Chapter contents
The Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)
Care Plans
What is a care plan?
Every looked after child has a care plan that should ideally be prepared by the child’s social worker before the child goes into care and no later than 10 days after the first care placement starts. It is the child’s main plan that outlines their needs and how these needs will be met now and in the future. It brings together other plans including the health plan and the education plan, and should explain different people’s responsibilities and tasks, in the context of shared parenting between birth parents, the child’s foster parents and the corporate parents (i.e. the responsible local authority).
The care plan includes permanence planning. This is the long-term plan for the child’s care and might involve a return to live with a family member, long-term foster care or adoption. The permanence plan, including timescales, should be in place by the second case review.
The care plan should record the views of the child and other relevant people about the arrangements for the child. It is monitored and updated regularly (see case reviews). It is the responsibility of the child’s social worker to update the child/young person’s assessed needs prior to every case review.
When the young person reaches 16, the Pathway Plan replaces part 2 of the care plan. This focuses on the development of life skills for adulthood.
Contents of a care plan
The required elements that go to make up a care plan include:
- A summary of the child/young person’s assessed needs and arrangements to meet their needs;
- The arrangements for contact;
- The placement plan;
- The health plan;
- The personal education plan (PEP);
- A plan for permanence by the time of the second review;
- The name of the child’s independent reviewing officer.
Read The Young Person’s Guide to the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010
Case Reviews (aka LAC Review)
What is the purpose of the looked after child’s case review?
The case review usually involves a meeting chaired by the child’s IRO and involving the young person, foster parent, the child’s social worker and a representative from ISP. A health or education professional might also attend, as might the child’s parents.
Case reviews are regular meetings to consider how far the care plan is meeting the child’s needs, and whether any changes are needed. The focus of the first case review meeting will be to consider and agree the plan. After that, case reviews will be for monitoring progress and making decisions to amend the plan as necessary, to reflect new information and changed circumstances. Review meetings can involve discussion of many issues, including but not limited to:
- Any changes since the last review.
- The child’s general wellbeing.
- The child’s wishes and feelings.
- How educational needs are being met.
- The child’s physical and emotional health.
- How contact with birth family members is going.
The independent reviewing officer (IRO) will chair the meeting and report on the decisions and actions. In addition, the IRO will give named people responsibility for carrying out each action within an agreed timescales.
If the young person does not agree with a decision that has been made about their care or future plans they can challenge the decision. Their local authority will have a complaints procedure and they can ask for an advocate to help them if needed. See chapter 7 or our Children’s Guides page for more information on advocacy.
The IRO is under a duty to advise the child of their right to make a complaint and of the availability of an advocate to assist the child in making a complaint.
Timing of case reviews
The minimum frequency for case reviews is:
First Review – within 20 working days of child becoming looked after
Second Review – within three months of the first review
Subsequent Reviews – not more than six months after any previous review
Government regulations in 2015 allowed for the IRO to make a decision to review the young person’s care plan without a meeting taking place, if everyone, including the young person, agrees. However, a meeting must take place at least once a year.
Reviews can take place more often if.:
- The IRO requests it;
- The child requests it and the IRO agrees;
- There are any safeguarding concerns relating to the child;
- The child has had placement breakdowns or is frequently absent from the placement.
Preparation for looked after child case review meetings
The case review is the child’s meeting and it should therefore be held at a time and place where the child feels relaxed and comfortable. The meeting should not negatively impact the child’s school life or social activities. Often, the meetings are held at the foster home, but this might not be appropriate if the child’s parents attend. ISP can often host the case review at our offices.
Only those people working closely with the child should be invited to the meeting. When a permanence plan is in place the attendees would usually be limited to the IRO, social worker, child, parents, you and a representative from ISP (usually your supervising social worker).
The child’s social worker will send out consultation papers in advance of the meeting to you, the child and his parents or anyone else with parental responsibility. ISP will also prepare papers for the review that provide information about the child’s current situation and wellbeing.
The IRO will talk to the child in private before the case review meeting about the matters to be discussed, unless the child refuses, or the IRO considers it to not be appropriate. The IRO will take into account the child’s age and level of understanding.
The Child’s Social Worker
What are the responsibilities of the child’s social worker?
Every looked after child has an allocated social worker, whose job is to:
- Prepare the care plan/pathway plan, in consultation with the child, the birth family, the foster carer and any other relevant agencies
- Review the plan and make sure that the decisions of case reviews are being followed.
- Provide advice, support and assistance to the child, appropriate to their age and understanding
- Provide advice and assistance to the foster carer, in partnership with the ISP supervising social worker
- Monitor the child’s welfare in their placement. The social worker visits the child on a regular basis as part of this monitoring role
Social Worker visits
The care planning regulations state that social workers should visit children:
- Within one week of the start of any placement
- Thereafter, not less frequently than every six weeks
- With the child’s agreement, visits can be six-monthly if they have been placed for permanence.
These are minimum visiting requirements, and some children might need more frequent visits. The social worker should agree with you the frequency and time of visits so that they don’t clash with the child’s regular activities and so you can make any necessary changes to family routines.
The child’s social worker must make sure that the child or young person is being well looked after. They will usually see the child alone, unless the child refuses or it is not appropriate due to the child’s age and level of understanding. They will also ask to see the child’s bedroom. The social worker might wish to take the child out when they visit and this can help to strengthen the child’s relationship with their social worker and create a more relaxed atmosphere.
If a child has a disability or needs specialist communication support, the child’s social worker is expected to make the necessary arrangements for the child to express their wishes and feelings.
Social worker visits are a chance to share the child’s recent achievements and progress, as well as discuss any problems. The social worker might also share with the child any news from their parents and/or siblings. The social worker should check with the child, in accordance with their age and understanding, what information they are happy to be shared in return, and with whom.
The Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)
Role and responsibilities of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)
There are two clear and separate aspects to the role of the IRO:
- Chairing the child’s case review; and
- Monitoring the child’s case on an ongoing basis, including whenever any safeguarding issues arise.
The responsibilities of the IRO include:
- Ensuring that care plans and pathway plans are based on a detailed and informed assessment, are up to date, and provide an effective response to each child’s needs.
- Identifying any gaps in the assessment process or provision of service.
- Offering a safeguard to prevent any ‘drift’ in care planning and the delivery of services.
- Ensuring that care plans give proper consideration and weight to the child’s views, wishes and feelings and that the child fully understands the implications of any changes to their care plan.
- Making sure that the child understands their entitlement to an advocate, and how how an advocate could help them.
- Taking formal action through the local authority’s procedures, where problems with care planning and implementation cannot be resolved informally.
If you are concerned about the child’s care plan, you can raise this with the child’s IRO. However, you should discuss the issue with your supervising social worker before you do so, because they will try to resolve the problem with the child’s social worker and managers first.
