Who's who in the care system?

This is an independent person who can give you advice about your rights and represent you (speak for you) at case reviews or if you have a complaint. All looked after children and care leavers are allowed an advocate if they need one and your Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) should advise you about how you can get one.

‘I first came into contact with an advocate when I was 14. Steps were being taken to get me out of care and back home – even though I didn’t want this to happen. My advocate asked what I wanted, whether I thought I was being listened to. Most young people have gone through situations where they don’t know who to turn to for support or advice. They might go to their social workers with a problem but sometimes the social workers say they can’t do anything because their hands are tied. That’s the end of the road for a lot of young people but it’s important to know that there are other services that can help you to be heard.’
Fabrice, 17

If you get help from CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) this is the person who is helping you.

The main adult who is responsible for looking after you, usually a foster carer, or your keyworker if you live in a children’s home.

If your family is involved with the courts and important decisions are being made about where you should live, then you may have someone helping you called a Children’s Guardian. This is someone who the courts have asked to make sure that the decisions that are made are what is best for you.  

Your Children’s Guardian looks into what would be best for you and then writes a report for the court and gives the judge and lawyers advice about what would be best. They will talk to you about what you would like to happen and how you feel, and they will include some of that in their report. They also check that other people involved in helping to sort things out are doing their jobs properly.

This is the most important person who works in children’s services at your local authority. They are responsible for making sure that you get a good service from your local authority and that your social worker and IRO do their job properly.

This means a relative, friend or other person connected with you. For example this may be someone like a teacher, childminder or youth worker that you already know.

The nurse who does your health assessment and advises about your health needs.  

This is the teacher at your school who has particular responsibility for children who are looked after (although they may not be one of your actual teachers). He or she will know a bit about your situation, although they may not know personal things about your family background and why you are looked after. They will talk to your social worker regularly about how you are getting on at school.  Although you may not mind people knowing that you’re in care, your designated teacher should not tell other pupils that you are, or treat you differently in front of them.

The people who look after you in a foster family.

This is someone who has parental responsibility for you legally.

This is the person or company who owns the accommodation you live in when you leave care. They receive the rent and are responsible for maintaining the property. It might be a housing association, the local authority or an individual (landlord or landlady).
 

Some foster parents work for companies rather than the local authority, and will receive their support, training and money from this ‘agency’.

This is a very important person for looked after children, so it’s good for you to be clear about what they do and how they are supposed to help you.

The most important thing to know is that your IRO is in charge of monitoring your case. They have to make sure the local authority is doing what it is supposed to do for you while you’re in care, make sure your placement is right for you and that you are happy. This is different from the job of your social worker, which is to manage your case.

Every looked after child must be allocated an IRO within seven days of becoming looked-after, and must have that same IRO throughout their time in care.  This is so that you can build a good relationship with them and you can trust them to help you if things need to change about your situation in care.

If you stop being looked after, but then become looked after again, you must be given the same IRO as before. If your IRO leaves their job they should introduce you to the IRO who is taking over from them before they leave.

You should be given the contact details of your IRO and they should meet you before your first case review. If you have brothers and sisters who are also in care, even if they are in a different placement from you, they should have the same IRO as you. If a mother and her child are both looked after by the local authority they should have different IROs.

IROS and young people looked after within the youth justice system

If you are being cared for within the youth justice system, your IRO should specifically check that:

• Your social worker is working in partnership with the youth offending team, sharing information and contributing to the youth offending team’s assessment
• That you have been given expert legal help
• That your social worker is going with you to court hearings
• That your social worker has provided all the necessary information that will help the court to reach a decision, including anything in your defence and plans for your future
• That your placement is supporting you and complying with bail conditions.

This is a person who the local authority can arrange to visit some looked after children to befriend them, but they are not employed or paid by the local authority and are there just for the child.  They are someone for you to talk to and have fun with.  See chapter 4 for more information.

If you live in a children’s home this is the person who knows all the details of your case, keeps records of your time in care and specially gets to know you.

If you are placed with another family member this is your carer.

This is the person who takes over from your social worker when you leave care. They will support and advise you and be your contact with the local authority. See chapter 6 for more information.

In a children’s home, the person who is in charge and responsible for your care