Amendments

This chapter was refreshed throughout in December 2024.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

In December 2024, links to further information were updated.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

This chapter was refreshed in December 2024.

In December 2024, information on Ofsted checks was added into Section 5.1, Checks.

In December 2024, links to sources of further information were updated.

In December 2024, Section 15.1, Registering an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability) was updated in line with case law.

In December 2024, Section 4.2, Procedural Fairness was updated in line with case-law.

In December 2024, information was added to Section 3, Stage One - The Pre-Assessment Process, with details on how to request information about an applicant from Ofsted.

In December 2024, information was added in relation to Ofsted and CQC Joint Registration Guidance: Children’s Homes and Health Care.

In December 2024, links to guidance documents were updated.

In December 2024, a link was added to Ofsted and CQC Joint Registration Guidance: Children’s Homes and Health Care.

This chapter was added to the procedures manual in June 2024.

This chapter was amended in June 2024 to include information from Special Educational Needs and Disability: Improving Local Authority Decision Making - Report of the Administrative Justice Council's Working Group on Special Educational Needs and Disability. Section 15, Resolving Disagreements was updated to include information on Guidance: Carry Out an Order in Special Educational Needs Cases.

In June 2024, this chapter was revised in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children.

This chapter was updated throughout in June 2024 in line with revised Working Together to Safeguard Children.

In June 2024, information in relation to family group decision-making was added in Section 1, Introduction and Time Limits and Section 5, Pre-Proceedings. A link to the Family Networks and Family Group Decision Making Procedure was also added.

In June 2024, this chapter was updated to reflect Championing Kinship Care: The National Kinship Care strategy. Section 4, Employment Support and Section 5, Education were also added. Section 3, Types of Family and Friends Foster Care was updated to include information about Ukrainian children being cared for by family and friends in the UK.

In June 2024, this chapter was updated in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children. A new Section 3, Death of a Care Leaver Up to and Including the Age of 24 was also added. 

This chapter was updated throughout in June 2024 in line with revised Working Together to Safeguard Children.

In June 2024, this chapter was revised in response to Working Together to Safeguard Children (December 2023), and includes the ongoing development of the strategic leadership roles of Virtual School Heads (VSH) in promoting educational outcomes for children aged 0 to 18 who have, or previously had a social worker, and children in kinship care arrangements.

This chapter was updated in June 2024. Information that the relevant local authority should be notified if the child was previously a looked after child was added into Section 17, Special Guardian Duty on the Death of the Child.

In June 2024, this chapter was updated in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children to note that notifications should also be made of the death of a care leaver up to and including the age of 24. 

In June 2024, a link to BASW Age Assessment Practice Guidance was added in Section 4, Age Assessment. A link to Operation Innerste Process: Caseworker Guidance was added in Further Information.

Section 10, Use of Inherent Jurisdiction to Authorise a Placement Involving a Deprivation of Liberty was updated throughout in June 2024 in line with Revised Practice Guidance on the Court's Approach to Unregistered Placements (October 2023) and Revised National Listing Protocol for Applications that Seek Deprivation of Liberty Orders Relating to Children under the Inherent Jurisdiction.

This chapter was added to the procedures manual in June 2024.