Standards and Regulations
Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care:
Amendment
This chapter was updated in August 2023.
Current and prospective foster carers can make a complaint about any aspect of the fostering service which affects them directly. The Fostering Service will have a written complaints policy, and carers and prospective carers will be provided with information on how to access this.
In the first instance, you may want to consider raising any concerns with your supervising social worker or a manager in the Fostering Service. This is often the quickest route to resolving issues.
You can, however, make a formal complaint straight away if you prefer.
The Fostering Service will ensure that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes part in the investigation unless the registered person of the Fostering Service considers it appropriate. If the complaint is in relation to the registered person, a suitably qualified and experienced person who is totally independent of the Fostering Service, will be appointed as Complaints Officer to deal with the complaint.
You will not be subject to any reprisal for making a complaint or representation.
Complaints will be treated seriously and the Fostering Service will respond to them clearly and fairly. The process around a complaint will be explained to you, including the timeframes involved.
You should be given a copy of the outcome of the complaint and what action if any will be taken to improve any practice changes and service improvements will be explained to you. Also there should be a clear outcome to the investigation.
The placing and/or host authorities are engaged as necessary during the complaints process.
If you are helping a child in your care complain or want to complain on their behalf, please see the Complaints by and for Children Procedure.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman offer the following advice for complainants:
Don't delay
Check what you need to do and be clear you are making a complaint
Put it in writing
Be clear and brief
Provide evidence
Be clear about what you want
Be polite
Respond appropriately
Be patient
You are also entitled to get in touch with the regulatory body Ofsted. A complaint to Ofsted may be appropriate if you are not satisfied with the service's response after you have followed its complaints procedure or if you feel unable to contact the service concerned about this particular issue.
Formal complaints should be made in writing. The Fostering Service will always try to deal with this informally - see above section. This does not mean that you are not being taken seriously; it is because the complaint is more likely to be able to be dealt with quickly and to your satisfaction when it is dealt with in this way. This is known as a Stage 1 complaint. All complaints are recorded by the Fostering Service and the Fostering Service Manager monitors them.
If you are not satisfied with this, your complaint will be dealt with in line with the Children's Social Care Procedures. This is known as a Stage 2 complaint and an independent investigation will take place.
If the complaint has still not been resolved then an independent review panel will consider the complaint and the way it has been dealt with. This is Stage 3 of the process and it has to be considered by an independent panel.
Local authority foster carers can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if they remain unhappy.
Carers registered with either a local authority or Independent Fostering Agency can contact Ofsted if they have continued concerns about the service.
If your complaint is about a local authority fostering service, and you are not happy with the final outcome following the Stage 3 / Independent Review Panel, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Click here for the Local and Social Care Government Ombudsman contact details.
Ofsted inspect fostering agencies in relation to the National Minimum Standards. If you have a serious concern about the Fostering Service, you can contact Ofsted. You can also contact Ofsted if you are not satisfied with the Fostering Service's response after you have followed its complaints procedure or you feel unable to contact the service concerned about this particular issue.
Complaints may be made to Ofsted as the Regulatory Authority. Their contact details are:
Ofsted
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD
Tel: 0300 123 4666
Email: CIE@ofsted.gov.uk
See:
Complain about a provider Ofsted inspects or regulates
You can also contact the Children’s Commissioner for England
However, Ofsted will not be able to consider any complaints until this internal Complaints process has been fully completed.