Who do we class as ‘Looked After’?
The term ‘Looked After Children’ is interchangeable with ‘Children in Public Care’ and includes:
- Those in Community Homes and other specialist placements arranged or approved by Social Care and Health
- Those in foster care
- Those placed for adoption but are not yet legally adopted
- Those on Care Orders placed at home with their parents
A young person is said to be a ‘Nottinghamshire LAC’ if the parental responsibility comes down to Nottinghamshire Social Care – this does not necessarily mean that their home or school placement is also in Nottinghamshire. If a Looked After young person is placed in an educational establishment out of area, the responsibility for support lies with the receiving Connexions team or company. Likewise Nottinghamshire Connexions Personal Advisers (PAs) have a duty to support non-Nottinghamshire Looked After Young People if they are placed in a Nottinghamshire education establishment.
How is a Connexions Personal Adviser allocated?
The PA for the Looked After young person will be the PA from the school that they attend. If the young person does not have a school placement then their PA will be the named PA for their local learning centre.
If a Looked After young person changes schools then their PA will change to the PA from their new school. If a Young Person is over 16 and still in care then their PA will be one who covers the geographical area where they live, unless they choose to register in an alternative centre. For example, a young person living in Underwood comes under the geographical area of the Eastwood Connexions Centre, but if it is easier for that young person to access the Connexions Centre in the city then they can register there instead and a city PA will become their first contact within the company. In line with the Connexions Promise a young person can choose to change their personal adviser if they have good reason.
What is the minimum service Connexions will provide?
The appropriate PA will be allocated and make contact with the Looked After young person at least three times in every school year through a variety of one-to-one interviews, reviews and groupwork sessions. The PA will complete an APIR profile (Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review) for every Looked After Young Person, or contribute to their Common Assessment Framework profile if one is in place. The young person will be placed in the Priority One Group and all details of contacts will be recorded on the Connexions Database.
What happens when a young person leaves care?
Connexions Nottinghamshire has a dedicated PA who works solely with care leavers - see ‘Role of the Connexions Personal Adviser (Leaving Care).
How do we ensure we share appropriate information and are therefore working effectively with partners when supporting young people in care?
Connexions Nottinghamshire has a representative on the Corporate Parenting Steering Group, the Corporate Parenting Education sub-group and the Corporate Parenting Enjoying and Achieving sub-group. As well as this we have a Team Manager who attends the termly education case reviews along with representatives from the Youth Offending Service, School Nurse Service, Education Welfare Service, the Education Psychology Service, the Youth Service and staff of the residential units. At this meeting we are able to provide practical information regarding Connexions involvement with individual cases, as well as passing recommendations and information on to individual staff members.
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