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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Looked After Considerations
3. Care Arrangements other than LAC
4. Assessments
5. Financial Support

1. Introduction

The department is committed to supporting children in need so that they are able to live safely and securely within their own family and local community. There are occasions when children in need are unable to live with their parents and where alternative care arrangements are made by family and friends or (in a limited number of situations) those children need to become Looked After. The aim of these guidelines is to ensure that where children cannot live with their parents;

1. only those children who need to become Looked After do so
2. there is consistent decision making across teams regarding support for children who do not become Looked After.

The guidelines concentrate on key decision making issues and have to be read in conjunction with a number of more detailed departmental policies. Where these policies are referenced in the text they will be accessible via a hyperlink so that the reader can open up the policies alongside these guidelines.

An overview of the department's approach to providing services to children is contained within the Policy, Values and Principles, including Principles of Recording, Equality, Confidentiality and Consultation chapter and is a useful overarching document to these guidelines.

2. Looked After Considerations

A child in need becoming Looked After should be a consequence of all other avenues of support being explored and found inadequate to offer safe care for the child. A major focus for the department is to ensure that support services are available to help family and friends care for children who are unable to live with their parents, and to avoid the need for those children to become Looked After.

Divisional policy (see Decision to Look After Procedure and Permanence Planning Guidance) describes the decision making considerations in respect of children becoming Looked After and should be followed in all situations where a child may need to become LAC.

No child will become looked after, either via a S20 arrangement or via the institution of care proceedings, without the approval of the Service Manager in both cases, plus the additional approval of the Group Services Manager where court proceedings are being recommended.

3. Care Arrangements other than LAC

For children who cannot live with their parents, and where they are referred to the department for support, part of that support may be direct care which is provided other family members or friends. It is the local authority's duty to ensure that such arrangements are in the best interest of the child and, if so, are actively supported to ensure that the need for the child to become Looked After is avoided.

When the local authority is looking with the family and friends network at possible options for care of the child, the family should be the key decision makers with Social Services facilitation.

Any such arrangements (for family and friends to care for a child) need to be confirmed in writing by the local authority as a plan proposed by the family and accepted as a family arrangement. The child is not Looked After because of local authority intervention at this point. Any local authority support is on a child in need basis.

4. Assessments

The identification of support requirements for children in need who are unable to live with their parents will be via the completion of a Core Assessment. Likewise no decision will be made about a child in need becoming Looked After without a Core Assessment being completed.

Following the assessment a range of family support services may be provided to the child and carer, negotiated locally or with the assistance of the Family Support Panel. Part of those support services may be financial - one off; occasional; time limited; or more open ended.

All decisions regarding support services which include financial support must

• arise from an analysis of needs as an outcome to the assessment process
• be agreed and countersigned by the line manager
• be discussed and agreed with the family
• be monitored by the line manager
• be reviewed regularly and include a clear and frequent timescale for such reviews to ensure that financial support does not continue longer than necessary
• be explicitly recorded on file
• be confirmed in writing with the family (also see individual policies)

5. Financial Support

See Financial Assistance to Children in Need Procedure and Children in Need - Relative and Carers Allowances Procedure

One off payments, occasional payments, and time limited financial support up to a maximum of 6 weeks will come from the local Section 17 budget.

Any financial support exceeding 6 weeks will fall within the see Children in Need - Relative and Carers Allowances Procedure

All these options will be based on the same eligibility and decision-making criteria as detailed below (points 1 - 4), although it is recognised that some financial support is given in an emergency when the availability of relevant information can be limited.

In those cases any "emergency" financial support should

• be extremely time limited (24 - 48 hours) in order that a more comprehensive assessment of the situation, and needs arising, can occur
• not exceed DSS Income Support level unless there are exceptional, quantifiable, reasons
• not exceed national minimum fostering allowance

It is vital that "ad hoc" short-term arrangements are not established under S.17 that cannot later be justified within the Ongoing Payments Policy. Once a financial arrangement is established in the short term or as an "emergency" it can be very difficult to alter the level of support later.

Any proposal to support financially must give details regarding:-

1. The financial situation of the carers and their ability to contribute directly to the proposal.
2. Availability of the Child Benefit and evidence that the parent has been asked to give it to the carer until alternative formal Child Benefit arrangements can be made.
3. The services to be provided and why there are no (lower cost or no cost) alternatives including "shared" support from the wider family network, including those with Parental Responsibility.
4. Evidence from the case holder that the proposed support plan and care arrangement for the child would not be viable without the local authority contributing financially, and the alternative would be the child becoming Looked After.

All financial support proposals will be evaluated by the line manager who will ensure that the above guidelines have been followed and evidence must be provided. 

The manager will signify approval via a case record entry as well as any signature required on specific pro formas and applications.

Ongoing Payments (where relevant) would not exceed the equivalent allowance that would be received by a Foster Carer unless

1. There were exceptional reasons that were detailed within the assessment
2. The Senior Care Manager had added a written evaluation to the completed assessment supporting the proposal
3. The proposal must be approved by the Service Manager

There will be a clear management plan regarding close review of this level of expenditure and plans to reduce that expenditure

Financial support for children not Looked After would be at a level sufficient to meet the needs of the carer and child, ensuring an adequate level of care will be provided to the child. It addresses the need to avoid children becoming Looked After and there should be no assumption that the level of financial support will be the equivalent of the allowance that would be received by a foster carer. The child in these situations is not Looked After (although the arrangement may fall within private fostering regulations see Private Fostering Procedure, and as such the financial support requirements will be tailored to meet the individual needs of each case.

End