My Placement may be Breaking Down

Disruption Meetings

Your Supervising Social Worker will  work with you to make sure that everything is done to support you whilst children and young people are living with you and will support you to manage challenges as they arise.  However, at times, placements may come to an end for a variety of reasons.  Unplanned endings can be very emotional and may leave all those connected to the placement experiencing a myriad of feelings which may include feeling hopeless, helpless or like they have failed in some way.

It is important at these times to  use your support mechanisms to help you to find a way forward.

When a placement comes to an end before it was supposed it, it is known as a “Disruption”.

A disruption can  occur for a number of reasons including:

• When Children’s Social Care feel the placement is no longer meeting the child’s needs;
• You decide that you are no longer able to care for a child;
• 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 as positive as possible. When endings are unplanned, the welfare and well-being of the child is paramount and Children Always First should support you to act at all times with this in mind. It is also important that the needs and feelings of other children living in your home are taken into account.

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, however 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.