Looked after children

It is not always possible for parents to meet the needs of their child. We sometimes have to arrange for children and young people to live away from their birth family.

To help us decide what kind of care your child needs, we will carry out an assessment. This will include your views and those of your child if they are able to understand. These are some of the ways children come into care:

• a voluntary arrangement between the parents and the local authority, known as being 'accommodated'
• coming into police protection
• being subject to:
  • a court order such as an Emergency Protection Order
  • a Care Order
  • being remanded in criminal proceedings

Children can be looked after by:

• living with friends or relatives, known as "kinship care", with our agreement
• living with foster carers
• living in a children's home
• living in a boarding school (not all children in boarding school are looked after by us)
• living at home while on care orders made by the courts

We sometimes provide children with a series of short breaks away from their homes, also known as respite. This does not mean your child is looked after unless these breaks add up to more than 75 overnight breaks in any year.

You must agree that your child should become looked after or "accommodated".

For enquiries relating to children in the care of Buckinghamshire Council, call the Children in Care Team on 01296 387933