Glossary of Terms Most of the Legal Framework for Looked After ...

Glossary of TermsMost of the Legal Framework for Looked After Children is based around the 1989 Children’sAct.General TermsFostering – Foster care refers to a type of placement in which the child lives with anindividual in their family home. Local authority foster carers (that is a foster carer with whom achild has been placed under section 23 (2) of the 1989 Act) must be approved by fosteringservices registered under the Care Standards Act 2000. Fostering is about caring for a childin your own home. For a whole variety of reasons there are around 42,300 children (inEngland year to March, 2008) who are placed with foster carers by social servicesdepartments. Many of these children will eventually return to their families. In some cases thismay take a matter of days or weeks in others it may take much longer. If a return to theirfamilies is not possible a decision may be made to find them a permanent new family,possible through adoption. In the vast majority of cases children in foster care will haveregular contact with their families and their parents will continue to have responsibilitiestowards them throughout the time they are in foster care.Adoption - What adoption does is to provide the legal basis for the assumption of parentalresponsibilities in respect of a particular child by someone, or in the case of a couple (theyneed not be married, and they can be hetrosexual, gay or lesbian) by them both, who are nottheir natural parent. In the UK there were around 5,000 children adopted in 2000, but quite anumber of these involved adoptions by a step-parent. The government want to see thenumber of 'looked after' children being adopted increase. In 2000/2001 there were over threethousand looked after children adopted in England, in 2001/2 this number increased toaround 3,400 children. There are estimated to be many more children who would benefit frombeing placed with new families, and where adoption is the plan for the child. Most of thesechildren are four years and older, and many are part of sibling groups. Nowadays, adoption isused to provide permanent families for children of all ages, from infants to teenagers.Agency Placement– This does not always mean that the young person is placed beyond thegeographical boundaries of the authority in residential or fostering care; rather that it canmean that the young person is placed with an independent fostering agency within theRotherham Area.Relative / Friend - A relative is defined in section 105 of the 1989 Act as "in relation to achild, a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether of the full blood or half blood or bymarriage or civil partnership) or step-parent."Special Guardianship – A legal order made to allow a child to secure permanence with aperson with whom they have a connection without needing to break all links with their parents.This is predominantly used either as an alternative to long term fostering or to secure aplacement with extended family. Guardians may continue to receive an allowance and areentitled to ongoing support. The child is entitled to some transition support from the leavingcare team. A special Guardianship order is often referred to as an SGO.Private Fostering – Where a family has made a private arrangement for the care of theirchild by a person who is not an immediate family member, and the arrangement lasts formore than 28 days, the placement is subject to Private Fostering regulations. It must beassessed as suitable, supported and monitored.Ref Title ExplanationA3 Placed for Adoption With Consent Parental Consent has been granted and the(current Foster Carer)young person will be adopted by their previousA4A5Placed for Adoption With Consent(not current Foster Carer)foster carer.Parental Consent has been granted but the youngperson will not be adopted by their previous fostercarer.Placed for Adoption With Placement Placement Order: This is an order authorising a

Order (current Foster Carer)A6 Placed for Adoption With PlacementOrder (not current Foster Carer)F1 Foster Placement in Local Authority- Relative / FriendF2 Placement in Local Authority -Foster Carer by Local AuthorityF3 Placement in Local Authority -Foster Carer AgencyF4 Foster Placement outside LocalAuthority - Relative / FriendF5 Placement outside Local Authority -Foster Carer by Local AuthorityF6 Placement outside Local Authority -Foster Carer AgencyH2 Secure Unit outside Local AuthorityboundaryH3 Children’s Homes located insideLocal Authority boundaryH4 Children’s Homes located outsideLocal Authority boundaryH5 Residence Accommodation notsubject to Children's HomesRegulations.P1 Placed with parents or other withParental ResponsibilityP2Q1R1R5S1Independent living(flat/lodgings/friends/B&B)Foster Placement with Relative orFriendResidential Care HomeYoung Offender Institute or PrisonAll Residential Schools, exceptwhere Dual-Registered as a Schooland Children’s Homelocal authority to place a child for adoption wherethere is no parental consent, or where parentalconsent is no longer appropriate. Placement byconsent is the free unconditional agreement of theparent or guardian of a child to that child'sadoption. The consent can be withdrawn at anytime up and until an adoption order is made.Please see E1 below for a full description ofPlacement Orders.See A5/E1 for description of Placement Order.A Foster carer living in Rotherham who is a friendor family member of the childA Foster carer living in Rotherham who isapproved by Rotherham MBCA Foster carer living in Rotherham who isapproved by an Independent Fostering AgencyA Foster carer living outside Rotherham who is afriend or family member of the childA Foster carer living outside Rotherham who isapproved by Rotherham MBCA Foster carer living outside Rotherham who isapproved by Rotherham MBCSecure UnitCurrently all Children’s Homes within Rotherhamare Rotherham MBC homesCurrently these are all Agency HomesSome Post 16 accommodation is not subject toregulationChildren on a care oder may be placed withparents but placements must be visited andreviewed. Children must also have PEP’s andHealth assessmentsPost 16Key Legal TermsRef Legal Status ExplanationC1 Interim care order (ICO) Under Section 38 of the Children Act 1989 thecourt has the power to make interim care andsupervision orders. An interim care order placesthe child in the care of the local authority on aninterim basis whilst the family is assessed anduntil the court can make a final decision. Theinterim care order has the same effect as a finalcare order in giving the local authority parentalresponsibility. The first time an interim care order

is made it can last for 8 weeks and it can berenewed after that for up to 28 days at a time. Inpractice, the court renews the interim care orderwithout a hearing so long as nothing significanthas changed since the last time the order wasmade and that all parties consent to the orderbeing renewed. A parent cannot expect the courtto hold a hearing every time the interim order isrenewed but can ask the court to consider thecase again if something has changed or whensome particularly important evidence comes in. Intheory the court should make a final decision inevery care case within 40 weeks of the localauthority’s application but in practice it can take ayear or sometimes more.C2 Full care order (CO) A care order is a court order that places a childunder the care of a local authority. The localauthority then shares parental responsibility forthe child with the parents, and will make most ofthe important decisions about the child'supringing, such as where they live and how theyare educated.D1Freed for adoption (freeing ordergranted)When a child's parents or guardians haverelinquished their parental rights or have had themterminated in a court of law. Once this hasoccurred a child is then "legally free" to beadopted by another person or family member.This order is no loner used and has been replacedby a Placement order.E1 Placement Order Granted Placement Order: This is an order authorising alocal authority to place a child for adoption wherethere is no parental consent, or where parentalconsent is no longer appropriate (parental consentis said to be “dispensed with.” Placement byconsent is the free unconditional agreement of theparent or guardian of a child to that child'sadoption. The consent can be withdrawn at anytime up and until an adoption order is made.The consent must be given on a special form andwitnessed by an officer from CAFCASS, (TheChildren and Family Courts Advisory and SupportServices).In the case of a mother who has just given birthher consent will not be valid if given in the first sixweeks of the birth. If a child under six weeks isplaced with an adoption agency they will have tolook after the child until it is six weeks old andthen ask for parental consent or apply for aplacement order.The consent of a parent or guardian may not benecessary if:1. The parent or guardian cannot not be found orthey are incapable of giving their agreement, e.g.because they are mentally ill.2. The court is satisfied that the welfare of thechild requires that consent be dispensed with. Thewelfare of the child outweighs the rights of the

J1In Local Authority onremand/committed for trial /sentenceAccommodated under S20 of theChildren Act not on an order (S20)birth parents. However, the courts must stillconsider the impact on the child of ceasing to be amember of his/her birth family and the change inhis/her relationship with the family that adoptionwould bring.In the above circumstances an application shouldbe made for a placement order, but only localauthorities can apply for a placement order. Theymust do so if a child is the subject of a care orderand there is no parental consent or where theyconsider the child is at risk of significant harm.A court cannot make a placement order unless aneffort has been made to notify the parents orguardians who have parental responsibility for thechild that an application for a placement order isbeing made.Remands to the Local Authority are rarely made, itis more common for Children to be bailed toreside where the local authority directsIf you are accommodated then this is a voluntaryarrangement between us and your family. Thismeans that your family will keep all the rights andresponsibilities as parents for you, and we do nottake on any parental responsibility. This meansthat your family can end the arrangement toaccommodate you at any time. If you are 16 orover you can come and ask to be accommodated,whether or not your parents agree with the idea.If you are accommodated in this way we will drawup a plan with your family setting out thearrangements that will be made for you, and thismust be in writing. This is called a care plan. Thiscare plan may say that you will live in a fosterhome or a residential home. In some cases thefoster home could be the home of relatives orfriends of your family. If you are accommodatedwe will make sure you can continue to havecontact with your family and friends.V4 Short Term Breaks Short Term Breaks usually offered to children witha disability to allow them to have a differentexperience whilst giving their parents a break.This legislation can be used under differentcircumstances, for example to give an adoptivefamily a break.Other useful termsCare Plan – Each Child, Looked after must have a Care Plan which sets out their needs andthe plan for their care. This must be amended when the plan changes and be considered ateach reviewChilds Review – Each Looked after Child must have their care plan and support needsreviewed within 28 days of placement and at regular intervals thereafter. The review isconducted by an Independent Reviewing OfficerIndependent Reviewing Officer (IRO) – is responsible for reviewing the care plan andassociated documents. The role of the IRO has been strengthened by new regulations whichplace a duty on the IRO to raise concerns about the child’s care plan to CAFCASS if an

internal resolution cannot be found. The IRO must always consult with the child s part of thereview processFoster Carers Review – a specialist IRO also conducts annual reviews of Foster Carers. Aspart of this review, all children in placement, birth children, children’s social workers andfostering social workers are consulted.Personal Education Plans (PEP’s) – An education plan devised for the individual child. Thismust be completed within 14 days of placement and must be reviewed every 6 months. Thechild, carer or key worker, social worker and teacher must be involved in the plan.Personal Education Allowance (PEA) – An individual allowance which can be awarded toeach child to assist with any aspect of their education. These have been used for additionaltuition, equipment or residential trips where they are part of the curriculumHealth Assessment – All Looked after Children must have a Health Assessment within 28days conducted by a paediatrician and this must be reviewed by their health visitor or schoolnurse every 6 months if under 5 and every year thereafter. Children who have reached anage to be Gillick compliant may refuse the assessment.Statutory Visit – All Looked after Children must be visited by their social worker within adefined schedule.Independent Visitor – All children who do not have contact with a family member or otherkey individual who is able to comment on their welfare has a right to an independent visitorwho befriends the child and acts as an advocate on their behalf.