What Happens Now I Am Approved?

Congratulations, now you have been approved as a supported lodgings host you will be allocated a Supervising Worker from the Service. They will make sure you have all the information and support needed to offer the best possible placements to young people.

Your approval as a supported lodgings host will be regularly reviewed, see Reviewing my Approval and Appeals.

You will be asked to enter into an Agreement with the Service.

• Providing a safe and supportive environment for the young person;
• Supporting the health needs of the young person;
• Ensuring a young person’s attendance at educational settings including school, college and work;
• Supporting and, if appropriate, facilitating contact with a young person’s birth family and significant others;
• Supporting and facilitating the transition between the placement and independent living;
• Supporting the young person to develop independence skills such as food preparation, budgeting, emotional resilience, cleaning skills etc.;
• Considering the young person’s history, identity and achievements;
• Working in an anti-discriminatory way supporting the young person if they are suffering any types of discrimination or bullying such as due to the young person’s race, religion, gender, identity or disability.

A worker from the Service will contact you when looking for a placement for a young person who is in your approval category. When they do, you need to be sure that the young person will be best placed with you and your family.

It will be useful to prepare a list of questions that you may want to ask when they call. If you are unsure about any placement you must discuss this with the Service.

You may want to ask:

1. The social worker’s name, is the case allocated, if not, who you contact in the future;
2. The young person’s name, age, how they identify in relation to gender, ethnic origin, religion;
3. Does the young person have any special dietary, cultural or linguistic needs;
4. The young person’s legal status;
5. General picture of the family situation;
6. What are the contact arrangements?
7. How is the young person’s health, do they have any allergies or medical equipment or are they currently on medication;
8. Are they at school, college, or in employment such an apprenticeship? Are there any issues;
9. Does the young person have any communication issues?
10. Any there any behavioural issues?
11. Are there any known or previous risks from the young person, e.g. aggressive or sexualised behaviour;
12. Who will bring the young person and with what clothes and belongings?
13. When will you have full information about the young person?

You need as much information as possible about a young person before they come into your home.

You should receive written information before the placement from the young person’s social worker. Occasionally for example in emergencies, there can be a delay, but this should be no longer than 5 days. No information can be withheld from you without a manager’s approval and this will only be in rare cases.

Wherever possible there should be a period of introductions between you, your family and the young person.

This should involve:

• The young person receiving information about you, your home and members of your family including your extended family if necessary;
• The young person having at least one overnight visit where possible before a placement is confirmed.

Throughout the introduction process, you should talk to the young person about general information such as household rules and expectations.

The young person should be encouraged to talk about what they expect so they can sort out any concerns before the placement starts.

From time to time, placements will be needed for young people who have entered the UK as unaccompanied asylum seekers, unaccompanied migrants or victims of modern slavery including trafficking.

Some of these young people will have been trafficked or persecuted and may have witnessed or been subject to horrific acts of violence. Other migrants may have been sent in search of a better life, or may have been brought to the UK for private fostering and subsequently exploited or abandoned when the arrangement fails.

As a host if you have a young person placed with you in this situation, the Placement Plan and future reviews should help you understand the plan for the young person and what you can do to help support the young person in placement, particularly in relation to meeting their cultural needs and addressing any trauma they may have experienced. Your Supervising Worker can help you to develop a better understanding of the circumstances and the support which can be accessed for both you and the young person.

The Care Plan provides information of the work that must be done to meet the needs of the young person. It is the social worker of the young person or the Personal Adviser who holds responsibility for specific advice or support in relation to the young person’s Care Plan, Placement Plan and/or Pathway Plan.

The Care Plan usually includes:

• The Placement Plan (setting out why the placement was chosen and how the placement will contribute to meeting the young person’s support needs);
• The Pathway Plan;
• The Health Plan;
• The Personal Education Plan;
• The contingency plan;
• The date of the young person’s first Looked After Review (within 20 working days);
• The name of the Independent Reviewing Officer.

The Supervising Worker, you, the young person, family members if appropriate and the young person’s social worker/Personal Adviser will put together the Placement Plan. This is completed either on the day or within five days of a placement being made.

The Placement Plan covers:

• Purpose of the placement;
• Any agreements about health or educational needs;
• The young person’s personal history;
• The young person’s likes/dislikes;
• The rules and expectations of the placement, including how the placement will help the young person gain further independence skills;
• Agreements for contact between the young person, family or relevant individuals;
• When social work visits to the young person and yourself will happen and any review meetings.

See Understanding Placement Plans and Looked After Reviews. 

The young person should receive this when they start a placement. This guide will help young people understand supported lodgings and provide information that may be important to them. It will tell them about their rights and how they can contact people such as their Independent Reviewing Officer, Children’s Commissioner or Ofsted if they wish to raise a concern. It will also explain the information which the Service keeps on them and why, including who it might be shared with, and their right to access their case file.

It may be useful if a professional or you go through the guide with the young person so they understand the purpose of the placement and their rights.

If the young person needs the Guide in another format such as in another language or Makaton the Service should provide it.