The information on planned placements has been updated to include information on placements in "other arrangements".

• Early Help Pathway - Flowchart.

This chapter has been updated to reflect Keeping Children Safe in Education. Section 8, Safeguarding the Children Looked After at School has been amended to include reference to Upskirting (which is now a criminal offence) and serious violence.

• SOVA Leaflets.

This procedure has been updated to include links to the revised statutory guidance Prevention of Homelessness and Provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year old young people who may be homeless and/or require accommodation (2018), and to the Guide to the duty to refer including the referral process.

This guidance has been updated in line with the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and revised statutory guidance.

These changes relate to the status of 'Previously Looked After Children'. A Previously Looked After Child is one who is no longer Looked After in England and Wales because they are the subject of an Adoption, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person, or has been adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales.

These changes relate to the status of 'Previously Looked After Children'. A Previously Looked After Child is one who is no longer Looked After in England and Wales because they are the subject of an Adoption, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person, or has been adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales.

This procedure has been updated to reflect amendments made by the Children and Social Work Act 2017.

This chapter has been updated in line with the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and revised statutory guidance which require schools, through the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children, to also offer support to Previously Looked After Children.

This guidance has been revised in line with the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and revised statutory guidance which require schools, through the designated teacher to provide support to Previously Looked After Children

A Previously Looked After Child is one who is no longer Looked After in England and Wales because they are the subject of an Adoption, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person, or has been adopted from 'state care' outside England and Wales.

These documents outline the process for implementing the new Legal Planning (Gateway) and New Admissions Panel. The Panel will determine the threshold for accommodation, pre proceedings and instigation of care proceedings;

Initiate any work that is needed to ensure Legal orders are gained at the earliest opportunity, reducing drift and delay and addressing any barriers to progress the case.

Improve the timeliness, quality and planning of cases within Children's Social Care. The Terms of Reference sets out the types of cases the Panel will consider, the paperwork which must be submitted to the Panel and Panel membership.

• Case Discussion Guidance.

Section 1.2, Assessment and Checks Before Placement has been slightly amended to clarify the process for checking the proposed carer and all members of the household aged 16 and over with regard to unspent convictions and cautions. The DfE has advised that local authorities can obtain the details they need via two routes:

1. Contacting the local Public Protection Unit (PPU). (PPU's have the ability to release information via a Direct Police Check under arrangements allowed by the Home Office circular 047/2003);
2. By requesting that parent(s) and adult household members apply for a basic check, currently provided via Disclosure Scotland.

The term 'relinquished child' is used to describe a child, usually a baby or at pre-birth stage, whose parents are making the choice of adoption for the child.

• Targeted Youth Support Leaflet.

Links have been added to Joint Working Guidance on conducting lawful age assessments which has been issued by the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS).

Section 3, The Chairing of Secure Accommodation Reviews has been amended as follows:

The Secure Accommodation Panel should be chaired by a person independent of the care planning for the child, including line managers and the Independent Reviewing Officer. Given the need to focus on the Section 25, Children Act 1989 criteria issues, the chair should also be independent of any resource allocation, etc. but should have sufficient experience and knowledge to carry out the task.

The following minor amendments have been made to this chapter:

• Where a prospective adopter enquires about inter-country adoption, information should also be given about the policy on fees and an estimation of the costs the prospective adopter will have to pay to the agency and the Department for Education;
• In relation to references, applicants will be asked to provide the names of three personal referees, who are adults (not more than one of whom should be related to them), have known the applicant for at least two years and who are happy to provide personal references on the prospective adopter. A written report must be prepared of the interviews held with each of the referees.

The following information has been added in relation to the Child's Permanence Report:

• Child's Permanence Report must be written by the worker who knows the child best and is also a qualified social worker;
• The Report should include a summary, written by the agency's medical adviser, of the state of the child's health, health history and any need for health care which might arise in the future, and a chronology of the decisions and actions taken by the agency with respect to the child; and
• Those parts of the Report that contain factual information about the birth family should be shared with the relevant family members to enable them to confirm their accuracy and agree to it being passed on to a child in due course. Any such agreement should be clearly recorded on the child's case record. Each of the child's parents should be shown those parts of the Report which set out their views and wishes, and given the opportunity, if they so wish, to express these in their own words.

The following information concerning remuneration for former foster carers has been added into Section 9.8, Remuneration for former foster parents:

This new chapter reflects the statutory guidance 'Ceasing to look after a child' in 'Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations (2015)' as amended by the 'Care Planning and Fostering (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2015' and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015.

This chapter has been updated throughout in line with the Children and Families Act 2014 and the overall aim of speeding up the adoption process. Information has been added in relation to:

• Fostering for Adoption (Sections 1 and 5.3);
• Adoption Register (Section 9);
• Duty to provide information on adoption support services (Sections 1 and 2);
• Ethnicity (Section 15.3).

This chapter has been updated throughout in line with the Children and Families Act 2014, and the overall aim of speeding up the adoption process. The main changes are in relation to:

• The duty to consider Fostering for Adoption placements;
• The removal of the requirement to give due consideration to a child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background when matching a child and prospective adopters;
• Post-adoption contact;
• Placing of siblings.

With effect from 31 October 2014, the Adoption Information and Intermediary Services (Pre-Commencement Adoptions) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 extend rights to intermediary services to all 'persons with a prescribed relationship' with an adopted person, i.e. anyone related to an adopted person by blood (including half-blood), marriage or civil partnership or by virtue of the adoption.

This chapter deals with the placement of a child with carers who are dually approved, i.e. approved both as prospective adopters and as local authority foster carers.