Supervised Family Time and the Hertfordshire Family Time Service

• Hertfordshire County Council will promote, encourage and facilitate family time between looked after children, their families of origin and others who have played an important part in their lives;
• Courts and Local Authorities must see family time as an integral part of the overall child care planning, review and safeguarding process;
• Within the care planning (see Care Planning Guidance) and review process, (see Looked After Reviews Procedure) family time arrangements must be explicit and also differentiate between family time which is working towards reunification and family time to maintain family links whilst working towards permanency elsewhere;
• Care planning will establish arrangements for family time, which meet the child's needs and promote their best interests;
• Where it is deemed necessary for family time to be supervised, the reason for supervision and the arrangements for recording and reporting of family time will be carefully considered and clearly recorded;
• Hertfordshire County Council will ensure that every effort is made for Children Looked After to maintain links with their family or origin, through face to face or alternative indirect ways where direct family time is not possible or appropriate.

• The primary purpose of all family time is to promote and maintain the relationship between the child and parent/relative whilst the child is placed with alternative carers;
• Supervised Family Time takes place when a child is Looked After / Accommodated or in Care Proceedings. A supervisor is present during the family time period between the child and parent(s) / relative;
• Supervised family time may take place: where the plan is for reunification, plan for permanency, care/adoption proceedings or sibling time;
• The Adoption and Children Act 2002 places a duty on Local Authorities to provide family time;
• The Children Act 1989 places a duty on Local Authorities, unless it is not reasonably practical or consistent with the child's welfare, to promote family time  between children who are looked after and their parents. The following factors will apply:
  • Provide a safe environment where family time can take place;
  • Provide an opportunity for observation of the family time between the child/parent/relative;
  • Contribute evidence and information to an overall assessment of the child/parent/relative relationship;
  • Provide a structured period of time for a specific activity or play opportunity between a parent/relative and child.

The Hertfordshire Family Time Service will only supervise family time for a child when this is court ordered or under specific circumstances for children accommodated under Section 20 within the levels set out below:

^{*See paragraph below regarding Supervised Contact and Attachment Considerations for Infants Looked After.}

Any requests for increased levels of family time within the court arena (length and or frequency) need to be robustly challenged. It is important to ensure that practitioners emphasise that all family time needs to be in the child's interests and promote as much stability as possible.

Higher levels of family time can undermine a placement. This can also prevent a child from settling and adapting to new routines and take advantage of new opportunities. For infants in particular, research suggests that supervised family time should not be in excess of 2 hours a day for more than 3 days a week. This is due to the complexities related to small children and developing attachment. Research has evidenced that in some cases supervised family time may become problematic; for instance, setting up too frequent sessions for infants who have only recently been placed with a foster carer and have not had time to bond with them or where family time is of poor quality (i.e. parents not turning up) which can cause further trauma and attachment issues. To read more about how frequent and poor quality family time may impact infants and small children, please see PGN entitled CS0500 Supervised Contact - Level of Contact for Infant.

However, if the court orders family time at levels above those recommended we are obligated to provide this. It is therefore important when recommending family time levels that the social worker clearly evidences the reasons for their proposals.

If there are 2 parents who require separate arrangements the guidance above applies to the child where this is felt to be in the child's interests.

• A referral form must be completed and sent via email or fax to Hertfordshire Family Time Service.
  
  Forms required:
  
  A Service Request Form (SRF) available on LCS, must be passed to the Brokerage Team who will pass the Request on the appropriate Family Time Team.

• The referral should detail the reason for supervised family time and frequency. Referrers may be contacted by Hertfordshire Family Time Service if further information is necessary;
• The form must explain in detail any risks that any parties involved in family time may present to the child or other children or to members of staff and detail a risk management plan. Family Time Supervisors sometimes work in isolation in the community and careful planning needs to be undertaken to safeguard them in their work and to safeguard other service users;
• Hertfordshire Contact Service requires 24 hours notice in order to arrange family time;
• Hertfordshire Contact Service will arrange supervised family time and send confirmation of contact to the referrer within 2 working days;
• If Hertfordshire Contact Service is unable to provide the service immediately the expectation will be that the area teams will provide cover for that contact in the interim. There may also be ad hoc and exceptional circumstances where the Contact Service commissions Manpower to supply contact supervisors;
• Supervised Family Time can be booked for up to 12 weeks only;
• Family Time arrangements will be reviewed at 12 weeks. Or when there is a significant change in circumstances (i.e change of address, frequency, attendees, etc). The review process will require the social worker, to submit an amended referral form Feedback and information from the child, parents and carers, family time reports, statutory reviews and assessments will be considered at the review;
• The outcome of the review will include decisions on options for supervising future family times i.e. family member, whether a Family Group Meeting should be held, to commission further supervised family time or to end supervised family time;
• Family Time sessions will be booked in 1½ hour slots or 2 hour slots for infants.

• Hertfordshire Contact Service will book family time venues if the family time is to be held within Hertfordshire. The referrer must provide information on the most suitable venue / area for family time  to take place so that the arrangements meet the needs of the child and family.

• Hertfordshire Family Time Service requires 24 hours notice from the allocated Social Worker/area team to cancel a family time arrangement and/or a room booking;
• The social worker will inform all parties of the cancellation;
• See also Section 9, Refusal or Suspension of Family Time.

• There will be no activities payments for activities e.g. McDonald's, cinema, bowling, swimming, theatre, picnics etc. made to family members. This must not be circumvented by teams under any circumstances;
• CSF will pay family time costs for parents who are in receipt of state benefits only (including NASS payments). Parents who are in employment will need to pay their own travel costs.
  
  CSF will pay public transport costs or petrol costs at 14p per mile only to parents in receipt of benefits and this will be paid via Central Placement Service (CPS) to ensure consistency.
  
  Long distance travel will be via coach. Hotel and subsistence costs for parents will not be payable except on severe hardship grounds, agreed in advance by CPS. Wherever possible, travel warrants will not be used and staff must contact CPS so the cheapest fares can be booked in advance.
  
  No taxis will be used to transport parents to and from family time except on medical/disability grounds on receipt of a letter from the parent's GP. Taxis, where needed, can only be arranged via CPS.
  
  Parents who are in employment will need to pay their own travel costs;
• Social Work Teams will arrange and fund travel warrants and taxis;
• Area Teams must not hire separate venues for contact but must book a space in one of the venues for all supervised contact outside the child's placement.

• Family time supervisors are required to complete full and clear reports. Family time reports will be attached to the child's record on LCS or emailed direct to the allocated social worker within 5 working days.

• The Children Act 1989 Section 34.4 provides for the Local Authority or the child to apply to the Family Proceedings Court for an order refusing family time with a child who is subject of a care order;
• There is also provision in the Children Act 1989 Section 34.6 for contact with a child subject to a care order to be suspended for 7 days where this action is urgently required to safeguard or promote the child's welfare;
• There may be occasions where family times have to be cancelled at short notice. Social workers have authority to cancel scheduled family time and Hertfordshire Family Time Service may cancel a family time following consultation with the allocated social worker/area team. The reason for the cancellation must be clearly documented in the child's record on LCS;
• As of December 2015, the Family Time Service is no longer required to complete an assessment on each occasion as to whether the presentation of the parent(s) suggests that they should be refused family time on the day and the reason for refusal must be clearly documented in the child's record on LCS to inform the allocated social worker / area team.

• Issues, complaints and compliments should be sent to Family Time Service managers.

• Hertfordshire County Council is committed to openness and equality, treating all children and families with dignity and respect. No child or family will be discriminated against because of their disability, colour, ethnic or national origins, race, gender, sexual orientation, and political or religious beliefs. Services will be developed to ensure that minority groups have equal access to services that promote children remaining in their families and which provide alternative care for those children who become looked after.