Initial Placement Agreement (IPA) – setting the foundation in the first week
The Initial Placement Agreement (IPA) is the blueprint for a child’s first weeks in your home. Completing it quickly—and well—helps everyone pull in the same direction, prevents misunderstandings and reassures the child that the adults around them are organised and talking to each other.
1 | Timing and venue
- The IPA is drafted at the Placement Planning Meeting (PPM), held in your home within seven calendar days of a child’s arrival.
- Your Supervising Social Worker (SSW) chairs, with the child’s social worker, any birth-family representatives invited by the Local Authority, and—if age-appropriate—the child or young person themselves.
2 | What the IPA covers
| Area | Typical questions answered |
| Daily care & routines | Bedtime, food preferences, allergies, cultural or faith needs, pocket-money rate. |
| Health & medication | Current prescriptions, delegated authority for GP visits, allergy management, Health Passport handover. |
| Education | School details, transport, homework expectations, upcoming PEP date. |
| Contact / family time | Who, where, how often, supervised or unsupervised, transport arrangements. |
| Risk & safety | Known behaviours, Safer Caring adjustments, internet rules, swimming permissions. |
| Finance | How accountable allowance will be used (savings account set-up, club fees). |
| Review points | Next statutory Looked-After Review date, how progress will be measured. |
3 | Principles of partnership
- One plan, one team. Foster carers, SSW, child’s social worker and (where possible) the child and birth family co-create the IPA.
- Voice of the child. Even very young children can choose a night-light colour or pick an after-school snack; older children should speak for themselves on routines and hobbies.
- Living document. Agreements may be refined at the PPM as new information emerges or the child settles.
4 | After the meeting
- The SSW finalises the Positive Aspirations Group IPA template and circulates a signed digital copy to all attendees within 48 hours.
- You keep the IPA in the child’s file and refer to it when making day-to-day decisions.
- Any proposed change (extra contact, new medication) should be flagged to the SSW and, if material, recorded as an IPA addendum.
5 | Your role as foster carer
- Prepare. Note initial observations (sleep pattern, food likes, triggers) to inform the meeting.
- Be specific. Vague statements (“Sometimes anxious”) become clear strategies (“Reads for 10 minutes with dim lamp before lights-out”).
- Speak up about resources. If football boots or art classes will ignite the child’s spark, include the cost in accountable-allowance planning.
- Follow the plan. Compliance is not optional; deviations—however well-intentioned—need agreement from the SSW and child’s social worker.
6 | Need the template?
Ask your SSW for the latest Initial Placement Agreement template or find it in the secure online portal under Forms & Templates ► Placement Paperwork ► IPA.
In essence: the IPA is the child’s safety-net and roadmap for their early days with you. Treat it as a living agreement, update it when life shifts, and keep every signatory—especially the child—in the loop
