3.10.3 Looked After Children who are Parents |
Contents
1. Mother and Baby Placements
Many young women under 18 successfully parent their children without the need to become looked after by the local authority because of the support available to them from their family and social network.
Others without such support may require the provision of a more focused family support type services.
A minority, amongst whom may be those already in the looked after system will require the support and nurturing of a family placement. However in reaching such a decision it is important to balance the needs of both the young person and her dependant child.
The worker should be clear and explicit about any child protection concerns and the level of monitoring required of the placement.
Legal Status of the Baby
Social Workers must be clear as to the legal status that they are proposing the placement be made.
The mother will be looked after and her legal status will not change.
However, the baby may be assessed as a child in need or become looked after subject to the usual assessment and planning criteria outlined in these procedures.
Referrals for Mother and Baby Placements
Where a young woman under 18 who may or may not be looked after has a dependant child and assessment indicates that she requires support to care for her child, is able to use support constructively, and assessment indicates this is in the child's best interest, then, subject to the approval of the LAC Panel, referral for a mother and baby placement may be made to the Access to Resources Team.
The young woman may already be looked after by virtue of a Care Order or accommodated or become so in order to access this placement.
The names of the young woman and her child may or may not be on Lambeth's Child Protection Register.
Referrals must be made in the normal way to the ART who will seek all relevant details to obtain a suitable match.
It is usually possible to plan such placements in advance and therefore there should be adequate information available to share with prospective carers.
Where appropriate to the young woman's circumstances consideration should be given to arranging admission to the placement prior to the birth of the baby to facilitate the development of relationships.
Placement Choice
The ART must seek a mother and baby foster placement from within Lambeth's own resources in the first instance.
If no such placement is available then the approval of the LAC Panel to seek a placement in the independent sector must be sought in the usual way.
Placement Agreement Meeting
The composition of such meetings will vary depending on the young person and child's circumstances. In addition to the issues which must be addressed at all placement agreement meetings, meetings concerned with a mother and baby foster placement should:
- Outline in considerable detail the respective responsibilities of the carer and young person in connection with the care of the baby/child
- Irrespective of what is agreed at the meeting the carer remains responsible for ensuring that the baby/child's basic needs are met where the young person/mother fails to do this
- Be explicit that the carer will report any concerns direct to the young woman's Social Worker
- Emphasise that the focus of the placement is to support the young person/mother in caring for her baby/child as independently as possible. With this in mind it is essential that future planning begins immediately, setting goals and timescales for the placement and beyond
Carer's/Key Worker's Responsibilities
A carer offering a mother and baby placement should:
- Give advice, support and encouragement to the young woman in caring for her child
- Supervise the safety of the baby in accordance with the young woman's assessed ability and this should be regularly reviewed
- Be clear about their responsibility to take immediate action to protect the baby/child if this becomes necessary and to inform the young woman's Social Worker immediately
- Ensure that the baby/child is always adequately fed, clothed and bathed
- Ensure the ongoing well being of the child by appropriate modelling, attendance at clinic/health appointments and the establishment of routines etc.
- Attend any meetings in relation to the care of the baby in addition to those arranged specifically in connection with the young person
- Keep a daily log in order to provide the Social Worker with regular, accurate information about both the care of the baby and the success of the placement
- Alert the Social Worker (their supervisor or duty) immediately if there are concerns about the care of the baby
- Provide occasional baby sitting to allow the young person to attend meetings or appointments, having established that their own presence is not essential
2. Working With Looked After Children who are Parents
Social Workers may be called on to work with looked after children who are or who become parents in a number of different circumstances.
These include:
- Mothers who wish to give up their child for adoption
- Mothers who wish to keep their child
- Mothers where there are child protection concerns for the mother and/or child
- Fathers of such children
- Fathers of children born to women who are not looked after
The Social Worker's response will vary from case to case, but in all circumstances the Social Worker must be sensitive to the needs of the young person and the child concerned.
Wherever practicable the young person and their child should have different Social Workers so that it enables the young person's Social Worker to concentrate on their needs rather than having to consider the needs of the child/baby.
Social Workers must ensure that the wishes and feelings of all those concerned are considered at all stages of the process and their rights are balanced with the needs of the child and the rights of others.
For example, where a baby is being given up for adoption and the father is himself looked after, the father's right to be consulted and considered as a full time parent of the child will need to balanced with the wishes of the mother and a realistic assessment of whether the father could be assisted to successfully parent the child.
Social Workers must also be sensitive to how they gather and share information.
For example, if a child protection conference were to be held on the child of a looked after young person, the young person will have a right to attend that conference.
However the conference may be provided with information on the young person that s/he was unaware of such as previous child protection concerns about the care of the young person themselves.
Where conflicts exist, Social Workers must ensure that looked after parents are provided with access to appropriate independent advice including legal advice.
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