Care Plan
Your social worker along with a few other professionals will work with you and your family to decide where you will live and who will live with you. They’ll find the best place to give you what you need. They’ll talk to you about where you’ll live, so you know what to expect. They’ll also work with your family and your carer to make sure you know why you’re in care, what’s going to happen and how long you might be in care.
The first thing they’ll do is to create a plan for you to make sure you’re settled and secure. This is called your Care Plan. It covers everything from where you live, when and how you see your family, to where you go to school and how we care for your health.
To make this plan, your social worker will talk to your family, the important people in your life and, most of all, you. Once it’s written, they’ll make sure that it’s followed and that you’re well looked after.
Review
A review is a meeting we hold every few months for every cared for young person. At this meeting, we’ll bring you together with the people in your life who know you well and the people working with you while you’re in care.
The idea is to see how you’re getting on, to talk about the everyday things in your life and your plans for the future. Once we know this, we can make sure your care plan is the right one to give you the best chance of being happy and settled, now and in the future.
These people go to your review:
- you – if you want.
- your parents
- your carers or key worker
- your social worker
- your teacher
- your personal advisor (if you have one)
- and sometimes other people, like the school nurse.
Your care plan will include a list of people you’d like to be invited to the review
The person in charge of your review is called your Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). The ‘independent’ part is important – it means they’re not involved in looking after you in any other way, so they can step back and look at things fairly.
You can call or email your IRO and they’ll make sure they reply. They’ll also visit or call you before and after your review. The IRO must listen carefully to what you think and feel about your Care Plan. We really want you to get involved. This is your chance to help make choices in your own life.
The IRO will write a short report on your Review Form, saying what’s been decided at the review and what everyone has to do to make it happen.