3.1.5 Threshold of Care Panel |
RELEVANT LEGISLATION
Section 20, Children Act 1989
RELATED CHAPTERS
Family and Friends Care Policy and Procedure
Decision to Look After and Care Planning Procedure
Where Care Proceedings are required, please refer to the Legal Planning Meetings and Court Proceedings Procedure.
AMENDMENT
Section 4, Convening a Threshold of Care Meeting was amended in February 2011 to include a reference to the need, usually, to hold a Family Group Conference before presenting a case to a Threshold of Care Meeting.
Contents
- Overview
- Underlying Principles
- Composition of the Threshold of Care Panel
- Convening a Threshold of Care Meeting
- Meeting Process
- Conduct of the Meeting
- Outcomes
- Decision Making Outside of the Panel Process
- Administrative Process
1. Overview
| 1.1 | Peterborough City Council is committed to ensuring that as many children and young people as possible live within with their families and their communities. The aim of this document is to provide a single framework within which Peterborough City Council will manage Threshold of Care Meetings. The purpose of the Thresholds of Care Meeting is to support families to remain together at points of difficulty or crisis. |
| 1.2 | There is a considerable body of research which shows that outcomes for children who live with their families, in terms of academic achievement, emotional resilience and economic wellbeing are better than those children who do not live with their families. |
| 1.3 | There will be a small number of children who are unable to live safely with their families and it is important that these children have the greatest possible placement choice. Having placement choice is a significant factor in children in care having the best possible chances. |
| 1.4 | Over 80% of children in care live with foster carers and this is regarded as a healthy position. However, there are also a significant number of children in care who live some distance from the City. These children are a particularly vulnerable group and may be at risk of doing less well than those children who are placed within Peterborough provisions. |
| 1.5 | It is important, therefore, that every alternative option is considered by social care staff and partners before a child is Accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. It is to support staff in this very difficult area that a Threshold of Care process has been established. |
2. Underlying Principles
| 2.1 | Wherever possible, children are best placed within their families or their communities. |
| 2.2 | Children's Social Care works with families, schools and communities to support and educate the children they care for. Children's Social Care's role is not to take responsibility but to support parents in exercising their Parental Responsibility and to help them develop resilience. |
| 2.3 | Outcomes for children in care are considerably poorer than outcomes for children who are cared for within their families. Therefore, children will only become Accommodated when every possible avenue to support them to living with their family or community has been explored and tested - see also Family and Friends Care Policy and Procedure. |
| 2.4 | Where the only course available to secure the child's welfare is that a child comes into care, they will do so for the shortest possible time to secure permanence and, during that time, they will receive the best possible support they need to maximise their life chances. |
3. Composition of the Threshold of Care Panel
| 3.1 | The composition of the Threshold of Care Panel will reflect the professional diversity of Children's Social Care. The Panel will meet weekly or as required. |
| 3.2 | The Panel will be chaired by a Service Manager from the Children's Social Care Management Team. |
| 3.3 | Invitations will go to any Children's Social Care staff and partner agencies believed to be relevant to contributing to knowledge of the child being considered and to provide appropriate support. These may include, dependent on age, existing needs and circumstances of the child:-
(This list is not exhaustive) N.B. Breakdown in education placement is often a key factor in family breakdown. Attendance by the appropriate representative from Learning and Standards at Threshold of Care Panel meetings is essential where education issues may be concerned. |
| 3.4 | All those attending the meeting must have the authority to offer the services of their team to the child, if this is appropriate. |
| 3.5 | Children's Social Care is committed to releasing these managers to attend Threshold of Care Meetings; therefore it is expected that managers give this meeting absolute priority wherever possible. |
| 3.6 | A meeting is quorate with four members, including the Chair. |
| 3.7 | A minute taker will also attend the meeting. |
4. Convening a Threshold of Care Meeting
| 4.1 | Where a family is in touch with Children's Social Care, following an Initial Assessment, it is the responsibility of team managers to offer services and resources to a Child in Need. These services should be provided before any Threshold of Care Panel is convened unless it is felt by a team manager that Section 20 Accommodation may be required because the Child in Need Plan is unsuccessful, or that a Threshold of Care Panel is requested by the child or their family. Only then can the convening of a Threshold of Care Panel be considered. |
| 4.2 | The Service Manager for the child and the Service Manager, Access to Resources must be informed in all cases when a Threshold of Care Panel is being convened. |
| 4.3 | A child's case will not be presented to a Threshold of Care Meeting unless a Family Group Conference has first taken place, unless there are exceptional circumstances and the Service Manager's approval has been obtained. Referrals for a Family Group Conference will be given priority where a child is on the edge of care - see Practice Standards for Family Group Conferences Procedure. |
| 4.5 | There will be a weekly Threshold of Care Panel meeting. Each member will require, as a minimum, a copy of an Initial Assessment, and/or a Core Assessment, completed in line with the Assessment Framework and signed off by a line manager. The assessment will have been completed within one month before the presentation to the Panel and, if not, a recent update must be produced. The Panel will not be able to consider cases unless the assessment has been received two working days prior to the Panel meeting or the situation is so exceptional that these time scales cannot be met. |
| 4.6 | Assessments will include an analysis of the problem and will not simply be a description of the issue. Should the assessment not contain an analysis, the case will not be able to be considered by the Panel. |
| 4.7 | It is expected that the child's parents/carers will attend the Panel meeting. Every effort should be made to support parents to attend this meeting. Where appropriate, the child should also attend the meeting and be appropriately supported to do so. Other significant family members or others who may be able to contribute to the plan for the child should attend at the discretion of the Chair. |
| 4.8 | The child's social worker will attend the meeting. |
5. Meeting Process
| 5.1 | The purpose of the Panel meeting is to achieve a good understanding of the issues involved and to determine creative solutions to them. |
| 5.2 | The child's social worker will present the case and the Chair will ensure that all parties, including the family, have the opportunity to express their views and offer solutions to the issues being considered. The case will be discussed and options considered. |
| 5.3 | The discussion should focus on the analysis of the child's needs in the context of the history, behaviour patterns, triggers and risk, together with an analysis of the impact on the family and the support needed. |
| 5.4 | Whilst the history of the current situation is important, the discussion should avoid concentrating on narrative at the expense of analysis. The Panel Chair has a crucial role in ensuring that all key issues are given appropriate focus and that due weight is given to professional's views when considering decisions and outcomes. Professionals should engage in problem solving and creative thinking rather than defending existing positions. |
| 5.5 | It is the role of the Panel Chair to sum up the decision of the Panel and to advise the parents/carers at the end of the meeting of the outcome. Only the chair of the Threshold of Care Panel, at the meeting, can take the decision that a child should be Accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. This will only be the case when the child's needs cannot be met in any other way. A child will be accommodated for the shortest possible period. The period of accommodation will be determined by the Chair. |
| 5.6 | The meeting will establish a Care Plan if the child is to be accommodated which must include an exit plan. All contributors must be signed up to delivery of the plan within agreed timescales and subject to review. See Decision to Look After and Care Planning Procedure and Care Plan Guidance. |
6. Conduct of the Meeting
| 6.1 | At all times, those present should be treated with respect and have the opportunity to express their views themselves. |
| 6.2 | Should, during the course of the meeting, concerns arise about the process, or the conduct of a case; it will not be discussed within the meeting. |
| 6.3 | Any such concerns should be raised outside the meeting with the person involved or their line manager. |
| 6.4 | The meeting will at all times seek to find local solutions to problems and will engage all parts of Children's Social Care in finding solutions to issues raised. |
7. Outcomes
| 7.1 | If the child is not to be Accommodated, the Panel will devise a Child in Need Plan or review the current Child in Need Plan. Should the plan require funding, this will be recorded separately. |
| 7.2 | If a child is to be Accommodated, this will be contingent upon placement availability and should be a planned admission wherever possible. |
| 7.3 | Overall, the outcome from the meeting should be a clear Child in Need Plan to support the family which offers a range of wraparound support and shares responsibility with the child's social worker for supporting the plan for the family. |
| 7.4 | The Child in Need Plan will be circulated to all those attending and to the Access to Resources Team and fieldwork service managers within 10 working days of the Panel meeting. |
8. Decision Making Outside of the Panel Process
| 8.1 | There may be some circumstances in which decisions regarding accommodation of young people are required outside of the Panel process. These circumstances will be deemed exceptional. |
| 8.2 | Staff should be aware that the decision making process in regard to Section 20 accommodation must be progressed through the Panel Chair. However, if a written/verbal risk assessment presented to a Service Manager indicates that a situation is so serious that urgent action (including accommodation) is required, a placement may be made. Whenever possible, this should be progressed in a planned way. Where Care Proceedings are required, please refer to the Legal Planning Meetings and Court Proceedings Procedure. |
| 8.3 | Accommodation can only be agreed until the date of the next available Threshold of Care Panel. In such circumstances, the details of any placement request should be e-mailed to the Access to Resources Team immediately. |
| 8.4 | The circumstances where such emergency action is necessary will be rare, and one or more of the following criteria need to be met
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9. Administrative Process
| 9.1 | The secretary to the Service Manager, Access to Resources will act as an administrator to the Panel. This role will include booking Panel slots, collation and distribution of case papers and taking and circulating minutes of each meeting. |
| 9.2 | The Panel administrator must receive papers at least two working days prior to the Panel, to allow Panel members sufficient time to read the reports. Papers which are received after that time will be considered at the next Panel. |
| 9.3 | Data on the activity levels and outcomes of the Threshold of Care Panel meetings will be passed for collation to the Access to Resources Team on the last Thursday of each month. The Service Manager, Access to Resources will produce a synopsis which will detail how many cases have been considered in the previous month and what the outcome of each meeting was, i.e. to support within the family/community, or to accommodate. Where expenditure was incurred to support a child to remain within his/her family or community, that expenditure must be included in the data and detailed as a monthly cost by child until the expenditure ceases. |
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