Placement Disruption Meetings

Consideration should be given to convening a disruption meeting in relation to children whose placement has ended abruptly or on an unplanned basis.

This may take place under the procedures of the placing authority. However, where this is not the case and it is considered that a disruption meeting should take place under this procedure, a discussion should take place with the placing authority about whether they are prepared to engage with the agency convening the meeting under this procedure.

In this case, the fostering manager will usually chair the meeting and the child and parents should be invited unless it is considered inappropriate to do so. The child's social worker, the foster carers and the foster carers' supervising social worker should also be present alongside other relevant professionals.

Ideally the meeting should take place within 10 working days of the end of the placement and the notes of the meeting should be kept on the child's record.

The purpose of a disruption meeting is to examine various elements of the placement in order to understand the sequence of events leading to the disruption and learn lessons from what occurred.

This will establish:

• How and why the emergency/disruption occurred;
• What happened to avoid the same thing happening again - for the child or others in the placement;
• All the positive work and good experiences for the child amongst all the difficulties;
• Support all parties involved and help them carry on and recover;
• 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.

Please note: The disruption meeting is not a planning meeting, but is an opportunity to review the past as a preparation for the child's future. Future planning should occur within the child's looked after review.

The meeting will ensure the child (depending on his or her age and level of understanding) is given the opportunity to understand the reasons for and be supported with managing the transition.

In order to understand the placement, it is necessary to consider the child's history and experiences of parenting the child has received, previous placement moves and any relationships in the child's life.

A crucial stage to look at is the matching process - i.e. the assessment of the child's needs at the time of seeking the placement to see how accurately these were understood at the time and the assessment of what the foster carers could offer and the support they were given in understanding and providing for the child's needs. The meeting will also look at the child's introduction to the placement, information they were given and any other issues relating to the placement.

The meeting should be recorded and any lessons for the agency addressed.