This chapter has been updated.

This chapter has been updated to reflect Keeping Children Safe in Education 2019 which replaces the 2018 version. Section 8, Safeguarding the Looked After Child at School has been amended to include reference to Upskirting (which is now a criminal offence) and serious violence.

This chapter has been updated in line with the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and revised statutory guidance.

These changes relate to the status of 'previously looked after children'. A previously Looked After Child is one who is no longer looked after in England and Wales because they are the subject of an Adoption, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person, or has been adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales.

This chapter has been updated to reflect amendments made by the Children and Social Work Act 2017.

These changes include the status of 'previously looked after children' i.e. a previously looked-after child is one who is no longer looked after in England and Wales because they are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person, or has been adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales. The chapter includes a new Section 15, Mental Health and a new Section 8, Safeguarding the Looked After Child at School.

This chapter has been updated and amendments have been made in:

• Section 3, Leaving Care Assessment of Need - in relation to children who are victims of trafficking or unaccompanied asylum seeking children;
• Section 5, Reviews of Pathway Plans - in relation to Relevant/Former Relevant young people moving to 'unregulated' accommodation; and
• Section 6, Personal Advisers - in relation to frequency of visits by Personal Advisers where the young person is placed in unregulated accommodation.

This chapter has been significantly updated to provide more specific guidance around this key process, including:

• Convening Legal Planning Meetings;
• Outcomes of Legal Planning Meetings and Issuing of Proceedings.

Section 1.2, Assessment and Checks before Placement has been updated to include examination of the circumstances of the child becoming subject of a Care Order and identifying what has changed within the home environment. Also, to acknowledge that placing should ensure therapy has been undertaken, or will be undertaken as part of the package of support, where required (see Section 1.2, Assessment and Checks before Placement).

• To add clarification in relation to Qualifying Young People (see Definitions);
• To reflect the Children and Social Work Act 2017;
• To acknowledge the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

• Merton Well Being Model;
• Early Help Guide for Practitioners;
• Children Subject to Child Protection Plans Who Become Looked After Children - Process Flowchart;
• Merton Guidance on Adoption Allowances and Support;
• Guidance on Special Guardianship Allowances and Support;
• Guidance on Child Arrangements and Allowances and Support;
• Guidance on Overpayment of Adoption/Special Guardianship and Child Arrangements Order Allowances;
• Merton's Practice Standards;
• Observation of Practice Model Guidance;
• Social Worker Supervision: Information and Guidance;
• Education Health and Care Assessment Framework;
• Direct Payments;
• Short Breaks;
• Transport for Students with a Special Educational Need or Disability;
• Teenage Pregnancy;
• Substance Misuse;
• Mental Health and Self Harm;
• Physical Contact and Physical Intervention in the Management of Children and Young People;
• The Outdoor Education Handbook: 'There and Back Again';
• Public Law Outline Guidance for Practitioners;
• Residential Placements Contracts Monitoring;
• Children's Quality and Practice Development: Dispute Resolution Protocol;
• London Borough of Merton Guidance on Pocket Money and Savings;
• Questions to be Considered when Making Decisions about Newborn Babies and Infant Contact;
• Financial Arrangements for Care Leavers;
• Foster Carers' Charter;
• Child Appreciation Days;
• Fostering Payment Scheme.

A link to 'Child car seats: the law' has been added in the Relevant Guidance. The rules have changed around booster seats and babies who now need to stay in rear facing seats until 15 months. (There has been a change to the technical standards of booster seats and cushions for manufacturers but this does not affect existing models of booster seats and cushions).

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 has been referenced in relation to age assessments: Section 2.3, Children Who Are Age Disputed and Age Assessments has been updated with regards to undertaking an age assessment for an unaccompanied asylum seeking child - local authorities must seek Home Office assistance with verifying the authenticity of identity documents e.g. travel documents or a birth certificate. A link to the relevant contact details for local authorities has been added.

This chapter has been reviewed and updated to add a section on Young People Remanded to Youth Detention Accommodation. The Personal Education Plan has been fully revised, and a number of additions to the content of other sections:

• Who Do we Work With - includes Schools, Early Years Settings, Academies, Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Education Providers. The Virtual School also supports young people at college and university;
• The Personal Education Care Plan (PEP) - The Personal Education Plan should be initiated as part of the Care Planning process before a child becomes Looked After and no later than 10 working days after a child comes into care. In the case of an emergency placement, the PEP should be made available for the child's Looked After Review;
• The First Personal Education Plan - Where a child has a fixed term exclusion from school, the Head Teacher (or other senior school representative) should also be invited to the meeting. The PEP cannot proceed if there is no representation from the school where the child or young person is on-roll;
• When a Child is Absent from School - Where attendance falls below the 90% threshold, the Looked After Child is identified and tracked through the LAC Concern Process and an attendance plan developed if necessary.

This chapter has been reviewed and comprehensively amended to reflect the 'Children and Social Work Act 2017' and update the financial entitlements of the young person and staying put carer as well as current Departmental terminology. In particular, please re-reference sections:

• 'Where No Foster Children Are Living in the Staying Put Arrangement' (in Section 4, Legal Status and Safeguarding);
• Section 5, Financial Arrangements.

This chapter has been significantly updated throughout to add two new sections, Parenthood (Mothers aged under 16) and Parenthood (Mothers aged over 16), as well as links to: 'London Borough of Merton Referral Pathway for Pregnant Teenagers and Teenage Parents Aged 19 and Under'; 'Supporting Pregnant Teenagers and Young Parents in Education - Guidance for Education Settings' and 'Getting It On' (see Relevant Links).

• Young People's Participation, Reward and Recognition;
• Initial Contacts and Referrals;
• MASH Management Polices and Procedure.

This chapter has been fully and comprehensively amended to reflect local procedures for Merton, including the relationship with the Home Office and the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC), together with its role within London Borough Councils in managing young people from abroad, etc. The chapter recognizes the issues with respect to age assessments of some applicants and the requirements for these to be 'Merton Compliant'.

This chapter has been updated in line with current local issues and to acknowledge that young people of 16 yrs plus will have their care planning arrangements enshrined in their Pathway Plan (see Section 2, The Personal Education Plan (PEP)).

A number of new forms and templates have been added into the Library:

Children Missing from Home, Care or Education:

• Missing Return Home Interview Questionnaire;

• Missing Child Alert and Risk Assessment Record;
• Social Care Pre Incident Risk Assessment.

Private Fostering:

• Initial Record of Private Fostering Referral.

Care and Supervision Proceedings and the Public Law Outline

• Local authority social work evidence template (SWET);
• Local authority social work evidence template (Updating statement - general);
• Local authority social work evidence template - general;
• Merton Initial (Viability) Assessment Tool.

Quality Assurance Framework

• Appendix 2: Case File Audit Form;
• Appendix 3: Children's Feedback Form;
• Appendix 4: Parent/carer Feedback Form;
• Appendix 6A: Learning from Practice Template for Use with Social Workers / Practitioners;
• Appendix 6B: Observation Template.

The following new keywords have been added:

• Child Trafficking Advocate;
• Slavery and Trafficking \prevention Order;
• Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order.

The Life Appreciation Day is primarily for the child's adoptive parents/new carers with the purpose of bringing together the story of the child's life. It helps those attending to fully appreciate the child's life in a way that cannot be done just by reading reports and talking with individuals.

This chapter seeks to deal with placement of a child with carers who are dually approved, i.e. approved both as prospective adopters and as local authority foster carers and the understanding of concurrent planning for early placement of children within legal proceedings.

This chapter has been renewed and updated to add new sections in Section 2, Flexible Powers of The Court; Section 4, Allocation; Section 5, The Timetable for the Child and the Timetable for Proceedings; and 'International Instruments' (see Section 7, Interpretation).

This chapter has been extensively updated throughout. Two new sections have been added: Section 2.1, Duties of an Advocate and Section 3, Guidance about Children and Young People making a Complaint. Significant additions have also been made to Section 4: 4.1, When to Appoint and Section 4.2, Duties of an Independent Visitor).

This new facility has been introduced into the manual and enables (identified) Merton staff to manage its content, i.e. to include, exchange and delete relevant letters and forms etc.

Currently, it contains a range of Forms/letters relating to Adoption, Special Guardianship and Child Arrangements Orders.

One of four new chapters in a newly created section of the manual dealing with financial support entitlements: this chapter focuses on what adopters might be entitled to. The chapter details the criteria and procedure.

One of four new chapters in a newly created section of the manual dealing with financial support entitlements: this chapter focuses on what those who are Special Guardians might be entitled to. The chapter details the criteria and procedure.

One of four new chapters in a newly created section of the manual dealing with financial support entitlements: this chapter focuses on what those who have Child Arrangements Orders might be entitled to. The chapter details the criteria and procedure.

This chapter details the importance of the Chronology in identifying patterns of behaviour and actions for a child or family, and therefore highlights both issues of concern and strengths. It is clear that chronologies are not a substitute for case recording, but key events are acknowledged that should be included in a chronology.

This chapter has been updated to highlight that placements will be sought that have a 'good' or higher Ofsted rating. However, where this cannot be achieved, the Ofsted action plan of the Placement/resource must be carefully considered and presented to the Assistant Director for final consideration and agreement of the placement (see Section 3, Placement Considerations).

This chapter has been updated by adding links to 'DfE, Working with foreign authorities: child protection cases and care orders - Departmental authorities, social workers, service managers and children's services lawyers (2014)' and 'The International Child Abduction and Contact Unit' (see Section 7, Specific Types of Situations to Consider when Completing Assessments).

This chapter has been updated in line with 'Looked-after Children: Contact with Siblings - Update to Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations - Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review'. Additional information has been added in to Section 1.4, Actions required after a Decision to Look After is made - in relation to sibling placement.

This chapter has been updated by adding a link to the 'DfE Advice for parents and carers about cyberbullying, (2014)'.

In Section 8, Sexual Exploitation, a note has been added in respect of the impact on the Serious Crime Act (2015): there is an offence of 'sexual communication' with a child.

• There and Back Again - The Outdoor Education Handbook;
• Merton Anti Bullying Strategy.

This chapter has been updated in line with the Children and Families Act 2014. Additional information has been added in new Section 1, The Virtual School Roles and Responsibilities on the requirement for local authorities to appoint an officer to promote the educational achievement of Looked After children Types sometimes referred to as a 'Virtual School Head'. There is also recognition that the 'Statement of Education Need' has become the Education, Health and Care Plan. Additionally it is noted that Merton has an Action Plan for extending PEPs to early years and young people 16 plus years.

Three new sections have been added: Section 13, Children and Young People with Medical Conditions; Section 14, Training for those Involved in the Care and Education of Looked After Children and Section 15, Information Sharing.

Please note this most update version of this chapter and fully re-read.

Supervision is recognised to be a key aspect of providing a skilled, confident and knowledgeable staff group, able to provide a service that is fit for purpose.