Children In Care

Child In Care

A child who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a looked after child. Looked after children are also often referred to as children in care, a term which many children and young people prefer. A child stops being 'looked after' when they are adopted, return home or turn 18. However local authorities in all the nations of the UK are required to support children leaving care at 18 until they are at least 21. This may involve them continuing to live with their foster family.

 

Who Do We See?

We see Looked After Children and Young People aged 0-18 years who are referred to us by the Local Authorities within the Tees Valley area or other local authorities. Children can sometimes be known as children in care

It is a statutory requirement that all children and young people in care who are Looked After have initial health assessment within 20 working days of coming into care.

Review Health assessments are offered to children aged under five every six months, and yearly for those aged five to eighteen.

 

Who We Are

We are a team of Specialist nurses who assess the health needs of Looked After Children & Young People.

We work closely with our children, young people and fellow health professionals to: ensure a child’s health and wellbeing, to act as health advocates and to enable their voices to be heard in all decisions about their health.

Improving the health and wellbeing of looked after children and young people is paramount and is a statutory duty. In the looked after children's nursing teams we undertake annual or bi-annual health review of all children in foster care.