Working with Families and other Professionals

Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Child/Young Person's Social Worker
3. The Independent Reviewing Officer
4. Guardian Ad Litem
5. Independent Visitor
6. Advocate
7. Child Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
8. The Looked After Children Nurse
9. Emergency Duty Team (EDT)
10. 24-hour Foster Carer Helpline
11. Adoption (Permanence Team) Team

1. Introduction

As a professional you have an important role to play in the lives of children and families that you work with.

Some children who are Looked After will return home, so it’s important for them to maintain relationships with their parents and other family members. 

Parents or other relatives may visit a child in your home, or the child’s social worker may feel these meetings should take place somewhere else. Contact will be set out in the child’s Placement Plan and Care Plan.

See also On-going Contact Between the Child and Their Family.

It is important that you develop an open and honest relationship with parents and at all times they know that the child is the most important person and their well-being is being looked after by you.

This will be difficult for parents so you need to ensure you work sensitively with them. Sometimes no matter what they have done, a child will continue to love their parents; you should never speak about parents in a negative way.

During your time as a foster carer, you will also work alongside many other professionals including your Supervising Social Worker as part of a team around the child/young person that makes sure the child’s needs are met and developed and they are safe from harm.

2. The Child/Young Person's Social Worker

Each child or young person placed in foster care will have a social worker

Social workers work with the whole family, not just the child/ren, and although their primary concern is for the child’s welfare they do have to balance this with the wishes and needs of their parents. They should keep you informed about the progress of the plan for the child and any changes of plan or direction.

Their role is to:

• Assess the needs of a child.
• Develop a relationship with the child.
• Plan for the child and regularly review that plan.
• Work with you, the child and the child’s family.
• Share information with you.
• Identify and obtain resources so that the child’s needs are met.
• Visit the child at the foster home within one week of the placement and then at least every six weeks for the first year (or in line with the Care Plan if this is different). Thereafter, where the placement is intended to last until the child is aged 18, at intervals of not more than three months, and in any other case, at intervals of not more than six weeks.

If as a foster carer you or the child in placement are finding it difficult to  contact the child’s social worker it is important to let your Supervising Social Worker know so that they can work to try and resolve this.

Education:

Each school will have a designated teacher for Looked After Children. You should work with the educational settings to make sure the child is achieving what they should and that they have aspirations for their future. You will need to keep them informed of the child’/young person’s situation.

Some children/young people will attend different education settings to a mainstream school setting.

3. The Independent Reviewing Officer

Each child or young person placed in foster care will have an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO).The IRO will meet the child before the first Looked After Review.

Sibling groups, whether or not placed together, should usually have the same IRO who will be allocated for the duration that the child is looked after.

The IRO has two roles: chairing a child’s Looked After Review and monitoring a child’s case on an on-going basis. They can be a good source of support to you if needed when plans for a child are not going how they should although it is the child’s social worker you should try to speak to first.

4. Guardian Ad Litem

A Guardian is appointed by the court from CAFCASS (Children And Family Court Advisory and Support Service) when they want an independent view of what has been happening and what should happen in the child's life. They may also be involved in adoption proceedings.

You should support the child to share their views particularly regarding their future. The child should be supported to spend time with the guardian appointed by the court so that the guardian can tell the child’s story in court where the child is not able to do this themselves.

5. Independent Visitor

The Local Authority looking after a child has a duty to appoint a person to be the child's Independent Visitor where it appears to them that it would be in the child's best interests to do so. The Independent Visitor will have a duty to make regular visits to the child and maintain other contact, by telephone and letter as appropriate.

Independent Visitors are particularly important where children have no contact with any member of their family.

The main purpose of the visits and contacts will be to befriend the child and give advice and assistance as appropriate.

For more information on the York Independent Visitors Scheme please click here

6. Advocate

This is a person appointed to speak on behalf of another person and/or to support them. All children who are Looked After should be given information about how to access an Advocate and the child's Independent Reviewing Officers should also make sure that this information is available to the child and assist the child to identify and appoint a suitable Advocate if appropriate.

In York, the advocacy service is called Speak Up! Have your Say

7. Child Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

The Child and Adolescent Health Service takes referrals for Looked After Children. Some of these children due to their experiences may have higher levels of behavioural, emotional and mental health problems. Your role will be to highlight any issues of concern about a child/young person that may result in the need to refer to this service. The referral will be made by the child’s social worker. If the service is needed, you should make sure appointments are kept and work with professionals from the service.

8. The Looked After Children Nurse

You will work alongside the LAC Nurse and other health professionals to make sure the health needs of Looked After Children are met.

9. Emergency Duty Team (EDT)

The EDT service is open at night and at weekends. They operate a call service and will respond to you as soon as possible. If no one is available when you ring, leave a message. You must contact the police first if you feel you, your family or foster child are in any danger and don’t wait for EDT. Outside of office hours, on weekends and public holidays contact the EDT on 01609 780780

10. 24-hour Foster Carer Helpline

A 24-hour foster carer helpline is available. Your Supervising Social Worker will tell you about their contact details.

11. Adoption (Permanence Team) Team

The Adoption Team is responsible for finding adoptive families for children who cannot remain with their birth families. They will look at the child’s background, health and any special needs and find the right adoptive family. When the adoptive family is linked with a child, they have a period of introductions before the child goes to live with them. You will play an important role in supporting the child through this time and introductions. It is important that the child sees you working alongside the adoptive parents.  You can also give valuable advice and support to the adoptive parents who will be feeling anxious about getting it right. Your Supervising Social Worker will guide you through this and should be contacted if you have any concerns.