Family Time with Parents, Family and Friends

Looked After children should be encouraged and supported to maintain family time with their parents, any person who holds Parental Responsibility, other significant family members and siblings in a manner consistent with the child's Care Plan; which, itself, must take account of any Child Protection Plan or Child Arrangements Order that may be in force. (S9 of the Fostering Minimum Standards 2011 (FNMS 2011) explicitly states that grandparents and half-siblings must be included within the definition significant family members and others). There is a presumption of continued family time between the child and their family while the child is Looked After, unless it is not reasonably practicable or consistent with the child's welfare.

When placing children the Placing Authority and the Fostering Agency are required by S9 of the FNMS 2011 to work together to support family time.

Family time between children and their parents or siblings may only be permitted if previously agreed by the social worker and should be set out in the child's Foster/residential home Plan. Family time arrangements should be focused on, and shaped around, the child's needs. The child's welfare is the paramount consideration at all times and each child's wishes and needs for family time should be individually considered and regularly assessed. The wishes and feelings of the child should be ascertained, wherever possible, using advocacy and communication service if necessary.

So far as it is reasonably practicable, the wishes and feelings of the parents and the child's carers must be ascertained before a decision about family time arrangements is made.

The purpose of the time with family and significant others and how it will be evaluated must be made clear in the Plan.

Both direct and indirect family time arrangements should always be clearly detailed, setting out how family time will take place, the venue, the frequency and how the arrangements will be reviewed.

Where family time is extended as part of a plan to gradually return the child to the parents' care, the Placement with Parents or Person who has, or has held Parental Responsibility Immediately Prior to Making of a Care Order or Interim Care Order Procedure should be followed.

Family time arrangements for all Children Looked After are subject to the relevant sections of the Children Act 1989 and the Family time with Children Regulations 1991 and references are made to the relevant parts of the Act and the Regulations throughout this procedure.

Regulation 14 of the Fostering Service Regulations 2011 places a duty on fostering service providers to, subject to the provisions of the care plan and any Court Order relating to family time, promote family time between a child placed with a foster carer and her/his parents, relatives and friends unless such family time is not reasonably practicable or consistent with the child's welfare.

Standards 9.1 to 9.7 of the FNMS 2011 state how fostering service providers are expected to achieve this and references to the relevant standards are made throughout this procedure.

The term family time refers to all links between a child and their families of origin and friends, regardless of the form and frequency of these links. It may include overnight stays, telephone calls, exchange of letters or photographs or indirect links through third parties.

These will range from frequent face to face family time to occasional exchanges of information.

For the majority of children their interests will be best served by efforts to sustain or create links with their birth families. Face to face meetings will generally be the most common and satisfactory way of maintaining such relationships.

Even when there is no minimal or no family time, Social Workers and carers need to address the need to keep a child connected with their family background and to help them develop a sense of identity.

Research shows that the earliest weeks of a looked after episode are crucial to the success of a foster/residential home, the relationship between the parents, carers and Social Workers, the level of future family time and the prognosis for an early return home.

Children's Services will therefore ensure that family time arrangements are in place before or at the point a child moves to a foster/residential home and that arrangements for family time are recorded on the Foster/residential home Information Record.

When considering family time arrangements, Social Workers must take into account the need to sustain links with all those in the child's network and not just their immediate family. This may include friends, neighbours, schools and out of school clubs and activities.

The fundamental principle on which all decisions relating to family time are based is that for most children who are looked after, it is in their best interests to have family time with their family of origin and friends.

Other key principles are:

• Family time plans must be an integral component of every Care Plan and Foster/residential home Information Record;
• Children's and parents' views must be sought and given weight in determining family time arrangements;
• Children have a right to be protected from harmful family time;
• Consideration must be given to the need for and benefits of appropriate family time when considering the suitability of foster/residential homes;
• Financial support, may be available for children, birth parents and carers to ensure family time takes place at the desired frequency and in the most appropriate place (see Section 11, Practical Support for Facilitating Family time);
• The supervisor's observations of the family time must be clearly recorded in the child's record and shared with the parents within 3 months of the visit (Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman finding);
• Family time can only be prevented or curtailed by Court Order, or in emergencies, by the responsible local authority for a limited period.

Many factors will have an impact on the content of family time arrangements, including the child's legal status, whether the foster/residential home is planned or unplanned, Court directions and the availability of suitable locations.

It is therefore neither possible nor desirable to be prescriptive in providing guidance. There are some general issues that need to be considered however:

• What are the immediate concerns and tasks in relation to family time?
• Who will have family time, with whom, when and where?
• Is anyone to be denied family time and if so what are the reasons for this? How long is this restriction in place for and what actions are being taken to mitigate/reduce future risk?
• Are there to be any other restrictions on family time at this stage or in the future?
• Is family time to be observed or supervised, if so where and by whom? (see Supervised Family Time and the Hertfordshire Family Time Service Procedure);
• What are the views of the child, the parents and the carers?
• If the child is to be placed outside of their home area what special arrangements will be needed to support family time?
• What resources are needed to facilitate the required level of family time?

The needs for and benefits of appropriate family time must be considered when identifying a suitable foster/residential home.

This will be one of a range of issues that are considered during the matching process alongside the child's other needs including the promotion of their health and education, needs arising from the child's race, culture, religion and disability and the need to place siblings together.

Where it is not possible to meet all of a child's needs, meeting the most important will be the Department's priority. This will be different for each child and will often be determined by the overall Care Plan. For example the need to identify carers who will facilitate face to face family time may be less significant where the child needs the stability of permanent foster foster/residential home than where the plan is rehabilitation.

For children in need of a permanent foster/residential home, arrangements for family time must be considered when potential matches are being explored. Matching reports should record whether the foster/residential home meets the child's assessed needs, including those relating to family time.

Where there are shortfalls in meeting the child's assessed needs, the matching report should make it clear why the foster/residential home has still been chosen and what steps are to be taken to address these shortfalls.

For children in need of an immediate foster/residential home, the child's Social Worker will need to consider the proposed family time arrangements against the available resources. Wherever possible, a foster/residential home that enables the family time plan to be fully implemented should be chosen.

The child's other needs may however outweigh this consideration, for example where an independent provider foster/residential home is the only one available where siblings can be kept together.

The reasons for choosing a particular foster/residential home must be recorded on the child's record and Foster/residential home Planning meetings and reviews used to identify ways to address any shortfalls in the desired family time plan.

The views of children must always be sought when determining and reviewing family time arrangements.

Children of sufficient age and understanding must be asked to contribute to their own Care Plan and their views must be given due weight when drawing up and reviewing Foster/residential home Plan.

Throughout the foster/residential home, Social Workers and carers should monitor the effect of family time on the child and seek their views as to how family time plans are working.

The child must be supported in making their views in respect of family time known at their statutory reviews.

Where children's wishes cannot be met, the reasons for this must be explained to them and recorded on their child's record.

Children's Services expects that a risk assessment will be completed and arrangements for appropriate supervision be put in place for all children in care, but the extent of this risk assessment will vary from child to child.

Where the child is accommodated the parents will be expected to agree to co-operate with arrangements made for family time before agreement is reached to accommodate the child. In such cases the risk assessment may be restricted to consideration of the information gathered during planning for the proposed accommodation, discussion with the birth parents and carers and ascertaining the wishes of the child.

Where the child is in care, the arrangements for family time will have been considered and agreed by a Court.

All risk assessments and any arrangements for supervision must be recorded on the child's record.

There will be some children who establish their own family time arrangements with parents or others against the advice or wishes of Children's Services.

The child's Social Worker must, in such circumstances, remind the child  and their parents of the family time plan that has been agreed as part of their Care Plan. It should be made clear to the child that the Care Plan, including arrangements for family time, can only be changed at a statutory review.

The child must be reminded of their right to request a review of the Care Plan and if necessary the IRO must be contacted to arrange a review.

Where the child does not agree with the family time plan then the child's Social Worker must carry out a risk assessment which must be recorded on the  child's record.

Within this risk assessment, the Social Worker must seek to interview the person with whom the child has established family time with in breach of the family time plan. The Social Worker should explain what the agreed family time plan is and seek their cooperation with this.

On completion of the risk assessment the child's Social Worker must convene a meeting of relevant staff and carers to draw up a plan for managing any identified risk. This meeting must be chaired by the relevant Service/Team Manager.

Emergency Refusal of Family time for Children in Care.

For a child in care, a local authority can refuse to allow the usual reasonable family time or that which has been directed by a Court if:

• They are satisfied that it is necessary to protect the child from significant risk to their safety or welfare;
• The refusal is urgent and does not last more than seven days.

Refusal or restriction will only be considered in Hertfordshire if the responsible Service Manager is satisfied that such action is in the best interests of the child and only after legal advice has been sought.

The Service Manager must ensure that the evidence and reasons for reaching this decision are clearly recorded on the child's record and notified as below.

Where family time has been refused in this way, the following must be provided within 24 hours with written notification:

• The child (if of sufficient age and understanding);
• The child's parents or guardian;
• Anyone who immediately before the Care Order was made held a Residence Order/Child Arrangements Order or who had care by virtue of an order made under the High Court's inherent jurisdiction;
• Anyone else whose wishes and feelings the local authority consider relevant;
• The Child's Social Worker (as required by S9 of the FNMS 2011).

The notification must contain as much of the following information as the local authority believes these persons need to know:

• The decision and the date of the decision;
• The reasons for the decision;
• How long the restriction will last;
• How to challenge the decision.

Reasons for considering the restriction of family time will include:

• That the child is at physical risk from the person with whom family time is proposed to be restricted and there is no way of providing adequate protection for the child if family time takes place;
• The child is at risk of emotional harm;
• The child consistently refuses to see the parent, although the reasons for this should wherever possible be established before the restriction of family time;
• Family time is seriously undermining the foster/residential home.

In all children's records consideration must be given to other ways of overcoming the difficulties being presented before restricting family time. For example, could supervising family time, changing the venue for family time or changing the form of family time achieve the same result?

Restriction of family time with one person should not lead to an assumption that this will also be the child's record for others. The child may still benefit from safe family time with one parent even where family time has been restricted for the other parent.

If it appears that family time needs to be stopped for more than seven days, consideration must be given to an application for Permission to Refuse Family time under s34(4) of the Children Act 1989 and further legal advice sought. In this situation, the authority to proceed also needs to be obtained from the Service Manager.

Paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 of the 1989 Children Act gives local authorities the power to make payments in respect of travelling, subsistence or other expenses incurred by anyone visiting the child. Similar payments can also be made to the child or any person on behalf of the child to facilitate the child visiting relatives or friends.

The Local Authority will make such payments where it appears that the visit in question could not otherwise take place without undue financial hardship and the circumstances warrant the making of the payments.

The local authority will normally give assistance on the basis of part funding arrangements, rather than meeting all the costs.

Where appropriate, payment may be made in kind, for example by the provision of transport or travel warrants.

The details of such arrangement should be recorded in the Foster/residential home Plan and the Review Record.

Financial support will also be made available to carers where necessary in accordance with Hertfordshire's payment scheme for foster carers.

Children Schools and Families will provide help and support to carers in managing family time and any difficulties that may arise.

The role of the carer in supporting family time arrangements, including any arrangements for supervised family time, must be clearly recorded in the Foster/residential home Information Record.

The child's Social Worker, the Supervising Social Worker and the carers will also need to consider the following:

• What support do the carers need in accepting the plan for family time and who will provide this?
• What practical help do they need in order to manage family time?
• Is there adequate support outside of office hours?

While the child's Social Worker will be responsible for monitoring the family time plans, foster carers also have a significant role to play.

Even when family time takes place away from the foster home the carer will be the person best placed to judge the impact on the child. Children Specialist and Safeguarding Service therefore expect that carers record the outcome of family time arrangements and their perceived impact on the child. In accordance with S9 of the FNMS 2011 any significant reaction that the child has to family time must be communicated to the child's social worker.

When directly involved in family time carers should record as a minimum:

• How the child was before family time - were there any noticeable behavioural changes, concerns or feelings?
• Whether the family time went as planned, who was involved, timing, place and activities;
• What happened during family time - greetings, farewells, physical family time, behaviours, tasks, conversations, nonverbal communication, feelings, surprises;
• What happened after family time - child's behaviours and feelings;
• Areas of progress and areas of concern.

When not directly involved in family time carers should record:

• How the child was before family time - were there any noticeable behavioural changes, concerns or feelings?
• What happened after family time - child's behaviours and feelings;
• Areas of progress and areas of concern.

Carers may be asked to undertake and record specific tasks during family time and such expectations must be recorded in the Foster/residential home Plan.

Carers must ensure that they feed back the information they record to the child's Social Worker.

Arrangements for family time must be kept under review and not just as part of statutory child care reviews. Each family time episode must be routinely evaluated to check whether arrangements are working and continue to serve the best interests of the child.

Difficulties should be raised immediately by any of the parties involved and discussed openly as far as possible with all of the other interested parties.

If difficulties cannot be resolved and there is a need to significantly alter family time arrangements, a CLA review must be held and a new Care Plan and Foster/residential home Plan drawn up.

As a minimum, family time arrangements must be formally reviewed during each statutory review and if necessary, a new Care Plan and Foster/residential home Plan must be drawn up.

• Family time plans will be agreed and reviewed on an annual basis;
• Family time will be available 4 times a year and sessions will last 1.5 hours if taking place in the Community, subject to a risk assessment. Any requests for family time outside these guidelines will need to be approved by a Service Manager;
• Details of siblings and relatives attending family time need to be provided to the family time service in advance of the family time;
• Costs for activities for children whose family time takes place outside a family time centre will need to be funded by parents/family;
• The need for the child/young person to have a stable foster/residential home takes precedence over the need for family time. The social work team's assessment must conclude that this level of family time is in the child/young person's best interests and is not likely to disrupt his or her foster/residential home.