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Contents

1. Looked After Young Person up to age 18 and baby where there are no child protection concerns and the young person is expected to be the primary carer:
2. Looked After Young Person up to age 18 and baby where there are sufficient child protection concerns and young person is expected to be the primary carer, but foster carer may bear much of that responsibility:
3. Young Mother aged 18 or older and baby where there are child protection concerns and young mother is expected to be the primary carer:
4. Young Mother aged 18 or older and baby where there are no child protection concerns and the young mother is expected to be the primary carer:
5. All Cases - Threshold for Intervention by Carer

1.  Looked After Young Person up to age 18 and baby where there are no child protection concerns and the young person is expected to be the primary carer:

Definitions:

Mother is the Looked After Child
Baby is not Looked After

Financial Arrangements

The foster carer would receive the Standard Allowance for the Looked After Young Person. The foster carer would also receive the Maintenance Allowance per week to cover the extra support required of a carer who is looking after a young person who also has a baby, which includes all support the carer is giving to the mother and baby as well as the additional cost of care, like nappies and food and clothing, not adequately covered by child benefits received by the young person.

The care of the baby would rest with the mother and it should be agreed at the Placement Planning Meeting that an element of the maintenance allowance goes to the mother to meet the needs of the baby and this should be calculated at Benefits levels.

Foster Carer Support Package

The foster carer would receive the standard support package from Fostering and LAC to include a Fostering Supervising Social Worker, 4-weekly visits from Fostering and LAC respectively, yearly reviews, Looked After Reviews and potential assistance with necessary expenses not covered by the allowances above.

Placement Support Package

The Placement Planning Meeting, which ideally happens prior to the commencement of a placement but statutorily must happen within 7 days of the start of the placement, is held to negotiate a Working Together Agreement which can then be drafted and signed by the foster carer, the mother of the baby, the child's social worker and the foster carers' supervising social worker and which clearly sets out the expectations of the placement and all parties involved in supporting the placement.

2.  Looked After Young Person up to age 18 and baby where there are sufficient child protection concerns and young person is expected to be the primary carer, but foster carer may bear much of that responsibility:

Definitions:

Mother is Looked After Child
Baby is Looked After Child

In these circumstances, the arrangements would only be set up if the baby was Looked After, i.e. where the mother agreed that the baby would be in Section 20 Accommodation or where the baby was subject to an Interim Care Order or full Care Order.

Financial Arrangements

The foster carer would receive the Standard Allowances relevant to the ages of both of the Looked After Children in the placement. Although the primary care of the baby rests in most instances with the birth mother, it would be expected that the foster carer has a responsibility to both Looked After children in the placement and the level of support offered by the foster carer should be negotiated at the start of the placement and regularly reviewed to enable the birth mother to develop parenting skills but feel supported in doing so. 

Foster Carer Support Package

The foster carer would receive the standard support package from Fostering and LAC to include a Fostering Supervising Social Worker, 4-weekly visits from Fostering and LAC respectively, yearly reviews, Looked After Reviews and potential assistance with necessary expenses not covered by the allowances. 

Placement Support Package

The Placement Planning Meeting, which ideally happens prior to the commencement of a placement but statutorily must happen within 7 days of the start of the placement, is held to negotiate a Working Together Agreement that can then be drafted and signed by the foster carer, the mother of the baby, the child's social worker and the foster carers' supervising social worker, that clearly sets out the expectations of the placement and all parties involved in supporting the placement. In instances where the foster carer is being asked to contribute their opinion about the mother's ability to parent, a pro forma for recording observations needs to be provided to the carer.

The foster carer must be able to evidence they have the assessment skill set to adequately provide information to the child's social worker as requested (this evidence may be in the form of a formal qualification, advanced training and/or experience) and the expectations must be made clear in writing to all parties.

3. Young Mother aged 18 or older and baby where there are child protection concerns and young mother is expected to be the primary carer:

Definitions:

Young Mother is not Looked After
Baby is a Looked After Child

In these circumstances, the arrangements would only be set up if the baby was Looked After, i.e. where the mother agreed that the baby would be in Section 20 Accommodation or where the baby was subject to an Interim Care Order or full Care Order.

Financial Arrangements

The foster carer would receive the Standard Allowance relevant to the age range of the baby in the budget year in which they are fostering. The birth mother would need to apply for benefits, and should contribute to the carer who was providing housing to the young mother and her baby. This contribution should be calculated at the start of the placement. The reward element of the Standard Allowance will also be paid to the foster carer in recognition of the task.

In circumstances where the young mother is not eligible for benefits or where benefits do not cover the costs, a financial package should be considered on a case by case basis and with the relevant team. In the instance where this placement is being directed by a Child Protection Plan and the carer is being asked to support the mother through monitoring, advice and assessment, the fee a foster carer receives for providing this service will be negotiated based on the specific requirements of the placement. These negotiations will include consideration of what the mother will contribute to the placement.

Foster Carer Support Package

The foster carer would receive the standard support package from Fostering and LAC or other area time like Safeguarding and Care Planning, to include a Fostering Supervising Social Worker, 4-weekly visits from Fostering and child's social worker respectively, yearly reviews, Looked After Reviews and potential assistance with necessary expenses not covered by the allowances.

Placement Support Package

The Placement Planning Meeting, which ideally happens prior to the commencement of a placement but statutorily must happen within 5 working days of the start of the placement, is held to negotiate a Working Together Agreement that can then be drafted and signed by the foster carer, the mother of the baby, the child's social worker and the foster carers' supervising social worker, that clearly sets out the expectations of the placement and all parties involved in supporting the placement, including friends and family of the young mother if they are expected to play a significant support role to the young mother. In instances where the foster carer is being asked to contribute their opinion about the mother's ability to parent for Court or otherwise, a pro forma for recording observations needs to be provided to the carer, the carer must be able to evidence they have the assessment skill set to adequately provide information to the child's social worker as requested (this evidence may be in the form of a formal PQ qualification, advanced training and/or experience) and the expectations must be made clear in writing to all parties.

4. Young Mother aged 18 or older and baby where there are no child protection concerns and the young mother is expected to be the primary carer:

Definitions:

Young Mother is not Looked After
Baby is not Looked After

There are some instances where a young person with a baby turns 18 while in care. In those instances the young person transitions from being a Looked After Child to being a Care Leaver. The foster carer may be approached to change task from a foster placement to a supported lodgings placement.

Financial Arrangements

The carer would receive the standard rate for a Supported Lodgings Placement, which is organised through the Leaving Care Team. The young person in placement is responsible for all costs involving the baby. This does not preclude the young person for seeking financial assistance from the department in specific circumstances. The carer may receive the reward element of the Standard Allowance from the Fostering Support Team for the baby in placement in recognition of the task. Any agreements regarding expenses for the baby including child-minding support are privately agreed between the Supported Lodgings carer and the young person. It does not require the agreement of the Fostering Team.

The carer does not have any formal responsibility for the safety or care of the baby in the placement. That said, as a professional carer, the carer must report child protection concerns to the appropriate parties as they would in any instance where they had first hand knowledge of the occurrence of abuse and/or neglect.  In this instance, there are no Looked After Children, so no Placement Planning Meeting needs to be held - unless it is requested by the Leaving Care Social Worker on behalf of the young person using the Supported Lodgings Placement.

Foster Carer Support Package

The carer would receive the standard support package for a Supported Lodgings Provider, from the Leaving Care Team. There would be no practical support from the Fostering Team, with the exception of phone consultation when appropriate. There would be no support from the Looked After Children Team.

Placement Support Package

There is no formal support package available to Supportive Lodgings Placements. The Leaving Care Team does offer support to Supportive Lodgings Placements. Such support is organised according to the individual placement and needs of the young person.

5. All Cases - Threshold for Intervention by Carer

In all of the above circumstances, there may arise a situation /s where the foster carer feels that she/he should intervene because of concern for the safety of the child. The threshold for such intervention, which is rare, should be clearly addressed at the Placement Planning Meeting. At this point, the birth parent should understand and sign up to an agreement that the safety of the child is paramount and if the foster carer needs to exercise judgement over suspected harm, the parent is expected to comply.

If either mother or child, or both, are Looked After children, the situation will require immediate contact with either the social workers or the Emergency Duty Team. They should then negotiate with the mother/parent in relation to next steps. If immediate harm is suspected and the mother is non compliant in allowing the foster carer to assume care of the child, the police should also be called.

If the foster carer at any point assumes care of the child, if not already in place, a fee is payable from that point until it is formally agreed that the birth parent resumes care. The fee will be payable for a period of at least 48 hours whether or not the foster carer assumes care for that period, or for the duration of the time s/he is primary carer. 

End