Northamptonshire County Council

INFORMATION SHEET

Service area
/ Safeguarding and Children’s Services
Date effective from / 1 November 2014
Responsible officer(s) / Abigail Marsden
Iain Low
Caroline Tote
Date of review(s) / July 2015
Status:
  • Mandatory (all named staff must adhere to guidance)
  • Optional (procedures and practice can vary between teams)
/ Mandatory
Target audience / All Children’s Social Care staff
Date of committee/SMT decision / 1 November 2014
Related document(s) / All Policies and Procedures
INTRODUCTION

Looked after children and young people in Northamptonshire deserve the best experiences in life, from excellent parenting which promotes good health and educational attainment, to a wide range of opportunities to develop their talents and skills in order to have an enjoyable childhood and successful adult life.

Stable placements, good health and support during transitions are all essential elements, but children and young people will only achieve their potential through the ambition and high expectations of all those involved in their lives.

The allocated social worker is responsible for visiting children and young people in their placements at the frequency detailed below and for recording this in CareFirst as a Statutory LAC Visits.

Foster Placements under Regulation 24 (Family Friends and Connected Persons) / If the child or young person is placed with a Connected Person (Friends and Family) with temporary approval, visits must take place at least once a week until the first Looked After Review, thereafter at intervals of not more than 4 weeks.
Foster Placements of less than one year's duration. / Once a week until the first review, then six weekly for the first year and thereafter at intervals of no more than 6 weeks.
For placements over 12 months that have been presented to the Agency Decision Maker who has agreed a long term fostering or permanent fostering match, visits can be completed at intervals of not more than 3 months.
Residential Placements
Residential Placements (out of Northamptonshire) / Once a week until the first review and then six weekly thereafter.
Once a week until the first review and then four weekly thereafter.
Placement with Parents under an Interim Care Order (ICO) / For the duration that the child or young person is placed with their parents under an ICO, visits must take place weekly until the first review and then at intervals of not more than 2 weeks.
Placement with Parents under a Full Care Order / Once a week until the first review and then at intervals of not more than 6 weeks thereafter.

Children and young people should be seen in-between these visits in other environments e.g. in school or at a Children’s Centre. These visits will be recorded in Observations in Care First.

These Standards are drawn from policy and procedural guidance. They are a combination of national and local expectations and represent the quality of service, practice and behaviour which is expected of Children’s Social Care staff working for Northamptonshire County Council.

Every individual has a responsibility to discharge their duties in a way which matches these standards and should aspire to exceed them.

The standards will be used by managers for the auditing of practice and the inspection of services. They will be a benchmark against which everyone’s performance at every level of the department will be assessed.

Iain Low

Strategic Manager

Safeguarding & Children’s Services

PRACTICE STANDARDS

VISITS TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE LOOKED AFTER

STANDARD / EVIDENCE
1 / The purpose of the visit is to ensure that the child or young person is safe, well and in an environment that is of a standard that allows the child or young person to feel safeguarded and reassured that their needs will be appropriately met.
The allocated social worker will need to assess and measure the environment, any issues of concern, supportive and protective factors. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
2. / The visiting requirements of children and young people Looked After is detailed above. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
3. / It is important to see the child or young person alone and in the place where they are living. The social worker can then assess the suitability of the accommodation and the overall circumstances of the child or young person’s living environment, including how the child or young person responds to the carers and their home.
The child or young person must be given the opportunity to say how they are feeling and the space to raise any concerns or worries they may have about the placement or any other issues e.g. contact.
Whilst young children may not be able to verbalise their feelings, the record of the visit needs to include observations of their mobility, signs of injury, confidence in their environment and reaction to their carers.
For some disabled children there may be a need to consider the use of ‘communication tools’ to enable the expression of their views. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
4. / In order to understand the child or young person’s environment, it is important to know who lives in the placement and what part they play in the child or young person’s life. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
5. / It is important to see that the child or young person has an appropriate bedroom, furniture suitable for their needs and where necessary has privacy. For older children permission should be sought before inspecting their bedroom. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
6. / Visits should identify what special arrangements are made to meet any needs that arise from children or young people’s culture, religious or heritage including communication, diet and skin/hair care. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
7. / Visits should observe and record the child or young person with the foster carer or residential worker to analyse their parenting styles and the promotion of the child or young person’s self esteem. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations
8. / Visits should identify daily routines including getting up and going to bed, meal times (including whether the children in the placement all eat together), the arrangements for washing and whether the child is provided with privacy and support that is relevant to his or her stage of development.
Any actions should be followed up, following the visit and the child or young person informed. / Record of CP Visits
Observations
9. / Both planned and unannounced visits to children and young who are looked after should take place. / Record of CP Visits
Observations
10. / Recording statutory visits is mandatory. After each visit the record of the visit must include whether the child or young person was seen alone, comments on the child or young person’s health and wellbeing, and any issues relating to safeguarding.
In addition to this the wishes and feelings of the child or young person and their placement should be recorded. / CYP Statutory Visit
Observations

VISITS TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE LOOKED AFTER

UPDATING CARE FIRST

Visits to children and young people Looked After
should be recorded in the following way.
No. / Visit / CareFirst Action
1. / Visit to a child or young person at their placement and child or young person seen /
  • Open CYP Statutory Visit
  • Status of the Child = LAC
  • Activity = LAC
Recording of visit
  • Child seen = YES
  • Child seen alone = YES/NO

2. / Visit to a child or young person at their placement and child or young person not seen /
  • Open CYP Statutory Visit
  • Status of the Child = LAC
  • Activity = LAC
Recording of visit
  • Child seen = NO
  • Child seen alone = NO

3. / Visit to a sibling group, all looked after in the same placement; not all children seen / For children seen:
  • Open CYP Statutory Visit
  • Status of the Child = LAC
  • Activity = LAC
Recording of visit
  • Child seen = YES
  • Child seen alone = YES/NO
For children not seen:
  • Open CYP Statutory Visit
  • Status of the Child = LAC
  • Activity = LAC
Recording of visit
  • Child seen = NO
  • Child seen alone = NO

4. / Visit to a child or young person at their placement and no access /
  • Open CYP Statutory Visit
  • Status of the Child = LAC
  • Activity = LAC
  • Recording of visit
  • Child seen = NO
  • Child seen alone = NO

5. / Child or young person seen in another setting - e.g. School, Children’s Centre / Add Observation
  • Record visit
(Using the attached Practice Standards).

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