What Happens Now I am Approved?

1. Introduction

Congratulations, now you have been approved as a foster carer you will be allocated a Supervising Social Worker from the fostering service. They will make sure you have all the information and support needed to offer the best possible placements to children and young people.

Your approval as a foster carer will be regularly reviewed, see Reviewing my Approval and Appeals.

You will be asked to enter into a Foster Care Agreement with the fostering service.

What is the Foster Care Agreement?

The Foster Care Agreement sets out what responsibilities we have as a local authority and your responsibilities as a carer. The original copy will be kept in your carers’ file with your fostering team and you should make sure you keep one too.

What is the Safer Caring Plan/Safer Caring Policy?

At the beginning of any placement it is important for you and/or your family to think about your Safer Caring Plan. This plan is about understanding and managing risk and covers different aspects of your day to day life. Your assessing social worker may have helped you with this already. This needs to be kept up to date regularly and will be discussed with you in supervision and annually at your review.

When will I meet my Supervising Social Worker?

You will have a Supervising Social Worker (SSW) from the Fostering Team assigned to you as soon as you have been approved. They will advise, assist and support you and your family in your fostering role, as well as ensuring children in your care are safeguarded. You should meet with them as soon as possible.You should also expect to receive your Induction Pack electronically.

You will have already completed a Carers Profile before going to the Fostering Panel, with details on your family and approval. This document is used to help make the best placement matches.

Each carer will receive regular supervision as well as contacts from their Supervising Social Worker by phone, email, WhatsApp or in person to discuss how things are going and any additional help you may need. It might be helpful to discuss with your social worker how you prefer to contact each other and whether you need them to check in more regularly.

Your SSW will assist you in forming a Personal Development Plan and meeting the requirements of the Training Support and Development (TSD) standards (see more in the Training section). The Fostering Service will be required to review your fostering approval at least yearly. Your first review and any review requiring a change in your terms of approval will be presented to the Fostering Panel, to which you will be invited.

All new foster carers will be invited to a Fostering Induction day as well as being offered support via a 1st year of Fostering Whatsapp group.

Your Supervising Social Worker is required to make at least one unannounced visit to your home each year, but most carers receive at least 2 visits. There is a pro forma for unannounced visits which should be completed by your Supervising Social Worker and signed by yourself.

Other things to do as a new carer

• All email communication between HCC and foster carers has to take place using the secure email system ‘Hertsfostering.org’. You will be given a hertsfostering.org email address and guidance to ensure you can use this system. For technical help or to request a guidance document on using the secure email system, please contact: HertsFostering@hertfordshire.gov.uk;
• Each adult carer will be accessed to supply a passport-sized photograph so that we can issue you with an ID card as an approved carer;
• DBS checks must be undertaken on any new adults joining your family and on any of your own children or children looked after staying put when they reach the age of 18 years;
• Training programmes and available courses can be accessed and booked via your iLearn account. Please make sure that you can access iLearn, as this will always have the most up to date information on what is available. Training will be personalised throughout your journey as a carer, and we encourage you to think about areas you may want to develop and courses you can enrol on;
• For support available to you as a new carer, please see our Foster Carer Support Offer.

2. Your Role

• Providing a safe and caring environment for the child/young person;
• Supporting and meeting the health needs of the child/young person;
• Ensuring a child/young person's attendance at educational settings including nursery, school, college and any placement. Encouraging them to learn and help them with their homework;
• Contributing to life story work while a child is in placement with you;
• Supporting and, if appropriate, facilitating contact with a child's birth family and significant others;
• Supporting and, if appropriate, facilitating the transition between a fostering placement and an adoptive/other placement;
• Establishing routine, clear boundaries and having an understanding of issues that impact upon the child/young person;
• Supporting and promoting the child's development so they can achieve their full potential and have the best life chances;
• Preparing the child/young person for independence.

3. What Information do I Need When a Child is Placed

A social worker from the fostering service will contact you when looking for a placement for a child/young person that is in your approval category. When they do, you need to be sure that the child/young person will be best placed with you.

It will be useful to prepare a list of questions that you may want to ask when they call. If you are unsure about any placement you must discuss this.

You may want to ask:

1. The social workers name, is the case allocated, if not, who you contact in the future;
2. The child's name, age, how they identify in relation to gender, ethnic origin, religion;
3. Does the child have any special dietary, cultural or linguistic needs;
4. The child's legal status;
5. General picture of the family situation;
6. Any information knows about the child’s background and trauma experienced;
7. What are the contact arrangements?
8. How is the child's health, do they have any allergies or medical problems, specific equipment or are they currently on medication;
9. Are they at school, nursery or placement? Are there any issues;
10. Does the child have any communication issues?
11. Any there any presenting behavious to be aware of;
12. Are there any known risks from the child, e.g. aggressive or sexualised behaviour;
13. Who will bring the child and with what clothes and belongings?
14. When will you have full information about the child?

You need as much information as possible about a child/ young person before they come into your home.

You should receive written information before the placement from the child's social worker. Occasionally for example in emergencies, there can be a delay, but this should be no longer than 5 days. No information can be withheld from you without a manager's approval and this will only be in rare cases.

4. Meeting The Child/Young Person

Wherever possible there should be a period of introductions between you, your family and the child.

This should involve:

• The child/young person receiving information about you, your home and members of your family network. You will already have completed a Child Friendly profile which will be shared with the child/young person;
• The child/young person visiting and or/having at least one overnight visit where possible before a placement is confirmed.

The child should be encouraged to talk about what they expect so they can sort out any concerns before the placement starts.

5. Unaccompanied Children From Abroad

From time to time, placements will be needed for children who have entered the UK as unaccompanied asylum seeking children, unaccompanied migrant children or child victims of modern slavery including trafficking.

As a foster carer, if you have a child placed with you in this situation, the Placement Plan and future reviews should help you understand the plan for the child and what you can do to help support the child in placement, particularly in relation to meeting their cultural needs and addressing any trauma they may have experienced. Your Supervising Social Worker can help you to develop a better understanding of the circumstances and the support which can be accessed for both you and the child.

6. The Child's Care Plan

The child's Care Plan provides information of the work that must be done to meet the needs of the child/young person. It is the social worker of the child or children who holds responsibility for specific advice or support in relation to the child and his or her Care Plan and Placement Plan.

The Care Plan usually includes:

• The child's Placement Plan (setting out why the placement was chosen and how the placement will contribute to meeting the child's needs);
• The Permanence Plan (setting out the long term plans for the child's upbringing including timescales);
• The Pathway Plan (where appropriate, for young people leaving care);
• The Health Plan;
• The Personal Education Plan;
• The contingency plan;
• The date of the child's first Looked After Review (within 28 working days from when the child was placed with you);
• The name of the Independent Reviewing Officer.

7. The Child's Placement Plan

The Supervising Social Worker, you, the child/young person, family members and the child's social worker will put together the Placement Plan. This is completed either on the day or within five days of a placement being made.

The Placement Plan covers:

• Purpose of the placement;
• Any agreements about health or educational needs;
• The child's personal history;
• The child's likes/dislikes;
• The rules of the placement, including how the child should behave;
• Agreements for contact between the child/young person, family or relevant individuals;
• When social work visits to the child and yourself will happen and any review meetings.

See: Understanding Placement Plans and Children Looked After Reviews. 

8. The Children's Guide

The child/young person should receive this when they start a placement. This guide will help children and young people understand about foster care and provide information that may be important to them. It will tell them about their rights and how they can contact people such as their Independent Reviewing Officer, Children's Commissioner or Ofsted if they wish to raise a concern. It will also explain the information which the fostering service keeps on them and why, including who it might be shared with, and their right to access their case file.

You should go through the guide with the child/young person in terms they understand.

If the child needs the Children's Guide in another format such as in another language or Makaton the fostering service should provide it.

Click here to view the Hertfordshire Children’s Guide.