Planning for the care of children is a process where parents (and if appropriate their children) decide who will care for the children when they need a break, if they should become ill or if they die.

The plan may involve looking at various options for the care needed – either respite, or a continuum of short, medium or long term/permanent care.

Respite care gives parents planned breaks away from their children. Short-term care may be necessary if the parent has to have a longer break, go into hospital or is ill intermittently. Permanent care enables another person to provide care for a child or young person whose parent is permanently incapacitated or has died.

This section focuses on the directions that parents may consider before making a decision about a plan for the care of their children, discussing the current legislative framework of the Children Act 1989. Some families will need no input from local authority or voluntary agency children's workers, while other families may be dependent on support or services from agencies to arrange the best plan for their children.

Planning usually takes one of four directions:

• The parent has a family network or friends who are able to provide some form of support.
• The parent(s) decide the child or young person will best be cared for in their own family home. This could mean a carer coming into the home or alternatively a carer living nearby providing close support to the family.
• Childcare will need to be accessed from the local authority if there is no one available within the parents' network to provide any form of support.