Assessment of Kinship Carers

Policy Status

• Children and Young Persons (Alderney) Law 2008
• Placement of Children ( Guernsey and Alderney) Regulation)
• Policy and Procedure Guide for Kinship/Family and Friends Carers including financial support [c1] 
• Practice is based on and informed by best practice guidance from the United Kingdom jurisdictions including
• Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011
• Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards 2011
• Family and Friends Care: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities.

Key Points

• The Department has a policy on seeking to place looked after children with family or friends i.e. "connected persons", wherever possible when they cannot be cared for by their parents or those with PR. These connected persons must be approved as Kinship Carers.
• If an urgent placement is needed and there is confidence that the child's welfare and safety will be promoted by being placed with them, a family member or friend may be approved on a temporary basis as a Kinship Carer.
• Temporary approval lasts for 16 weeks but can be extended by 8 weeks to allow full Kinship assessment to be completed or while a review takes place if the carer wishes to appeal a decision not to approve them. 
• Decision making about placing a looked after child with a family member or a friend is led by the Manager, Assessment and Intervention Team in the case of emergency placements. Where a child may already be looked after and there is a plan for permanence a Viability Meeting will be held by the Manager, AIT and the family will be asked to nominate who they wish to be considered to provide permanence. The Child's Social Worker will undertake a Viability Assessment of the nominated person/s using the Guernsey Viability Assessment Template. Statutory checks are undertaken as part of this assessment.
•  Where it is intended to place a looked after child with a family member or a friend on a temporary basis as a planned process or long term the prospective carers should be assessed as Kinship Carers using the Viability Assessment and, if this is positive and there is a decision to proceed, the BAAF Form C
•  Assessment of Kinship Carers regarding their suitability to care for other children is not necessary.  The focus should be on how the carer will meet the specific needs of the child/ren identified. The assessment is therefore also a matching process. 

Standards

• The Assessment and Intervention Team Social Worker interviews the carer/s, inspecting the accommodation and obtaining information about other people in the household, completing the viability assessment template and satisfactory statutory checks and references. Departmental checks should be undertaken, and checks with police, health and education. A child should not be placed until a local police check has been initiated. The Manager Assessment and Intervention Team will decide whether or not to agree temporary approval for 16 weeks while the full assessment is completed. A referral will be made to the Family Placement Service who will undertake further checks and initiate assessment using BAAF Form C
• A Kinship Agreement should be entered into and signed by the applicants.
• When it is possible to foresee that a child who needs to be/is looked after will be best placed with relatives or friends then normal fostering procedures concerning assessment & approval should be applied promptly in order to avoid placements taking place which are subsequently found to be unsuitable.
• A temporary approval may continue for up to 16 weeks while a Kinship Assessment takes place. An extension of 8 weeks may be requested through Fostering Panel to complete assessment or if the carer appeals against a decision not to approve temporary approval may continue while the appeal takes place.  

Tasks

 [c1]hyperlink

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