Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 part 11 - continuing care: guidance

7. Welfare Assessments

Local authorities must consider whether providing an eligible person with Continuing Care would significantly adversely affect the welfare of that person^[28]. This must be done as soon as reasonably practicable before the person ceases to be looked after by them,^[29] and by carrying out a Welfare Assessment of that person in accordance with Article 7 of the Continuing Care (Scotland) Order 2015.

Local authorities must publish a written statement detailing the manner in which the welfare of eligible persons is to be assessed.^[30].

The Continuing Care (Scotland) Order 2015 makes provision detailing how a local authority is to carry out Welfare Assessments. Local authorities must:

• Seek and have regard to the views of the young person and take all reasonable steps to enable the young person to attend and participate in any meetings relating to the Welfare Assessment^[31] unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so;
• Ensure that a written record of the views of the young person is prepared and made available to the young person, as soon as is reasonably practicable. The written record must be taken into account and recorded as part of the Welfare Assessment^[32];
• Ensure that a written record is prepared of: the information and views obtained in the course of carrying out the Welfare Assessment; the deliberations at any meeting held in connection with any aspect of a Welfare Assessment; and the results of a Welfare Assessment^[33]; and
• Provide the young person with a copy of the written record of the results of the Welfare Assessment and ensure that the contents of that record are explained to the eligible person as soon as reasonably practicable^[34].

Local authorities’ functions in relation to children and young people should be exercised in a way that safeguards, supports and promotes the wellbeing of children and young people. The GIRFEC wellbeing indicators^[35] should be considered as a core part of the assessment and the GIRFEC National Practice Model^[36] should be used, as this applies to all young people up to the age of 18.

The Welfare Assessment can be incorporated within an existing assessment or as a new Continuing Care assessment. In either case it should be explicitly clear that it is a Welfare Assessment. The Care Inspectorate Practice Note on Continuing Care and the Welfare Assessment^[37] provides helpful guidance:

‘Individual care plans and service planning processes should anticipate, expect and plan for children and young people electing to ‘stay put’, with relational practice informing, guiding and supporting this. Additionally, service planning and commissioning processes should anticipate, expect and plan for young people remaining in positive care placements as a matter of course.’

Local authorities have developed local guidance on assessment and planning to reflect local arrangements.

Whatever assessment process is used, effective practice is to incorporate the assessment outcomes into the young person’s plan. A copy of the plan should be shared with the young person and the service provider in relation to the young person, unless they consider that to do so would place the young person at risk or be incompatible with any legal obligation to which the authority is subject.

A young person over sixteen years’ old in Continuing Care, who remains in the same home, may require to undergo a Disclosure check depending on their specific individual circumstances e.g. where there are unrelated children in the same household. Some young people find this process unsettling, as they may feel it suggests they cannot be trusted, or that it introduces doubt around the young person being able to remain in the same home. Practitioners have told us that it can be helpful to explain that this process is standard practice for birth families being considered for fostering, and that the process reflects the young person’s role as part of the family and the home.

If there are concerns as a result of the Disclosure check, there will need to be a robust assessment of the needs of the young people in the home and advice should be sought from the Care Inspectorate. In some cases, such as young people who have spent time outwith the UK, it will not be possible to complete a Disclosure check. In such cases, assessment of needs can be based on what information is available and advice sought from Care Inspectorate if necessary.

Practitioners have told us that the requirement for foster carers to undergo the approval process for a Continuing Care placement can add uncertainty for the carers as well the young people involved. Some authorities have found applying for a carer to be approved as a supported carer for a specific young person can reduce the pressure and uncertainty faced by carers and the young people involved.