Permanency Planning Process

PERMANENCY PLANNING PROCESS

INFORMATION/RECORD REQUIRED

Referral made to the Assessment and Intervention Team (A&I)

Referral form to be completed.

From this referral a decision to be made as to what action to take

·       Strategy Meeting

·      Pre-birth planning meeting

·      Referral to Family Partnership Team

·      Sign post to another service

·      Referral for Initial Assessment- Initial Assessment within 10 working days (CP) and 15 working days (CIN)

·      Pre birth Assessment

·      Core Assessment-Core Assessment within 35 working days

·      No further action

Initial Assessment/Core Assessment/Pre Birth Assessment Record required

Decision made as to whether a Child Protection Case Conference is to be convened. (A&I) Manager's decision.  If child is registered Child Protection Plan to be completed and monthly Core Groups to take place.

Recorded information- Child Protection Plan and Conference minutes

If a child is to be accommodated, case to be presented to the Accommodation/Resource Panel for approval. Placement Plan meeting to be convened prior to the placement (wherever possible to take place prior to placement or within 5 working days of placement). LAC Review to take place one month after placement.

LAC documentation to be completed. Record of minutes taken - Child Care Review minutes and others

Viability Assessment Planning Meeting. This meeting aims to explore and identify family members who can nominate themselves for assessment.

Viability Assessment record(s)

Legal Planning Meeting or Convenor Threshold Meeting to consider (if applicable) for any legal proceedings to commence. Legal Planning Meeting should also explore whether extended family members have been explored sufficiently.

Information/ record required- Dependent on whether legal proceedings are initiated earlier in the process.

Plan for permanence for a child should ideally be agreed by the fourth month Child Care Review.  A Permanence Planning Meeting is to be convened prior to the fourth month review to look at the permanence options as described below.

More than one permanence option can be explored at the same time (twin track/parallel planning). Permanence options are; returning the child to his/her birth parents, placement with relative or friend - kinship care or residence order, remaining with existing foster carers, long term fostering or adoption.

Complete Permanence Planning Meeting template.

Looked After Child Care Review to endorse the plan for either long term fostering or adoption. Reviewing Officer to identify professionals from the Department to attend who have had significant involvement with the family. The reviewing officer will notify the Family Placement Service Team Manager.

LAC Review Documentation

Tribunal decision that a child should be removed from home either voluntarily accommodated or Emergency Protection Order. Parents may agree or care proceedings may be necessary.

If long term fostering/adoption is the proposed plan as agreed at the Permanence Planning Meeting and this has been endorsed by the Reviewing Officer then a Long term Fostering/ Adoption Planning Meeting will need to be convened as soon as possible. This will identify all subsequent work to be completed, for example discuss and agree proposed contact arrangements, birth parent counselling service, birth parent notification, adoption files, consider adoption welfare checklist, time frame for Child Permanence Report to be presented to panel for a best interest decision, identifying any risk factors for placing on island and identifying whether a child is a 'hard to place child'.

Complete Adoption and Long Term Fostering Planning Meeting Template

Preparation of Care Plan including Court Care Plan where appropriate. Please refer to the content of the minutes of the long term fostering/adoption planning meeting when completing a care plan.

Court Care Plan

BAAF Medicals to be completed.

Refer to medical procedures and complete medical forms

Child Permanence Report to the Panel for a best interest decision no later than 8 weeks after the statutory review which made the plan for adoption.

BAAF Child Permanence Report and supplementary information if required.

Prior to Final Community Parenting Order Proceedings the Court will probably require some information on the prospects of finding a family to meet the needs of the child.

Following Best Interest Decision the Family Placement Service will provide the A&I Team or the LAC Team with Prospective Adopters Reports. The child's social worker should contact the FPS team to discuss the PAR's with the assessing social worker and wherever possible only one family will be visited unless a child has additional needs and it may then be necessary to visit more than one family to assist with identifying the most appropriate match

Birth Parent Counselling session and referral to Birth Parent Support Service for therapeutic counselling

One off birth parent counselling completed by Family Placement Service and/or referral to Birth Parent Support Service. This session will take place after a CPO has been granted in contested cases or prior to consenting CPO's or voluntarily relinquished child cases.

Where both the child's social worker and the Family Placement Service social worker agree that any prospective adopter(s) could be a potential match, arrangements should be made to visit and share information regarding the child, omitting full names.

Child's social worker discusses a potential family with the Team Manager. Views are to be sought from the adopters as whether they wish to proceed further.

Full sharing of information stage, (Life Appreciation Day) including medicals, copy of CPR's, photographs/dvd and child appreciation day to be initiated as part of the sharing of information and meeting of key persons in a child's life.

Sharing of any relevant reports, including CPR and health.

Internal Matching Consideration Meeting convened to record which applicants have been considered and the reasons why they were not the most appropriate match.

Minutes to be completed by the Team Manager and included in paperwork to Panel

To proceed to panel after full information sharing has taken place. Updated CPR required, minutes of the last panel, matching meeting minutes, Adoption Placement Report (APR) and Prospective Adopters Report/Form F Fostering (APR) Adoption or Long Term Fostering Support Plan, Panel Minutes of Approval.

Following a match birth parents notified orally of the decision and a Notification letter to be sent to birth parents within five working days following ratification.

Placement Planning Meeting to arrange introductory plan and complete BAAF Adoption Placement Plan Report

BAAF Adoption Placement Plan and plan of introductions, adopters book to be shared.

Adoption Order Application can be lodged no earlier than 12 weeks from the start of the child's placement.

Adoption Application Documentation