Working with Families and other Professionals

As a professional you have an important part to play in the lives of young people and families that you may work with.

Parents or other relatives may visit a young person in your home, or the young person’s  social worker may feel these meetings should take place somewhere else. Contact will be set out in the young person’s Placement Plan and Care Plan.

See: Contact Between the Young Person, their Family and Others.

It is important that you develop an open and honest relationship with the parents and ensure they know at all times that the young person is the most important person and their wellbeing is being looked after by you.

You should never speak about parents in a negative way.

During your time as a supported lodgings host, you will also work alongside many other professionals including your Supervising Worker as part of a team around the young person that makes sure the young person’s needs are met and developed and they are safe from harm.

Professionals will include amongst others:

Most young person placed in supported lodgings will have a social worker, personal advisor or allocated worker.

Social workers work with the whole family, not just the young person, and although their primary concern is for the young person’s welfare they do have to balance this with the wishes and needs of the parents. They should keep you informed about the progress of the plan for the young person and any changes of plan or direction.

Their role is to:

• Assess the needs of a young person;
• Develop a relationship with the young person;
• Plan for the young person and regularly review that plan;
• Work with you, the young person and the young person’s family;
• Share information with you;
• Identify and obtain resources so that the young person’s needs are met;
• Visit the young person at the supported lodgings home within one week of the placement and then at least every six weeks for the first year or visit in line with the Care Plan. Thereafter, at intervals of not more than three months, and in any other case, at intervals of not more than six weeks.

If as a supported lodgings host you or the young person in placement are having some difficulties contacting the social worker; it is important to let your Supervising  Worker know so that they can work to try and resolve this.

Young people who are ‘Looked after’ placed in supported lodgings will have an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). Wherever it is possible, the IRO will meet the young person before the first Looked After Review.

The IRO has two roles: chairing a young person’s Looked After Review and monitoring a young person’s case on an on-going basis. They can be a good source of support to you if needed when plans for a young person are not going how they should, although it is the young person’s social worker you should try to speak to first.

If the young person placed with you is not looked after, but homeless or classed as a child in need, they will still have regular Child In Need  or network meetings

A Guardian is appointed by the court from CAFCASS (Children And Family Court And Support Service) when they want an independent view of what has been happening and what should happen in the young person’s life.

You should support the young person to share their views particularly about their future, and are supported to spend time with the Guardian appointed so that the Guardian can tell the young person’s story in court where the young person is not able to do this themselves.

The local authority looking after a young person has a duty to appoint a person to be the young person’s Independent Visitor where it appears to them that it would be in the young person’s best interests to do so. The Independent Visitor will have a duty to make regular visits to the young person and maintain other contact, by telephone and letter as appropriate.

Independent Visitors are particularly important where young people have no contact with any member of their family.

The main purpose of the visits and contacts will be to befriend the young person and give advice and assistance as appropriate.