young people

Statutory guidance, the roles and responsibilities of the lead member for children's services and the Director of Children's Services

This guidance, on the roles and responsibilities of the Lead Member for Children's Services (LM) and Director of Children's Services (DCS), has been updated to take account of the good progress already made, reinforce existing best practice and highlight the importance of the LM and DCS as leaders and champions for children, young people and their families.

It aims to explain how the roles are distinct and complementary and how working together as a team, they can be most effective in driving clear improvements in outcomes.

National care standards: foster care and family placement

These standards were developed to improve the quality of care and service for those in foster care. The standards cover the following activities: recruiting, selecting, approving, training and supporting foster carers; matching children and young people with foster carers; supporting and monitoring foster carers; and the work of agency fostering panels and other approval panels. The standards do not apply to the services provided directly by foster carers themselves.