Statutory guidance

Children Act 1989: care planning, placement and case review

Statutory guidance about local authority support to children and families.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 31 March 2010
• Last updated: 8 July 2021
  Show all updates

  1. 8 July 2021

     Added The Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review 2021.

  2. 3 July 2015

     This incorporates all supplements published to March 2015 and includes 'Delegation of authority to foster carers'.

  3. 26 March 2015

     Added 'Permanence, long-term foster placements and ceasing to look after a child' document.

  4. 31 July 2014

     Added a fourth supplement following regulation updates: 'Out-of-authority placement of looked-after children'.

  5. 25 July 2014

     Updated 'Early permanence placements and approval of prospective adopters as foster carers' document.

  6. 3 April 2014

     Added looked after children and youth justice supplementary guidance.

  7. 31 March 2010

     First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations volume 2: care planning, placement and case review

PDF, 1.71 MB, 191 pages

Details

This statutory guidance applies to:

• local authorities
• children’s services directors
• children’s services social workers
• front-line managers who have particular responsibilities in relation to looked-after children
• managers and commissioners of services for looked-after children

Statutory guidance sets out what you must do to comply with the law. You should follow the guidance unless you have a very good reason not to.

The guidance is also relevant to Children’s Trust partner agencies and to providers of services to looked-after children, including private, voluntary and public sector providers and foster carers.

The document consolidates a number of separate documents we’ve previously published, including ‘Delegation of authority to foster carers’.

This is volume 2 in a series of 5 related statutory guidance publications:

• Volume 1 - Children Act 1989: court orders
• Volume 2 - Children Act 1989: care planning, placement and case review
• Volume 3 - Children Act 1989: transition to adulthood for care leavers
• Volume 4 - Children Act 1989: fostering services
• Volume 5 - Children’s homes regulations, including quality standards: guide