Placement Planning, Foster Home Stability and Disruption Meetings
Amendment
In June 2025, this chapter was reviewed and updated in line with local procedure and should be re-read.
Placement Planning meetings should be convened as part of the process of identifying and placing a child - as set out in the Placements in Foster Care Procedure and the Placements in Residential Care Procedure. The first Placement Planning Meeting in relation to a placement should be held before the placement. Where this is not possible because of the urgency of the situation, it should be held in order that the Placement Plan is prepared within 5 working days of the start of the placement.
Further Placement Planning Meetings should be held at intervals agreed with the manager of the residential home or the foster carers and their supervising social worker - or as required for example where there are issues to be resolved in relation to the day to day arrangements for the placement.
The social worker and home manager/foster carers supervising social worker will agree the best format and venue for the meeting. The placement planning meeting ordinarily will be chaired and recorded by the child’s social worker; supported by the home manager/foster carers supervising social worker as required; although the supervising social worker or home manager can chair if this is agreed beforehand.
The people listed below should attend or contribute to the meetings:
- The child's social worker and/or other professional associated with the child e.g. Leaving Care Worker or advocate;
- The child;
- The child's parents;
- For children in residential care, the child's link worker/keyworker and, where appropriate the home manager;
- For children in foster care, the foster carers and their supervising social worker.
Before any meeting, the child’s social worker should obtain or be updated on the following, if available:
- The Care Plan;
- Any work which has been undertaken in supporting the child's placement;
- If relevant: the child's Personal Education Plan and Pathway Plan;
- Arrangements for the storage of the child’s personal items; if agreement is in place.
Where the proposed placement has the effect of disrupting the arrangements made for the child's education and training - see Supporting the Education and Promoting the Achievement of Children with a Social Worker, Looked After and Previously Looked After Children Procedure.
The chair should also ensure that the child, parent(s) and others who have been asked to contribute understand the purpose of the meeting, how it will be conducted and are given the opportunity to put forward their views and suggestions.
The chair should ensure that the carer has copies of all the information that they require to enable them to care for the child safely. The carer must also have a signed medical consent, authorising them by name to seek medical treatment for the child as required, and a placement agreement signed by the parent or person with parental responsibility. A carer held file must be provided to the carer to store all the relevant documentation, consents and appointments and running records in for the child.
If children are not settling into their placement, or if there are concerns about the suitability of the placement, consideration should be given to the following:
- Whether it is possible to sustain the placement until the next Looked After Review by, for example, providing additional support to the placement;
- Bringing forward the date of the next Looked After Review;
- Ending the placement.
A stability meeting is an early intervention mechanism designed to act on concerns of social workers before a care arrangement breaks down in order to remedy the situation and resolve problems in the interests of the child. Social workers should follow the procedure if they identify any sign of difficulty affecting the child, carer or agency which could in the future lead to disruption.
A disruption meeting is a review meeting called after a foster home has broken down to review the situation, learn and re-establish stability in the previous foster home or identify the need for a new foster home, see Section 3, Disruption Meetings.
The first stage of the process aims to intervene early to prevent a disruption by instigating a stability meeting.
A Foster Home Stability Meeting will be called when a care arrangement is considered to be at risk of disrupting. This could be if:
- Concern is raised through the child's or foster carer's review process;
- Where an allegation or complaint has been made;
- The child or young person is absconding or being absent from care on a regular basis;
- The relationship between the child and foster carer gives cause for concern to the stability of care;
- The child or young person has made it known that they do not wish to live in the care arrangement any longer;
- The foster carers have expressed concerns that they are experiencing difficulties or that they feel they can no longer care for the child or young person;
- The child or young person's social worker or other professionals raise cause for concern that the care arrangement does not meet the needs of the child or young person;
- Where it appears that there are challenges or instability every effort will be made to resolve the presenting difficulties. This will be in the form of added support to address the issues of concern. In many cases, this will be sufficient to resolve the concerns.
It will always be the aim of the "in house" fostering service and agency fostering providers in conjunction with the child's social work team, to make every effort to prevent disruption for the child.
In some circumstances it may be appropriate for a corporate parenting discussion to take place prior to the Foster Home Stability Meeting. This would involve the child’s Social Worker, Supervising Social Worker, IRO and Team Managers and would consider the care plan for the child and any matters that need to be discussed at the Foster Home Stability Meeting.
Where there are any concerns regarding the stability of a Foster Home, a request for a Foster Home Stability Meeting should be sent to the Supervising Social and Fostering Team Manager via email. It is the Supervising Social Worker’s responsibility to organise the meeting.
The meeting should be arranged on the earliest available date; but within a week of concerns arising and be ordinarily chaired by the Fostering Team Manager (where this is not appropriate / possible the chair should be agreed before the meeting). Where there is an urgent situation arising, the meeting should be convened on the same day.
The stability meeting should be attended by some or all professionals closely associated with the care of the child/young person e.g. child/young person; child's social worker; Social work manager or Practice Supervisor; Foster carer(s); Supervising Social Worker; Fostering Team Manager; IRO; School; Virtual School, CAMHS (or similar, where applicable); Advocate for the Young person (where appropriate); any other relevant professionals.
This meeting will consider the influencing factors that could in the future result in the disruption of care. The child's Social Worker and the Supervising Social Worker should prepare and make any notes which may assist discussion at the meeting:
- To gain an understanding of the quality of the child/foster carer relationship;
- To identify the areas of difficulty;
- To consider how best to support the child and foster carers to prevent breakdown;
- To decide if continuing the care arrangement is considered to be in the best interests of the child.
Minutes should be taken so that an effective chronology can be formulated and reviewed.
The minutes will be recorded on the Safety and Wellbeing Grid and will capture;
- What’s working well;
- What are we worried about;
- What would ‘good’ look like;
- What needs to happen;
- Impact statement.
Foster carers will be invited to share their views and experiences; as this will be key in understanding any challenges and highlighting any support required. It is suggested that through discussion; the following matters will be covered:
- Introduction and explanation of the purpose of the meeting;
- General background, considering; Family Background (summary); Reasons for being Looked After; Assessment of Needs; Care Plan; Care History;
- History of current fostering arrangement, foster family dynamics and any other contributing factors;
- Skills and experience of the foster carers to meet the child’s needs;
- What support is needed to maintain the foster home;
- Events/Factors which may impact on stability;
- What has been done up to now to support the child and/or foster carers and prevent breakdown?
- What can be done to support the child and/or foster carers and prevent breakdown?
- Does the focus of social work intervention need changing or clarifying? Do visit patterns need to be increased? Does short break care need to be considered?
- What other forms of intervention might help e.g. solution focused, therapeutic intervention, foster carer mentor, Stronger Families team, educational intervention?
During the meeting, care should be taken to ensure the child/young person's views are represented and taken account of.
Details of planning, meeting minutes and decisions will be placed on the child's and the foster carer's files. The meeting should result in a documented course of action detailing next steps and the persons responsible for undertaking actions. All actions should be completed in a timely manner and consideration for further Foster Home Stability Meetings to monitor and review progress will be made.
If support needs are identified in relation to the foster carers:
- A structured support plan of work to improve this situation will be formulated, along with any appropriate training and supervision provision. Any issues of concern will be presented as part of the foster carer's annual review. The supervising social worker will write this plan and circulate it.
An example of a Foster Carer Support Plan can be accessed here.
Prior to any decision being made regarding alternative care arrangements being organised for the child(ren), the actions identified at the Foster Home Stability Meeting will need to be completed; allowing time to effect change and interventions to be implemented.
Consideration should always be given to convening a Disruption Meeting in relation to children whose placement has ended abruptly or on an unplanned basis. Consideration of whether a meeting is required should include the child's social worker, their team manager and the IRO. Generally, Disruption Meetings will not be held when the placement is of less than 6 months duration. Disruptions in placements of less than 6 months should be covered in the annual review. It is imperative that the supervising social worker seeks the views of the child's social worker when these placements end so that their views can be included in the annual review consideration. Any Disruption Meeting should be convened within 4 weeks of the child moving.
The purpose of a disruption meeting is not to apportion blame but to consider the events that led to the disruption, plan for the child and reflect on any learning for the Department. Concerns about foster carers should be managed separately through the review system. When endings are unplanned, the welfare and well-being of children remain paramount. The needs and feelings of other children living in a foster/residential home will also be taken into account.
For children whose adoptive placement disrupts, a Disruption Meeting must take place - see Disruption of Adoptive Placements Procedure.
An "offline" manager (i.e. not the line manager with responsibility for the child) will usually chair the meeting. This will generally be the fostering manager, although there may be occasions where there are complex or specific circumstances which require an independent person to chair. This decision will be made by a Head of Service (Localities or Children in Care Division).
Those invited, or asked to contribute, should be:
- The child;
- The parents;
- The child's social worker and manager;
- The link worker/keyworker (for residential care) and home manager;
- The foster carer(s) and supervising social worker;
- The foster carer's children;
- The child's Independent Reviewing Officer;
- The child's advocate if relevant;
- The supervising social worker for the child's current carers;
- Other relevant staff/professionals.
This list is not prescriptive, nor is it limited to the people listed above. It is most likely that the views of the child and their parents will be sought prior to the meeting but not that they would attend. All participants could attend part of the meeting if that makes the meeting run more smoothly. Any of the above may want to contribute in writing, as may the current carers of the child, to assist the discussion.
The meeting will ensure the child (depending on their age and level of understanding) is given the opportunity to understand the reasons and be supported with transition - including return home and independence.
Foster carers must be supported to maintain links with children who leave their care.
The precise agenda will depend on the child/circumstances, but the chairperson should ensure the circumstances leading to the disruption are properly reviewed, and that all concerned are provided with opportunities to express their views freely with a view to establishing:
- How and why the emergency/disruption occurred;
- To learn from what happened and avoid the same thing happening again - for the child or others in the placement;
- To contribute to the future planning for the child;
- To identify work to be done and to ensure it is completed;
- To ensure that appropriate notifications and other post placement arrangements have been undertaken.
An example of a disruption meeting template can be found here.
The chairperson should keep minutes, which must be circulated to all concerned. These will be shared at the fostering managers' meeting for learning points to be discussed. An annual report on disruptions will be prepared and shared with the fostering panel and relevant managers.
In relation to the disruption of an external residential placement, consideration needs to be given to further use of the resource by the authority.
In relation to the disruption of a permanent foster placement, where the foster carers are in-house approved carers, consideration should be given to holding an early Foster Carer Review to consider the foster carer's approval - see Review and Termination of Approval of Foster Carers Procedure.
Last Updated: June 12, 2025
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