Contact with Parents and Siblings
Scope of this chapter
This chapter relates to contact with parents and siblings, not to contact (or overnight stays) with relatives and friends - see Social Visits (including Overnight Stays) Procedure.
Regulations and Standards
Related guidance
Also see: Section 5, Termination of Contact.
NOTE: When considering the making of a placement, the social worker should consult the Home’s manager to ensure that proper arrangements are in place for the child to have on-going contact with their family and significant others; particularly when the child is placed at a distance away from their family home. No contact may be permitted between children and their parents, friends or relatives (which includes grandparents and half siblings) without the approval of the social worker and all contact must be consistent with arrangements outlined in the child's Care Plan.
Children should be encouraged and supported to maintain contact with parents and siblings, and parents should be encouraged to take part in activities in the home and organised for their children. Such contacts should be consistent with the child's Care Plan; which, itself, must take account of any Child Protection Plan or Contact Order that may be in force.
The purpose of the contact and how it will be evaluated must be made clear in the Plan.
Both direct and indirect contact arrangements should always be clearly detailed setting out how contact will take place, the venue, the frequency and how the arrangements will be evaluated and reviewed.
The need to supervise contact should be considered as part of the assessment and planning process and any arrangements set out in the child's Placement Plan. Any restrictions should only be as a result of a court order or following consultation with the social worker and this should always be as part of the planning process. Any such restrictions must be in writing and regularly reviewed.
Both direct and indirect contact arrangements should be clearly detailed in the Placement Plan which should set out how contact will take place, the frequency, and restrictions on where it will take place and how the arrangements will be evaluated and reviewed. The ways in which young people use mobile communication to keep in touch with friends and family members should also be considered.
Face to face meetings and visits will generally be the best way of maintaining important relationships, but other means such as letters, phone calls, the use of mobile communication (text messages / instant messages / video calls and social media) as well as photograph exchanges etc. should be considered.
The social worker and care staff in the home should work together to explore whether electronic media should be used to support positive relationships for individual children. Children should be encouraged to talk about how they use social media and mobile communication so they can be supported to stay safe online and offered advice on what to do if they receive a message which is upsetting or inappropriate.
Children may only have unsupervised contact with parents and siblings with the agreement of the social worker and where the arrangements for such contact are set out in the Placement Plan.
The need to supervise contact should be considered as part of the assessment and planning process and any arrangements set out in the child's Placement Plan.
This restriction should only be as a result of a court order, as required by a Child Protection Plan or by agreement with the parent(s), for example, where a child may be disruptive or the parent(s) require other assistance whilst having contact with their children. It is also essential to consult the social worker and this should always be as part of the planning process. These agreements must be in writing and regularly reviewed.
Where supervised contact is deemed appropriate or necessary, the reasons should be clearly recorded and the role of the care worker(s) as supervisor(s) clearly defined by the social worker and recorded the Placement Plan.
Where possible the person supervising the contact should be known to the child and the family before the supervised contact takes place. The supervisor's observations of the contact must be clearly recorded in the child's record and shared with the parents within 3 months of the visit.
The Placement Plan is required to detail the extent of supervision required by the staff member i.e. it may be sufficient to supervise from an adjacent room, the duration of the visit and if the visit is confined to a certain identified area i.e. a specified children's home or family centre. Staff supervising such visits should familiarise themselves with the requirements as detailed in the Placement Plan and follow the requirements specified.
If it is likely that staff will visit children or supervise them in the family homes, they must consult the home manager/social worker beforehand - and a risk assessment should be completed. Advice should be provided to staff on the risks and strategies they should adopt.
If staff are confronted with unacceptable behaviour during the visit, they should attempt to comply with the guidance provided by the home manager or in accordance with their training/skills and the principles or procedures outlined in this manual.
If staff feel at significant risk, they should leave, preferably with the child, and contact the manager or the Police at the first opportunity.
Should staff have any concerns about their own, the child's or other people's safety during contact they should inform/consult the home manager or on call manager. If this is not possible, staff should take whatever reasonable steps they can to reduce or prevent any risk or, in exceptional circumstances, they should notify the Police.
If the Police are called to assist with the management of a contact it is deemed to be a notifiable event and should be reported to the Designated Manager (Police Incident), the Regulatory Authority and others, see Notification of Serious Events Procedure.
The Placing Authority must be notified within 24 hours if staff have assessed that restriction of contact is necessary in the interests of the child to safeguard them.
Staff observations of the contact must be clearly recorded in daily records.
Any concerns about the contact should be discussed with the home manager, who may decide to consult the social worker. As necessary, future arrangements must be amended as a result of such consultations, and set out in the Placement Plan.
Under normal circumstances, the arrangements for contact with parents and siblings may not be cancelled or changed without the authority of the social worker. However, the home’s manager may impose a restriction, prohibition or condition upon contact when this is necessary for the purposes of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the child in question e.g. if the child may be at risk or the child is too ill to attend, if the contact were to go ahead.
If such a decision is made by the home’s manager, the parents/family should be notified as soon as practicable and the social worker must be notified within 24 hours (or 1 working day). If the decision is made at the weekend/bank holiday, the EDT social worker should be informed, with a follow up to the social worker on the first working day after the weekend/bank holiday.
Contact arrangements must not be withdrawn as an Additional Measure imposed on a child.
Contact arrangements, including the continuing need for supervision, should be reviewed in the child's Looked After Review and the Placement Plan Review.
Any contact arrangements which are agreed as a result of new friendships formed during the child’s placement should be included in the Placement Plan.
The risk assessment in relation to the arrangements for supervising contact must be reviewed at least every 6 months, or sooner, if any incident or report identifies concerns.
Where the child' is subject to a Child Protection Plan the contact arrangements should be reviewed as required in the Child Protection Plan.
Where a Contact Order is in force and it is considered that the contact arrangements set out in the Order should be altered, legal advice should be obtained by the social worker as to the need to seek a variation of the Court Order.
Any significant reactions that the child has to contact should be reported to the child’s social worker by residential staff and/or supervisors of contact.
Where it is considered that the child's contact with the parents should be suspended or terminated, the social worker must be consulted.
Where the child is the subject of an Emergency Protection Order, Interim Care Order or Care Order, an application to the Court for authority to terminate the contact will always be necessary.
If contact is suspended or terminated, the social worker must amend the child's Care Plan and the Manager of the home must ensure the child's Placement Plan reflects the decision.
Last Updated: July 15, 2024
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