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Contents

1. Purpose
2. Timing
3. Preparation
4. Venue
5. Length of Meeting
6. Proposed Agenda for Placement Support Meeting
7. After the Placement Support Meeting

1. Purpose

It is important that Placement Stability meetings are convened as soon as there is an indication that either the child, or the carer/s have doubts about the viability of the placement.  The meeting is an opportunity for all concerned to look at the difficulties in an open way and to consider what changes need to be made to stabilise the placement.  Sometimes, this may mean more regular social work input, listening to children's views and providing them with therapeutic services, or more training for fostering carers to achieve greater understanding of a child's individual needs.  Alternatively, practical support may be appropriate in the form of short breaks for the child, extra-curricular activities or additional resources for children with special needs.

At the end of the meeting, one would hope to achieve:

• Agreement about how a child or young person's current and future needs can be more satisfactorily met.  This should take the form of a placement support plan.
• The support and training needs for the foster carers and staff are identified and agreement reached about how these needs will be met.
• The agency will be fully involved in the discussion so that they are informed about the needs for training and support of their carers.
• The development of good practice will be highlighted and recorded over time so that we build up a bank of knowledge to achieve greater stability of placements.

Where the proposed placement has an effect of disrupting the arrangements made for the child's education and training - see Education of Children Looked After and Lambeth Virtual School Procedure.

2. Timing

Note Placement Stability Meetings will normally be chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer(IRO) and, if possible, they will not be chaired by the allocated IRO for the child concerned in the interests of retaining some objective distance from existing relationships. 

Disruption meetings will not be chaired by IROs in future but should be chaired by the Team Manager for the allocated Social Worker, or by a Manager of the Fostering agency, or provider of the residential unit.

It is expected that the child's Social Worker, under management guidance, will address the concerns being raised by a child, carer or agency as soon as they emerge.  If this intervention has not stabilised the placement, the Social Worker should refer the child to the IRO team for a Placement Support Meeting.  An IRO will be allocated by the IRO Service Manager to convene a meeting within 10 working days of the referral.

The circumstances of the child or young person's situation, will influence the number of people invited to the Placement Support Meeting, but care should be taken to ensure it is child-focussed and not too unwieldy.

The following people should be invited:

• Independent Chair (normally an IRO) who, if possible, has not been previously involved in the management or reviewing of the child's case.
• Child/young person's Social Worker and Line Manager
• Child/young person if of an appropriate age and understanding, but only if attendance is considered in their best interests.
• An advocate/Children's Rights Officer or supporter for the child/young person if after consultation s/he requests this service. Also see: Children's Rights Service Protocol and Advocacy Procedure.
• Supervising Social Worker or Keyworker and their Practice Managers.
• The child's birth parents if appropriate and if it complies with the child's wishes and feelings.
• Other professionals directly involved with the child/young person e.g. therapists, school teachers, but only following consideration if including such professionals will benefit the Placement Support Meeting and future placement stability.

If the child/young person and/or their parents do not attend the meeting, steps should be taken to ensure their views are obtained and accurately conveyed to the meeting.  This could take the form of a written report, letter, video message or via a prior meeting with the independent chair.

The Social Worker, in discussion with the chair, is responsible for drawing up the list of people to be invited and for ensuring that timely invitations are sent out.  Participants are expected to attend the duration of the meeting and partial attendance is to be avoided.

3. Preparation

It is important that there is adequate preparation for the meeting to minimise any distress to children, carers and parents.  The Chair will need to familiarise themselves with the child's life story and current difficulties in placement before the meeting. This is likely to need a pre-meeting with the Social Worker and reading of the child's computerised file.

If placement support meetings are convened at an early stage, it may not be necessary to involve an advocate for the child.  If a child has already experienced a number of placement breakdowns over a short period, it may be advisable to consider the appointment of an advocate.  In the first instance, this will need to be discussed with the Head of Service, Children Looked After.

If the child/young person, their parents and previous carers are unable to attend and wish their views to be conveyed, the responsible Social Worker should ensure this occurs.

4. Venue

One would expect that placement support meetings can be normally held in the child's placement.  If this seems inadvisable, the child's Social Worker should arrange the meeting at a neutral venue.

5. Length of Meeting

The meeting should be kept to one and a half hours and not be longer than two hours unless there are exceptional circumstances.

6. Proposed Agenda for Placement Support Meeting

• Introductions and apologies
• Purpose of meeting and ground rules
• Receive reports submitted in advance
• Clarification of any issues arising from the child/young person's history
• Matching process and introduction to the current placement.  Was sufficient information provided?  Was the placement planned in advance or arranged in emergency?
• Placement history  - Has permanency ever been achieved for this child/young person?
• Current difficulties in the placement
• What services and support can be put in place to stabilise the placement?
• Chair to summarise the recommendations and formulate a placement support plan
• Any other issues that should be considered

7. After the Placement Support Meeting

The Chair will write a brief report and circulate it within 5 working days of the meeting.  It should outline who was present, the purpose of the meeting, any important areas of discussion and the recommendations in the form of a Placement Support Plan.  The plan should make it clear who is responsible to action the recommendations and within what timescale.

The Chair is responsible for circulating the report and Placement Support Plan to the participants of the meeting within 10 working days.

End