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Contents

1. The Public Law Outline
2. Work to be Undertaken Prior to Legal Planning Meeting
3. Legal Planning Meetings
4. Care Proceedings in an Emergency

1. The Public Law Outline

The Public Law Outline has placed emphasis upon pre-court preparation and in particular placed responsibility on the local authority to ensure that it has addressed specific areas in relation to care planning. These are:

• Completion of a Core Assessment of a high quality.
• Undertaking work to rule out the possibility of a kinship placement (through, for example, Family Group Conferencing).
• Providing to families in a clear way the reasons for Care Proceedings being initiated arising from concerns of the local authority.

See Public Law Outline - FAQ.

2. Work to be Undertaken Prior to Legal Planning Meeting

Social care workers must at all stages endeavour to avoid the need for Care Proceedings and to work in partnership with parents. This process should not be a substitute for face-to-face meetings with parents and carers. We should always endeavour where possible to work in partnership with parents and carers to address the issues that are giving rise to concerns.

It is expected that this will be demonstrated in the use of written agreements throughout the process of our involvement.

Before a case is presented at a Legal Planning Meeting, the following should have taken place:

1. A Family Group Conference should be considered at any stage in this process and ideally prior to the decision to convene a Legal Planning Meeting.
2. (In all cases the decision to consider seeking legal advice must be taken by a team manager. The process below will be triggered once a team manager has agreed that legal advice can be sought.
3. It is expected that any decision about Care Proceedings should be taken on the recommendation of a completed Core Assessment. If at this stage a Core Assessment is not completed then the process of doing so must start. It is vital that the Core Assessment outlines clearly what attempts have been made to address the concerns about the child, parenting received and the outcome.
4. At this stage parents should be advised in writing (except where a child's immediate welfare is at risk) about the nature of the concerns held by Social Care. This letter should be approved and signed by a team manager. This must be presented in such a way that is clear and any parent could understand it. The letter should convey the serious nature of the concerns and advise that the department is considering seeking legal advice. It should lay down what the expectations are and timescales required to address the concerns. For parents for whom English is not a first language, a translated copy of a letter should be provided. If there are other communication issues such as a disability appropriate communication methods should be used.
5. Parents should also be advised at this stage to seek legal advice. This recommendation should be contained in the letter and a list of local solicitors provided.
6. In many cases where there is an existing Core Assessment, for example relating to children with Child Protection Plans, it will be necessary to update the Core Assessment and share this with the parents and other professionals.
7.  It is expected that social workers will in all cases endeavour to meet with parents and with representatives to advise them of the serious nature of their concerns and expectations. Where a meeting is called, a representative will attend from the legal department.
8. At this early intervention legal meeting, a written agreement will be drawn up with the family outlining what the expectations are and also indicating what support and action will be taken if the agreement is not successful. It is critical that timescales are placed around the operation of any agreement. At this stage consideration should be given to a Family Court Assessment Service (FCAS) (see Family Court Assessment Service Protocol) viability assessment. (Decisions about the priority for FCAS assessments will be made by the FST and FCAS Service Manager)
9. This meeting must be minuted and a letter confirming the concerns and what needs to be done to address them will be sent from the legal department after this meeting.
10. If a Family Group Conference has not been held at this stage, one would be convened with a view to considering the options for the child. This would be embodied in the written agreement with parents at the legal meeting.
11. If for any reason the written agreement is not successful in addressing the concerns held by the department, the case will be discussed with the team manager for the case. The team manager will request through the service manager that the case is brought to a Legal Planning Meeting. Where a decision is made to bring a case to a Legal Planning Meeting, the parent will be told in advance and informed in writing that this decision has been made.

3. Legal Planning Meetings

The Legal Planning Meeting will convene on the first Monday of each month.

The Service Manager for the service initiating Care Proceedings chairs each meeting.

Prior to the Legal Planning Meeting it is expected that the following will be provided:

• Core Assessment of a high quality
• Evidence of a written agreement being drawn up.
• Outcome (where appropriate) of a Family Group Conference having been held
• Letter (where appropriate) sent to family outlining concerns and indicating that legal advice was being sought.
• Minutes of any meeting held with the parent's solicitors.
• Chronology
• Outline Care Plan
• Outcome of any viability assessment by the Family Court Assessment Service (FCAS)
• The record of the last Child Protection Conference
• The record of the last statutory Looked After Review if applicable

In many cases where there is an existing Core Assessment, for example relating to children with Child Protection Plans, it will be necessary to update the Core Assessment and share this with the parents and other professionals.

A full record of the meeting will be made. This may need to be provided to the parents and their solicitors. The decision of the meeting will be conveyed to the parents by the social worker verbally and confirmed in writing through a letter signed by the team manager.

The decision must be written in terms that parents can understand and take into account any issues around the communication needs of the parents. Where children are of an age to understand the concerns and reasons, they should also be informed (where appropriate) of the decisions and reasons.

The process of decision making about Care Proceedings will be monitored on a quarterly basis by Service Managers.

4. Care Proceedings in an Emergency    

Where an Emergency Protection Order (EPO) or an Interim Care Order  is required at very short notice the following procedures should apply.

A decision to seek an EPO should be discussed with a team manager and be agreed by a service manager. In situations where a team manager or a service manager is not available or the matter is considered to be urgent, an EPO can be sought without such agreement after consultation with a line manager.

In situations where Children's Social Care seeks an EPO without notice to the parents, a meeting must be convened as soon as is possible afterwards to explain to the parents why proceedings have been initiated. This should be confirmed in writing in a letter signed by the team manager.

Where an EPO is being sought with notice, parents should be advised in a meeting of the reasons why Children's Social Care are seeking an order. Parents should wherever possible be given written information about the reasons for the order being sought. Advice about legal rights should be provided clearly and a list of solicitors also provided to the parents.

Consideration must be given at this stage as to what action is required to avoid the need for an EPO to be sought and what the parents can do to avoid this action being taken. This will include the use of Family Group Conferences and other packages of support. However it is recognised that timescales for these may not allow for the child to be appropriately safeguarded in such circumstances. In these circumstances service managers are authorised to agree supports that might ameliorate the need for Care Proceedings to be started.

A Legal Planning Meeting should ideally be held prior to the decision to seek an EPO. This should be chaired by the relevant service manager or if s/he is unavailable, a team manager. A full record of this meeting should be kept.

A decision to initiate Care Proceedings at short notice because of the urgent nature of the circumstances must be discussed with and agreed by a team manager and a service manager. In cases where an Interim Care Order is being sought at short notice it is an expectation that where feasible the same process will be followed. Generally at this stage it is accepted that it will be difficult to avoid the need for Care Proceedings. However, it is expected that the following process will still be followed or reasons for not doing so will be recorded on the child's electronic social care record.

A Family Group Conference should be considered at any stage in this process and ideally prior to the decision to convene a Legal Planning Meeting.

It is expected that any decision about Care Proceedings should ideally even in these circumstances be taken on the recommendation of a completed or updated Core Assessment. If at this stage a Core Assessment is not completed the process of doing so must start.

The child's parents should be advised in writing (except where a child's immediate welfare is at risk) about the nature of the concerns held by Children's Social Care. This letter should be approved and signed by a team manager. This must be presented in such a way that is clear and any parent could understand. The letter should convey the serious nature of the concerns and advise that the department is considering seeking legal advice. It should lay down what the expectations are and timescales required to address the concerns. For parents for whom English is not a first language a translated copy of a letter should be provided. If there are other communication issues such as a disability appropriate communication methods should be used.

Parents should also be advised at this stage to seek legal advice. This recommendation should be contained in the letter and a list of local solicitors provided.

It is expected that social workers will in all cases endeavour to meet with parents and with representatives to advise them of the serious nature of their concerns and expectations. Where a meeting is called a representative will attend from the legal department.

At this pre-court legal meeting, a written agreement may be drawn up with the family outlining what the expectations are and also indicating what support and action will be taken if the agreement is not successful. It is critical that timescales are placed around the operation of any agreement.

This meeting must be minuted and a letter confirming the concerns and what needs to be done to address them will be sent from the legal department after this meeting.

If a Family Group Conference has not been held at this stage one would be convened with a view to considering the options for the child. This would be embodied in the written agreement with parents at the legal meeting.

If for any reason the written agreement is not successful in addressing the concerns held by the department the case will be discussed with the team manager for the case. The team manager will request through the service manager that the case is brought to Legal Planning Meeting.

Where a decision is made to bring a case to a Legal Planning Meeting parents will be told in advance and informed in writing that this decision has been made.

End