Scotland's Children Children (Scotland) Act 1995 Implementation Newsletter No 4

Care plans - more than a paper exercise

From 1 April 1997,every child who is looked after by the local authority will be entitled to an individual care plan, drawn up in consultation with themselves and their parents.

Regardless of where a child is looked after - with foster carers perhaps; in a residential establishment; or remaining at home subject to a supervision requirement - the duty to draw up a care plan for that child remains exactly the same. Plans are intended to provide a focus for all those involved in caring for the child, so that everyone - including the child - knows what is being worked towards and what their individual role is in day-to-day care.

The Arrangements to Look After Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996 set out the processes involved in drawing up care plans. When making any care plan - wherever the child is to live - a local authority should consider a number of issues, including alternative courses of action, whether a change in the child’s legal status should be sought, and arrangements which need to be made for the time when the child is longer looked after.

An additional set of considerations applies when the local authority places a child with alternative carers or in a residential home, including the issue of contact between the child and his or her parents, and arrangements for the child’s health and educational needs.

Susan Clark, Scottish Manager of the National Foster Care Association, feels that the new duties in relation to care plans provide important statutory backing to what was already good practice. She welcomes the way the Act promotes a consistent approach across the various arrangements for looking after children. With particular reference to foster care, she believes that care plans will make a significant contribution to clarifying the purpose of a placement: ‘Care plans will enable foster carers to know exactly what their job is, who is working with the child, and what the timescales are.’

The regulations set out a clear timetable for reviewing the care plans of all children looked after. Where a child is looked after by a local authority and placed away from home, a first review has to take place within six weeks; a second review must happen within three months of the first; and subsequent reviews are to be held at intervals of no more than six months. The review timetable for children who remain at home is a first review within three months and subsequent reviews within six months from the date of the previous review.

Susan Clark agrees that the care plan regulations provide a safeguard in relation to the objectives set out in a care plan.‘If these are not achieved’, she said, ‘then the review process will address that. A care plan should prevent the danger of "drifting." ’

Cathy Jamieson, Principal Development Officer with Who Cares? Scotland, the organisation representing young people who are (or have been) looked after by the local authority, agrees. She too feels that the new arrangements for care plans will be beneficial to workers and carers as well as to children and young people, but highlights the importance of involving young people fully in the formulation of their personal plan.

‘It is extremely important that young people are genuinely involved. They should be present at all meetings where their care plan is discussed, and there must be proper channels through which they can complain if the action set out in the plan is not being implemented.’

As the draft guidance on throughcare and aftercare of young people points out, it is important that developing a care plan is not seen as a paper exercise, but a dynamic process in assessing and ensuring that a young person’s needs are met whilst being looked after.

Susan Clark agrees. ‘The crucial element will be how the plans are used,’ she said. ‘They must be actively followed, not just written down and forgotten about. Foster carers have a responsibility to make sure that plans work, just as social workers do. In this respect, plans contribute to a partnership approach.’

As the draft guidance also makes clear, an important aspect of planning is preparation for when a young person is no longer looked after by the local authority and about to move onto independence. It is essential that this aspect is addressed in the care plan of all young people over the age of 14 years.

What should be in a care plan?

For all children looked after by the local authority:

The immediate and longer-term plans for the child Details of any services to be provided to meet the child’s needs The respective responsibilities of the local authority, the child, any person with parental responsibilities for the child and any other relevant person

Additional details for children placed by the local authority:

The type of accommodation to be provided and the name of the person responsible for the child while he or she is there The contribution of the child’s parents (or other relevant persons) to day-to-day care Arrangements for involving the child and his or her family in decision making Arrangements for contact between the child and his or her parents, or other relevant persons The expected duration of the arrangements

Children’s services plans in progress

Many of Scotland’s local authorities have begun work on children’s services plans for their area, in accordance with Section 19 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Although the first plans do not have to be published until the Spring of 1998, several authorities have already begun the planning process. In Aberdeen City, the council has, on a corporate basis, begun to liaise with the health board and voluntary organisations in relation to consulting about children’s services plans. ‘We realise that this is still a long way down the line,’ says Alex Hamilton, Assistant Director of Social Work, ‘but it makes sense to start work on it at this stage.’

Also active is East Ayshire Council, where a member-officer group has been set up, serviced by senoir staff members in housing ,education, social work and legal services. The group will oversee preparation of the children’s services plan.

Falkirk too has drawn up a strategy to address the requirement to produce a plan. This involves the establishment of an inter-agency child care commission, a series of planning groups, each of which will produce a chapter of the final plan, and a Children Act Forum, intended to be of particular significance in relation to consulting with some of the smaller voluntary organisations in the area.

The whole process has resulted in some unexpected and positive outcomes. ‘The requirement to produce a plan has had the effect of extending and developing networks within the council and beyond,’ says Alan Boyd, Head of Service at Falkirk Council. ‘We have discovered that we have allies in relation to children’s services - and others have discovered that social work is not the impenetrable jungle they thought it was.’

Work on children’s services plans is progressing in other areas too, including Edinburgh, where an inter-departmental group has been set up within the authority to develop a framework for the plan, and Glasgow, where discussions are under way to ensure that all council departments can contribute to the development and implementation of the plan.

A council-wide planning group is to be established in the New Year, and work has begun with other agencies in Glasgow in relation to their own contribution to the plan and to the generation of information on needs and resources within the City.

Romy Langeland, Children and Families Service Manager at Glasgow City Council, is ready to meet the challenge of Section 19. ‘The current situation of change represents an unparalleled opportunity,’ she says.