we know what it means? This page considers what permanence is, the options available and the planning required for permanence.

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• Looked After Reviews

  As with any assessment process, the looked after review is more than a meeting, it is part of the cycle of assessment, planning, intervention and review. The purpose of reviews is to see how well the case is progressing against the care plan and make any changes if necessary.

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• Supporting children

  Once a child is placed in care and the relevant initial paperwork completed, this can often mean that social workers feel there is a chance to focus on other cases which may have not been given as much attention recently. It is however important that there is continuing support provided to the child and the placement to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible. This section considers some of the specific support that may be required.

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• Independence

  For children who remain in their family home, independence skills are naturally passed from adult to child as part of every day life from an early age meaning that when a child reaches an age where they leave home they possess a refined set of skills. For looked after children the rules around what can and cannot be done often interfere with this natural progression and therefore it is important to recognise the long term impact of this on looked after children.

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• Safety of LAC

  Looked After Children are particularly vulnerable in many aspects, but to do well they need to both be safe and feel safe. This section looks at some of the areas where young people may require extra support to be safe both from you as an individual as well as the authority.

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• Reception Into Care, Essential Information Form

  This form should be completed for every child who is looked after by the Department.

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• Independent Reviewing Officer

  The Independent Reviewing Officer's primary focus is to quality assure the care planning and review process for each child and to ensure that their current wishes and feelings are given full consideration.

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Quick links

• Assessment
  • Children's development
  • Parenting capacity & families
  • Environmental factors, peers & community
  • Analysis
  • Risk assessment
• Child protection
  • Core Groups
  • Children in specific circumstances
  • Allegations against professionals
  • Indicators of child abuse
  • Dealing with a disclosure
• Youth Offending
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  • Bail Supervision
  • Remands
  • Voluntary Intervention Plans
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• Children with Disabilities
  • Supporting Children with a Disability
  • Transfer of Cases
  • Short Breaks Services and Social Inclusion
  • Transition to Adulthood
  • Children's Occupational Therapy