How Foster Care Procedures Support Child Safety

Introduction

• Overview of Foster Care Procedures

The Foster Care procedures and Foster Care handbook set out the framework within which the Fostering Agency ensures safeguarding practices with carers and their families and children and young people.

It is underpinned by a range of legislation and guidance including, but not limited to:

• Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011;
• National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services 2011;
• Working Together to Safeguard Children;
• The Care Planning and Fostering (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England)

Regulations 2015;

• The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations – Volume 4: Fostering Services.
• Importance of Child Safety in Foster Care: Highlight why child safety is

paramount and how procedures enforce it.

National Minimum Standard 4 – Safeguarding Children covers the requirements for safeguarding in the fostering agency and placement.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and in particular protecting them from abuse and harm, is everyone’s responsibility and depends on effective joint working between all staff and carers, and relevant agencies and practitioners.

Safeguarding procedures are critical in ensuring the safety and well-being of children in the foster carers home.

The procedures should cover the following:

Proactive Measures:

• Training: Foster carers receive extensive training on how to identify and respond to various risks, such as neglect, abuse, exploitation, bullying, self-harm, forced marriage, and other forms of harm.
• Regular Visits: The Agency conducts unannounced visits to foster carers at least annually and ensures children can speak to trusted adults without their foster carers present.
• Care Planning: Individual care and placement plans are developed to address any risks associated with the child’s background, including offending, drug or alcohol misuse, self-harm, and exploitation.
• Risk Assessments: Comprehensive risk assessments are conducted and regularly updated to identify and mitigate any known vulnerabilities for each child.

Response to Concerns or Allegations:

• Immediate Reporting: Any concerns or allegations of harm must be reported promptly to the appropriate agencies. This includes any suspicion of abuse or neglect by foster carers or staff.
• Support: Children who raise concerns are supported, and their concerns are taken seriously. Foster carers and staff are also provided with support during any investigation.
• Partnerships: The Agency works closely with other child protection agencies, including local authorities, schools, hospitals, and voluntary organizations, to ensure a coordinated response to safeguarding issues.

Promoting Safety and Well-being:

• Safe Care Practices: Foster carers are trained in safe care practices and how to care for children who have experienced abuse. This includes specialized training for those caring for disabled children.
• Awareness and Alertness: Foster carers are vigilant and alert to any signs or symptoms that might indicate a child is at risk of harm. They build positive relationships with children and foster a culture of openness and trust.
• Helping Children Stay Safe: Children are educated on how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet or social media. They are involved in creating de-escalation strategies and managing age-appropriate risks.

Handling Allegations:

• Fair and Quick Resolution: Allegations or suspicions of harm are handled fairly and quickly, following statutory guidance. Both the child and the person who is the subject of the allegation receive appropriate support.
• Communication: There is good communication about safeguarding issues, including injuries sustained during restraints or allegations against foster carers.

By implementing these procedures, the Agency aims to create a safe and supportive environment where children feel protected and valued.

At the initial point of recruiting a new foster carer,  Stage One is used for collating basic information from the applicant, this allows for Stage Two of the process to continue with more stringent checks. Stage One and Two can be carried out concurrently but will be halted if a concern is raised during Stage One of the assessment.

These are some of the checks which will be carried out on an applicant and members of the household over the age of 18 from where they currently live and have previously lived:

• Disclosure and Baring Service
• Probation
• Health Trust
• Education
• Children’s Services
• NSPCC
• Right to work in the UK.

Where applicants have recently moved to the UK (within the last 10 years), checks may also be made on all members of the household aged 18 and over. The application process for criminal records checks or ‘Certificates of Good Character’ for someone from overseas varies from country to country. For further information, see GOV.UK, Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Applicants will also be required to provide the names of two personal referees, who are also adults and have known the applicant for 5 years in a personal capacity but not a relative.   If the applicant has been a foster carer with another agency this fostering service will be asked to give a reference.

Each applicant will be allocated a social worker who will ensure all checks are made and further information collected and dates of when reports have been made and checked.

• Placement Processes: Outline how children are matched with foster families, considering their safety and well-being.

Placements will only be made with carers who have been approved by the Agency (within their terms of approval) and who have signed a Foster Care Agreement.

Any referral would be discussed by the fostering manager and information shared by the local authority social worker. This will allow for the child to be placed with the correct foster carer who will be able to meet the child’s needs.

Managers should make child-centred decisions when matching children with foster carers, including considering the needs of other children already living with the carers. Careful matching contributes to the stability of placements and the retention of foster carers.

The matching process should consider the child’s needs, especially regarding the following key areas:

• Schooling/education (note that where a child in year 10 or 11 is moving to a placement which will disrupt their education, the approval of the placing authority’s Nominated Officer is required);
• Expectations around contact with the child’s family or significant others, particularly in relation to the foster carers’ part in facilitating and/or supervising such contact;
• The child’s identity/race/culture/religion;
• The child’s history;
• The child’s behaviour;
• The child’s health;
• The focus of the placement.

The matching process should also consider the carer’s availability and:

• Their experience;
• Their strengths;
• Their address and the distance from the foster home to the child’s school;
• Any other children in the placement;
• The foster carers’ own children and other family members.

Ongoing Support for Foster Carers:

Foster carers benefit from professional and supportive relationships with the Agency, which help them to provide high-quality care.

Foster carers are part of the team around the child, which is mutually supportive.

Foster carers should feel actively involved in planning for the children they are caring for and should be able to voice their own views to positively influence the child’s progress.

Support should be given to other members of the household and help them to cope with the additional demands of fostering on their family life.

The role of the supervising social worker is to ensure that foster carers are given opportunities to enhance their own training and signposted to supported networks within their area.

Ensuring Safety Through Monitoring:

• Regular Home Visits

Foster homes must be safe and secure, protect children from harm or the risk of harm, and provide a comfortable environment for children.

As part of the preparation to foster all carers will be given training on health and safety.

Support is given to the foster carer from the supervising social work from the start of being a foster carer and continues throughout their journey with the fostering agency.

The following health and safety topics will be discussed and risk assessments recorded:

• Safety equipment used in the home and for transport.
• Fire Safety – equipment and fire exit routes.
• Kitchen Safety – Kitchen equipment. Storage of cleaning products.

Where children have allergies, preventative measures should be detailed in their Care and Placement Plans and Health Care Plan – for example following good hygiene routines in terms of utensils and crockery, hand washing, avoiding cross contamination in the kitchen area, checking labels for allergens and any agreed allergen avoidance in the home.

• Outdoor Areas – Equipment, garden plants.
• Pets – no dog which comes with the scope of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
• Gas Appliances etc. – to ensure they all have up-to date certificates and are regularly serviced.
• Accommodation and bedroom space.

Your Supervising Social Worker will support and guide you to creating and maintaining a safe and caring environment. They will also help you with developing your Safer Caring Plan (see Developing a Safer Caring Plan) and arrange a break (respite) from fostering.

• Child Welfare Checks:

It is essential therefore that children and young people are enabled by professionals to participate in matters that affect them, particularly any plans or arrangements that will affect them and/or their family and are consulted with regard to processes designed to improve services both to them individually and more generally.

Children have access to independent advice and support from adults who they can contact directly and in private about problems or concerns, which is appropriate to their age and understanding. Children know their rights to advocacy, how to access an advocate and how to contact The Children’s Commissioner for England. Children can take up issues in the most appropriate way with support, without fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Children receive prompt feedback on any concerns or complaints raised and are kept informed of progress.

The wishes, feelings and views of children and those significant to them are taken into account in monitoring foster carers and developing the fostering service.

Review Meetings:

Each child placed with foster carers must have a placement plan which details the arrangement and care for their placement.

Placement Planning meetings are periodically held with the foster carers and their supervising social worker.   At times these can be also set if there is an issue which needs to resolve in relation to a day to day arrangement for the placement.

All relevant parties should attend the placement planning meeting and the most up to date Placement Plan for the child should be shared, information given on the support  undertaken in the placement, if applicable the child’s Care Plan, Personal Education Plan and Pathway Plan.

Looked After Review meetings are conducted and convened by the placing authority.  These meetings are usually chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer.

The purpose of the Looked After review is to:

• Ensure that appropriate plans are in place to safeguard and promote the overall welfare of the looked after child in the most effective way and achieve permanence for them within a timescale that meets their needs;
• To monitor the progress of the plans and ensure they are being progressed effectively;
• To make decisions, as necessary, for amendments to those plans to reflect any change in knowledge and/or circumstances;
• For a young person living in foster care, the first Looked After review following their 16th birthday should consider whether a Staying Put arrangement (whereby the young person remains in the foster home after the age of 18) should be an option.

The review should also take account of the child’s placement plan and any other plans or strategies (e.g. behaviour management) ensuring that they are up to date or that arrangements are in place to update them.

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