My Placement may be Breaking Down

Barnet wants to ensure that every move for a child or young person wherever possible is planned and our foster carers should be equally committed to this. However, there may be occasions when a placement is not working out and is unlikely to be in the best interests of the child or young person placed. It will always be hoped that there will be enough time to enable a move to be planned and that everyone involved in the child’s care plan will endeavor to ensure that you and your family receive the support you need to maintain the placement for that period.

There may also be rare occasions when a child or young person must be moved at short notice, possibly for a ‘cooling off’ period or because the placement can no longer be sustained. Your supervising worker and the child’s social worker will also try to do everything possible to support you in these circumstances.

The termination of a placement for a child/young person should always be the last resort and should never come as a surprise to the child/young person or their social worker or your supervising worker.

Disruption Meetings

Placements ending in an unplanned way nearly always leave all those concerned feeling bad. Your Supervising Social Worker will want to work with you to make sure that everything is done to support you with children and young people living with you and to manage difficulties.

When you are struggling, use your support mechanisms to help you to find a way forward.

However, not all foster care placements work out. Disruption is the word used to describe a placement which ends before it was supposed to.

A disruption can also occur when Children's Social Care feel the placement is no longer meeting the child's needs or you decide that you are no longer able to care for a child or the child decides they do not want to stay in the placement.

It is vital that for whatever reason the placement ended, you make the move for the child/ young person as positive as possible.

A Disruption Meeting may be arranged by the child's social worker.

These meetings may be held a little while after the actual disruption so that some of the immediate feelings of upset have reduced. They will consider all aspects of the placement in an attempt to understand what happened. Disruption Meetings can sometimes feel threatening, but it is important to recognise that their purpose is not to blame anyone but to reach a better understanding of what happened, including whether more support should have been provided. Most carers who have been through a placement breakdown have found the Disruption Meeting helpful.

Who may attend:

• You;
• The child, if appropriate;
• Your Supervising Social Worker and their Manager;
• The child's social worker and their Manager;
• The proposed carer;
• Independent Reviewing Officer;
• Any other relevant people. 

The Chair of the meeting should ensure that the circumstances that led to the disruption are reviewed, and that everyone has the opportunity to express their views in order to:

• Find out how and why the disruption happened;
• Learn from what happened and avoid the same thing happening again - for the child/others in your home;
• Identify the positive work and good experiences for the child amongst all the difficulties;
• Support all parties involved and help them carry on and recover;
• Contribute to the future planning for the child;
• Identify work to be done and who will do it.

The Chair will make sure minutes are sent to all those involved. The report of the Disruption Meeting may be presented to the fostering panel.

A Looked After Review should also be arranged.

A review may be held to look at your approval terms.