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Annex 1
Information required for an Emergency Placement
The child and his/her needs
Child's name, date of birth, address before placement,
Names of his/her parents, their addresses and dates of birth, with phone contact number
Legal status of child, any responsibilities allocated to the local authority for the child
Who has the right to contact/ care for the child?
Child's social worker - name and address and phone number
Child's nationality, race, religion and language
Other members of the child's immediate family /siblings and where they are living
Initial health information and history- any known current conditions- asthma, epilepsy, allergies, food restrictions or dietary arrangements
Child's education position- current school attended
Child's view where appropriate to age and understanding
Why is care away from parents needed?
Are the parents agreeing to placement with kinship carers?
If not, what is the legal basis for placing the child?
Disclosure check on all adult members of the household - initially this will be a verbal check, with the local Child/Family protection Unit
The first stage will be an emergency/immediate clearance of the appropriateness of the placement
Child's worker should: undertake basic checks from local authority records and police/ child protection unit, make a visit to house, consider the safety of the environment, and see the living and sleeping accommodation for the child. This stage is a basic safety check to try to ensure that there are no significant issues within the kinship carer's family that could place the child at risk.
Checks to be carried out immediately when a placement with kinship carers is proposed
- The records of the local authority to identify any previous contacts with the carers,
- The records from the local authority where the carers live if this is different from the local authority with responsibility for the child
- The local child protection /family protection unit officers for the area where the carers reside to identify if they know of any immediate risks to the child in being placed with these kinship carers. Questions should be asked about any domestic violence referrals as well.
- The family's GP or HV where there are any health issues for the child or kinship carer including any serious conditions requiring treatment **
- The conditions of the house where the child is going stay and the sleeping arrangements for the child. The house must be visited and the worker must be satisfied that there is adequate accommodation for the child at least for a short period.
- The safety of the house should also be discussed and any immediate risks identified and how they will be managed
** It is unlikely that health information will be readily available but if the child or carers have any significant health problems then the GP or HV or community paediatrician should be approached**
Further guidance will be prepared in relation to the specific legal duties on sharing of data so that it is clear who is required to provide information, under which circumstances, as well as considering sharing the reports referred to throughout with carers, children, birth parents etc
Many children will already be known to services and this should allow the child's worker to prepare a child's plan to cover the first few days of the placement.
Where the child is to remain in placement beyond 3 days further checks will be required:
Disclosure (Scotland) checks on all adults in the household
References from 2 people outwith the immediate family
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