Contact with Parents/Carers/Siblings and Others

Also see: Section 5, Cancellation, Suspension or Termination of Contact.

NOTE: As part of the placement planning process, the social worker should consult the home’s manager to ensure that proper arrangements are in place for the child to have 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 include grandparents and half siblings) without the approval of the social worker, and must be consistent with arrangements outlined in the child's Care Plan.

For many children, relationships with members of their family, previous carers, friends and others are incredibly important. Contact can help children and young people develop their sense of identity and better understand their lives, as well as helping to support successful placements.

One of the key principles of the Children Act 1989 is the presumption that there should be continued contact between the child and their family while the child is in the care of the local authority (unless it is not reasonably practicable or consistent with the child’s welfare). The responsible authority has a duty to endeavour to promote contact between the child and:

• Their parents;
• Any person who is not a parent but who has Parental Responsibility for the child; and
• Any relative, friend or other person connected with the child.

Contact arrangements should be focused on, and shaped around, the child’s needs. The social worker should, as part of the assessment process, identify those people who the child wants to maintain contact with.

Arrangements for contact will be set out in the child's Care Plan, and must take account of any Child Protection Plan or Contact Order that may be in force.

So far as it is reasonably practicable, the wishes and feelings of the parents and the child’s carers must be ascertained before a decision about contact arrangements is made. 

The purpose of the contact and how it will be evaluated must be made clear in the child’s plan. Contact arrangements should be focused on, and shaped around, the child’s needs. The child’s welfare is the paramount consideration at all times and each child’s wishes and needs for contact should be individually considered and regularly assessed and reviewed. The wishes and feelings of the child should be ascertained, wherever possible, using advocacy and communication services if necessary.

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 use of mobile communication should also be considered.

Maintaining contact with siblings from both the same or different parents who cannot be placed together should be prioritised. Children’s Independent Safeguarding and Reviewing Officers (CISRO) should ensure that Looked After Reviews consider whether contact arrangements including sibling contact in Care Plans has been implemented and that the child is happy with the contact – both its frequency and its quality. The CISRO should inform the child that they can access Advocacy Services if they have a complaint.

When communication between a child/young person and their parents is infrequent or when they have not visited or been visited during their stay, an Independent Visitor may be appointed if it is felt to be in their best interest. The Linkworker should discuss this with the child/young person. If the child is from East Riding, the appointment of an Independent Visitor will be arranged and supervised through the Participation Team.

For more information on Independent Visitors in the East Riding, please contact the Children’s Participation and Rights Team.

Face to face meetings and visits will generally be the best way of maintaining relationships, but other means such as letters / emails, text messages / video calls and photograph exchanges etc. should be borne in mind. Responsible authorities and carers should work together to explore how electronic media can support positive relationships for children. Children should be supported to ensure they are safe online rather than this form of contact being avoided. It may be useful to encourage young people to share details of how they communicate with friends and family (which may include mobile phones or other social networking sites and apps and consoles such as Xbox or Play Station) so that the young person, social worker and staff can talk about how to do this safely, and offer advice on what the young person should do if they receive a message which is upsetting or inappropriate.

See also: Safe Use of the Internet, Social Media and Photographs Procedure.

The need to supervise contact should be considered as part of the assessment and planning process by the social worker and their manager. It is the responsibility of the child’s social worker to ensure that the person(s) supervising contact is appropriately skilled and experienced to do so.

The primary focus of the assessment of this issue will be the safety and welfare of the child.

Where supervised contact is deemed necessary, the reasons should be clearly recorded and the role of the supervisor or supervisors clearly defined.

A written risk assessment must be completed before supervised contacts begin.

This assessment must take account of all factors that could impact on the success of supervised contact and relevant safeguards including:

1. Any history of abuse or threats of abuse to the child, carers, staff or others;
2. Previous threats to disrupt contact or failure to cooperate with conditions agreed for supervised contact;
3. Previous incidents or threats of abduction;
4. Previous incidents of coercion or inappropriate behaviour during contact;
5. The transient or unsettled lifestyle of the parents;
6. The child’s behaviour and needs, including medical needs.

Where any of the above features in the risk assessment, and supervised contact is to continue, the risk assessment must state the specific measures to be put in place to minimise risks. The assessment must then be approved and signed by the social worker's Team Manager.

Where supervised contact takes place, the detailed arrangements for the supervision must be set out in the Placement Plan.

In addition, there should be a written agreement with the parents and other relevant parties having supervised contact, signed by them, which should state clearly any specific conditions relating to the contact and any expectations placed on the parents or relevant parties: 

• The agreement should be clear about where the contact must take place and whether any flexibility is allowed for activity or movements within or away from the agreed location;
• It should also be clear about whether the person(s) having contact are permitted to give the child food, drinks, gifts or money during contact;
• It should state clearly the circumstances in which contact will be terminated.

The agreement should state the adults who will be allowed to attend for supervised contact and supervisors should be asked to apply that strictly.

Particular attention should be given to when and how visits are ended. It may be more appropriate that all “goodbyes” take place indoors.

Significant changes to Care Plans, court proceedings and/or decisions made about the frequency of future contact are all likely to be potential tension points so extra vigilance should apply at any contacts arranged around these times.

The staff and any other person involved in the supervision of the contact should have copies of the Placement Plan and the agreement with the parents or relevant adults.

Where possible, those supervising the contact should be known to the child and the family before the supervised contact takes place.

In the event of problems emerging, the supervisors must be clear who to contact  and what details they will need to share.

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 supervisor must immediately report to the social worker any concerns about the child or parents’ conduct during the contact. The social worker in consultation with their manager should consider the need to review the risk assessment and/or the contact arrangements in light of the concerns expressed.

The social worker and their manager should keep contact arrangements, including the continuing need for supervision, under regular review.

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 the subject of a Child Protection Plan, the contact arrangements should also be reviewed as required in the Child Protection Plan.

Any significant reactions that the child has to contact should be reported to the child's social worker by those observing contact arrangements and/or supervisors of contact.

The contact arrangements should also be reviewed in any Placement Planning Meeting and at the child's Looked After Review.

Where a Contact Order is in force and it is considered that the contact arrangements set out in the Order should be altered, the agreement of the child and the parents should be sought and legal advice should be obtained as to the need to seek a variation of the Court Order.

Contact should never be cancelled unless there is a very good reason, e.g. it is deemed that it would not be safe for it to take place or the child/ adult/sibling attending is too unwell for it to take place. Contact should take place in accordance with the child’s Placement Plan, Court Order and any Court Directions.

Wherever possible, the staff/carer should consult the child’s social worker in advance if they consider there is a good reason to cancel the contact. 

If contact is cancelled, the social worker or, if the social worker is not available, the staff must ensure that the child and, as far as practicable, the parent or relevant adult is informed in advance and that the reason for the decision is explained. The social worker or staff should arrange an alternative contact.

If contact does not take place and consultation has not been possible with the social worker, the staff must inform the child’s social worker as soon as possible and confirm in writing the decision to cancel and the reason.

Any restriction, other than one imposed by a court, on a child’s contact with their parents, relatives or friends, or visits to them by their parents, relatives or friends cannot be imposed as a punishment for challenging or inappropriate behaviour or for failing to abide by the Home’s rules. Similarly, contact between the child/young person and parents, relatives or friends cannot be used as a reward to ensure appropriate and compliant behaviour

If a person arrives at the home in an apparently intoxicated condition or displaying threatening behaviour the member of staff in charge will deny admission and refuse contact in the child/young person's best interest. This applies to both planned and unplanned contact.

Emergency restrictions on contact can only be made to protect the child from significant risk and must be notified to the Placing Authority (child's social worker) within 24 hours.

Each Children's Home should consider the following in respect of each child or young person placed.

Contact should be a general standing item on handover and staff meetings where the following points can be discussed and shared, with any decisions recorded:

1. For each child / young person, are significant family members involved as much as possible and are they kept informed of their child's developments and achievements?
2. At the point of admission, are significant family members involved?
3. How are visitors made welcome at the home?
4. Do staff recognise that first impressions are critical and will help visiting parents and relatives feel at ease?  (Details such as where things are in the building, where they might talk in private, and whether they can make themselves a drink, who to see if they have a problem). Can staff think of ways this can be improved on?
5. How would you feel as a visitor to the home?
6. Develop an agreed strategy for dealing with situations when a child or young person misbehaves during a visit;
7. At times, contact meetings may appear to be unsatisfactory with either arguments, or very little direct communication. Indications are that all these opportunities are, at a later date, seen as very important to the individuals involved so care must be taken not to dismiss contact as meaningless or futile. However do staff understand when to intervene or in extreme situations terminated the session? Does the staff team have contingencies for such occurrences?
8. Does the staff group see working with the family as a two-way activity? Sometimes, members of the family can provide insight on how best to help a child or young person;
9. Are reviews and other meetings arranged at times when significant family members are able to attend?
10. Is time given to meeting with parents and relatives before meetings so that they know what to expect?
11. Consider that they may also have other childcare commitments that need to be negotiated;
12. Do Linkworkers recognise that children and young people will need to be reminded and supported to keep in contact by phone or letter, or by sending a card on special occasions?
13. How can the enhancement of family links be used to help children and young people to retain and build their identity?
14. Are children and young people given opportunities to talk about their families, to tell family stories and to remember the past?
15. It is helpful if staff members are aware of significant relationships within their families so that they can take opportunities that arise to help them with these. Remember that just because a young person does not have contact with someone or rarely talks about them, this does not mean that the relationship is unimportant;
16. If a child or young person does not have a significant family member or regular contact with someone outside the home, consider the appointment of an independent visitor.

Planning Contact Arrangements

For the Planning Contact Arrangements table, see Local Resources.