Contact with Parents/Carers, Siblings and Others

As part of the placement planning process, the social worker should consult the Service to ensure that proper arrangements are in place for the young person to have contact with their family and significant others and how this will take place.

The young person’s views should be taken into consideration when looking at issues around contact.

Most young people in our Service are able to make decisions around what contact they want with their family and are able to visit and see their family without any support from the Service. However for some young people this is not the case. Also sometimes situations change which means that support or intervention may be necessary.

All staff must be familiar with the level of contact that has been recorded as appropriate in respect of each young person.

Both the arrangements for contact and any contact details (telephone numbers etc.) must be included in the Placement Plan.

For many young people, relationships with members of their family, previous carers, friends and others are incredibly important. Contact can help young people develop their sense of identity and better understand their lives, as well as helping to support successful placements.

Contact arrangements should be focused on, and shaped around, the young person’s needs. The social worker should, as part of the assessment process, identify those people who the young person wants to maintain contact with.

Arrangements for contact will be set out in the Care Plan and must take account of any Child Protection Plan or Contact Order that may be in force.

If there is an issue with the young person wanting contact with family and it is deemed to be not in the best interests of the young person, then a Mental Capacity Assessment will need to be completed by the social worker/accommodating authority to establish if they have capacity and the Local Authority will need to be make a decision around whether a Court of Protection Order is necessary.  See also Mental Capacity Act.

Independent Reviewing Officers should ensure that Looked After Reviews consider whether contact arrangements including sibling contact in Care Plans have been implemented and that the young person is happy with the contact – both its frequency and its quality. The IRO should inform the young person that they can access Advocacy Services if they have a complaint.

Suitable facilities should be provided within the Service for all young people to meet privately at any reasonable time with their parents, friends, relatives or any of the following:

• A solicitor or other adviser or advocate acting for the young person;
• An officer of CAFCASS appointed for the young person;
• A social worker assigned to the young person;
• A person authorised by Ofsted;
• A person authorised by the local authority in whose area the Service is located;
• An Independent Visitor appointed for the young person;
• A person appointed to investigate a complaint under the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006.

The need to supervise contact should be considered as part of the assessment and planning process by the social worker and their manager. It is the responsibility of the young person's social worker to ensure that the person(s) supervising contact is appropriately skilled and experienced to do so.

The primary focus of the assessment of this issue will be the safety of the young person.

Where supervised contact is deemed necessary, the reasons should be clearly recorded and the role of the supervisor or supervisors clearly defined.

A written risk assessment must be completed before supervised contacts begin.

This assessment must take account of all factors that could impact on the success of supervised contact and relevant safeguards including:

1. Any history of abuse or threats of abuse to the young person, carers, staff or others;
2. Previous threats to disrupt contact or failure to cooperate with conditions agreed for supervised contact;
3. Previous incidents or threats of abduction;
4. Previous incidents of coercion or inappropriate behaviour during contact;
5. The transient or unsettled lifestyle of the parents;
6. The young person's behaviour and needs, including medical needs.

Where any of the above feature in the risk assessment, and supervised contact is to continue, the risk assessment must state the specific measures to be put in place to minimise risks. The assessment must then be approved and signed by the appropriate Team Manager.

Where supervised contact takes place, the detailed arrangements for the supervision must be set out in the Placement Plan or the Care Plan.

In addition, there should be a written agreement with the parents and other relevant parties having supervised contact, signed by them, which should state clearly any specific conditions relating to the contact and any expectations placed on the parents or relevant parties:

• The agreement should be clear about where the contact must take place and whether any flexibility is allowed for activity or movements within or away from the agreed location;
• It should also be clear about whether the person(s) having contact are permitted to give the young person items such as gifts or money during contact;
• It should state clearly the circumstances in which contact will be terminated.

The agreement should state the adults who will be allowed to attend for supervised contact and supervisors should be asked to apply that strictly.

Particular attention should be given to when and how visits are ended.

Significant changes to Care Plans, court proceedings and/or decisions made about the frequency of future contact are all likely to be potential tension points so extra vigilance should apply at any contacts arranged around these times.

Staff and any other person involved in the supervision of the contact should have copies of the Placement Plan and the agreement with the parents or relevant adults.

Where possible, those supervising the contact should be known to the young person and the family before the supervised contact takes place.

In the event of problems emerging, the supervisors must be clear who to contact and what details they will need to share.

The supervisor's observations of the contact must be clearly recorded in the young person’s record and shared with the parents within 3 months of the visit.

The supervisor must immediately report to the social worker any concerns about the young person or parents' conduct during the contact. The social worker in consultation with their manager should consider the need to review the risk assessment and/or the contact arrangements in light of the concerns expressed.

See Section 4, Review of Contact Arrangements.

The social worker and their manager should keep contact arrangements, including the continuing need for supervision, under regular review.

The risk assessment in relation to the arrangements for supervising contact must be reviewed at least every six months, or sooner if any incident or report identifies concerns.