[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-174072-en":3,"doc-seo-174072-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":11,"category_id":12,"category_name":13,"doc_title":14,"doc_description":15,"doc_content":16,"file_id":17,"file_url":18,"file_type":19,"file_size":20,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":15,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},174072,4810365810221,"Aurora","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",1,18,"Letters","Reunification of Children from Care: Best Practice Guidance April 21","Best Practice Guidance for reunification explains how to support fostering households when children are returned to home after a period of Local Authority Care. It focuses on timely, thorough assessments and evidence-based planning, ensuring the option to return is explored where parents have made meaningful changes. It also draws on research into unsuccessful or risky reunifications, highlighting delays in assessment, incomplete family involvement, poor understanding of capacity to change, and failures in risk consideration and information sharing.","Best Practice Guidance for\nReunification of Children from Care of birth parents\nIntroduction\nThis is guidance for Social Workers, Senior Social Workers, Team Managers, Contact Workers and Supervising Social Workers supporting fostering households about the best practice regarding children who are being returned to home after a period in Local Authority Care.\nChildren in care can have varied experiences of being in care outside of their birth families. Some have settled experiences, with minimal moves and carers who are able to understand and adapt to their changing needs. Some have very disruptive experiences which leave them feeling unstable, impacting on their emotional well-being and sense of belonging.\nWhether the Child/Young Person has a settled or unsettled experience in foster care, the majority of children would wish that they were able to live with their birth family. Thus there is always the possibility that at some stage (usually in their adolescence) the child may want this option to be considered for them.\nThis guidance will seek to provide clarity as to best practice guidance around the process for returning children home, both for those who are in care for a long or short period of time.\nBest Practice dictates that every child’s care plan should be reviewed every six months as part of the statutory requirements on Local Authorities. Best Practice also dictates that the option to return home should be explored in those cases where parents have made changes which may enable them to now offer better, more stable care for their child.\nThus there is an expectation that the Local Authority should evidence that thought has been given to this throughout the child’s journey through care, and not just when placements are breaking down, or when parents make applications to court to discharge orders, or when children gravitate back to their parents care on their own volition.\nWhat is key in all of those scenarios is ensuring that thorough and timely assessments are conducted and support is identified to enable a transition home that will last for the remainder of that child’s minority.\nWhat Research Tells Us:\nSOURCE: \tNSPCC Returning children home from care: learning from case reviews\nSummary of risk factors and learning for improved practice for reunification\nOctober 2015\nNSPCC commissioned research with the University of Bristol to consider best practice for successful reunifications. They reviewed key issues identified from case reviews where reunification plans had been unsuccessful and/or resulted in significant risk/harm to the child/young person. The findings for the unsuccessful reunifications were as follows:\nDelay or lack of assessment before deciding to return a child home\nChildren were returned to the care of their families without a thorough risk assessment. Where assessments did take place they often did not involve the whole family. For example new partners and siblings were not involved in assessments.\nWhen assessments were made there was sometimes a significant delay in writing them up, meaning that decisions were made on the basis of verbal reports rather than a full outline of available information. In other cases, not all the relevant agencies were involved. In particular, adult services, who often held important information about parents' capacity to care for their children, were not represented. A lack of thorough, timely assessments meant that family's support needs post reunification were not identified or provided for.\nLack of understanding about a parent’s capacity to change\nChildren were often returned home despite there being little sign of improvement. This was particularly true in cases when there were ongoing issues with child neglect. Professionals saw parents as needing a break rather than recognising neglect as an ongoing problem with a cumulative impact on the child.\nActing on children’s expressed wishes without considering the potential risks involved\nIn some cases professionals took on f","cbCairLtSWdHt6O8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairLtSWdHt6O8","docx",56728,12,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# What Research Tells Us\n## Summary of risk factors and learning for improved practice for reunification\n## Delay or lack of assessment\n## Lack of understanding about a parent’s capacity to change\n## Acting on children’s expressed wishes without considering potential risks\n## Lack of use or understanding of legal powers\n## Professional optimism\n## Information sharing","[{\"question\":\"Who is this guidance designed for when supporting reunification?\",\"answer\":\"It is intended for Social Workers, Senior Social Workers, Team Managers, Contact Workers, and Supervising Social Workers supporting fostering households.\"},{\"question\":\"What does best practice require about reviewing care plans and exploring returning home?\",\"answer\":\"Every child’s care plan should be reviewed every six months, and the option to return home should be explored when parents have made changes that may enable better, more stable care.\"},{\"question\":\"What key failures are linked to unsuccessful reunifications in the research summary?\",\"answer\":\"Common failures include delay or lack of thorough risk assessment, incomplete assessments that do not involve the whole family, limited understanding of a parent’s capacity to change, and inadequate consideration of potential risks when acting on children’s wishes.\"}]","Reunification of Children from Care: Best Practice Guidance April 21 | 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is this guidance designed for when supporting reunification?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It is intended for Social Workers, Senior Social Workers, Team Managers, Contact Workers, and Supervising Social Workers supporting fostering households.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What does best practice require about reviewing care plans and exploring returning home?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Every child’s care plan should be reviewed every six months, and the option to return home should be explored when parents have made changes that may enable better, more stable care.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What key failures are linked to unsuccessful reunifications in the research summary?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Common failures include delay or lack of thorough risk assessment, incomplete assessments that do not involve the whole family, limited understanding of a parent’s capacity to change, and inadequate consideration of potential risks when acting 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