Placements in Foster Care

At the point that it is determined that a foster home may be required, and throughout the subsequent process of identification, planning and placement of a child in the care of a foster carer, the social worker must consult and take account of the views of the following people:

1. The child;
2. The child's parents or others holding parental responsibility ;
3. Anyone who is not a parent but has been caring for or looking after the child;
4. Other members of the child's family who are significant to the child or who have a contact order in their favour in relation to the child;
5. The child's school or the education service;
6. The Youth Justice Service, if the child is known to them;
7. Any other relevant person, e.g. nursery, health care professional, Children's Guardian.

The views of these people should be given by them, in writing, or should be recorded by the social worker. If the child's wishes are not acted upon, the reason should be given.

Where a decision has been made that a child requires a foster home, the home finding team/child's social worker should request a foster home by contacting the duty social worker at the Fostering Service.

In making this request, the social worker will be asked to provide information about the child, the type of fostering home sought, the care plan, the date by which the home is required, the likely length of time for which the fostering home is required and the expected level of family time between the child and parents. The social worker should also outline any risks associated with the arrangement. A detailed profile of the child should be prepared to help identify a match between the child’s needs and the foster families available, ensuring, wherever possible, the child contributes their views. 

The duty social worker at the Fostering Service will check whether an in-house fostering home is available that appears to be appropriate to meet the child's needs. If such a home is available or if there is a possibility of a home being available by the required date, the social worker will be advised accordingly.

If no appropriate in-house fostering homes are available and the child requires a home without delay, the allocated social worker will obtain the agreement of their Service Manager/Head of Service for the Home Finding Team to undertake a search with independent fostering agencies to identify a suitable fostering home.

Where there is a child already in the proposed foster home, contact should be made with the social worker for that child, and where the child is from a different local authority, the consent of that child's local authority should be sought by the allocated social work team.

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

• The child's education;
• The expectations around contact with relatives and friends;
• The child's identity/race/culture/religion/heritage;
• The child's history;
• The child's behaviour;
• The child's health;
• The focus of the fostering arrangement.

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

• Their experience;
• Their strengths;
• The family composition;
• Heritage /identity
• The distance from the foster home to the child's school;
• Other children in the fostering home;
• The foster carer's children.

Once a potential foster home has been identified, the child's social worker will liaise with the foster carer's supervising social worker (who may be from an independent fostering agency) to agree arrangements. At this stage, the social worker will also discuss the child with the prospective foster carer and, in particular, share/clarify any needs or risks associated with the placement of a child we care for with the foster carers and the supervising social worker. Wherever possible, the child's social worker should visit potential foster carers and, as required, consult with other professionals, prior to a decision about the appropriateness of a fostering home being made.

In relation to the sharing of bedrooms, each child over 3 should have their own bedroom, or where this is not possible, the responsible authority must agree to the sharing of the bedroom, and this must therefore be addressed during the matching process.

Where the proposed foster home is with an in-house foster carer, it will then be presented to the relevant director for that service for approval or will be considered through the Care and Resource Panel if time allows.

If the Fostering Arrangement is outside the foster carer's terms of approval or an exemption is required, see Exemptions and Extensions/Variations to Foster Carer Approval Procedure.

If the proposed Fostering arrangement is with an independent fostering agency, the relevant director for that service must approve the arrangement, and a written agreement must be drawn up with the fostering agency setting out the precise terms and conditions between the local authority and the agency in relation to the placement of a child in the care of the independent Foster Home. Where the foster home is with independent foster carers who live outside the local authority area, see also Out of Area Placements Procedure.

NB In addition to the above approvals, in order to avoid placing a child in an arrangement that disrupt a child's education, they must approve any change of foster home affecting a child in Key Stage 4 except in an emergency/ where the placement is terminated because of an immediate risk of serious harm to the child or to protect others from serious injury - see Supporting the Education and Promoting the Achievement of Children with a Social Worker, Looked After and Previously Looked After Children Procedure.

If the relevant manager approves the foster home, the placement planning process can start - see Section 4, Placement Planning.

The social worker may then arrange an introductory visit to the proposed foster home, with the child (if old enough) and parents (if appropriate). The introductory book made by Foster Carers about their home and family should be shared with the child.

Before the child is moved, the child's social worker will arrange a Placement Planning Meeting after liaising with the foster carer and the foster carer's supervising social worker (who may be from an independent fostering agency). The meeting will usually be held in the new foster home. See also Disruption Meetings (Permanent Placements: Fostering and Residential) Procedure.

Participants will include:

• The parent;
• The child (if appropriate);
• The foster carer;
• The supervising social worker;
• Any other relevant professionals, e.g. a representative from the child's school;
• Anyone else considered appropriate or who will have a role in the placement.

The purpose of the first Placement Planning Meeting is to finalise the Placement Plan (which will be recorded on the Placement Information Record). This will involve a discussion of the child's needs to ensure careful matching, including the child's personal history, religion/faith, cultural and linguistic background and ethnicity, as well as the child's health and education needs and how these are to be met. It will also include the arrangements for registering the child with local health professionals (GP, dentist and optician).

In addition, the Placement Planning Meeting will consider the type of introduction process required, for example, whether arrangements should be made for the child, parents and the social worker to visit the foster home and/or whether it may be appropriate to have an introductory overnight stay. Children should be able to visit the foster home and talk in private with the carer. If this is not possible, arrangements may be made for the carers to visit the child and parents; or for information about the foster carers to be sent to the child and/or the parents, for example about routines in the foster home, bedtimes, meals, visitors, pocket money, school, privacy and the overall expectations in relation to the child's behaviour within the home.

For children moved to live in a foster home, the Placement Plan should cover the following issues in addition to those for all placements of children set out in the Decision to Look After Procedure:

1. The type of accommodation to be provided and the address;
2. Where the authority has, or is notified of, Child Protection concerns relating to the child, or the child has gone missing from the placement or from any previous placement, the day-to-day arrangements put in place by the appropriate person (placement provider) to keep the child safe;
3. The child's personal history, religious persuasion, cultural and linguistic background and racial origin;
4. Where the child is accommodated:
• The respective responsibilities of the Local Authority and parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility;
• Any delegation of responsibility by parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility to the Local Authority and /or the foster carer(s) in relation to the following matters ( and identifying any of these matters on which the local authority/parents/persons with Parental Responsibility consider that the child may make a decision): 
• Medical and dental treatment;
• Education;
• Leisure and home life;
• Faith and religious observance;
• Use of social media;
• Any other matters upon which the local authority/parents/others with parental responsibility consider appropriate;
• The expected duration of the arrangements and the steps to bring the arrangements to an end, including arrangements for the child  to return to live with parents/anyone with Parental Responsibility;
• Where the child is aged 16 or over and agrees to being provided with accommodation under Section 20 Children Act 1989, that fact;
• The circumstances in which it is necessary to obtain in advance the Local Authority's  approval for the child to take part in school trips or overnight stays;
• The Local Authority's arrangements for the financial support of the child during the placement;
• The obligation on the carers to comply with the terms of the Foster Carer Agreement.

The meeting also provides an opportunity to ensure that the foster carers have a copy of any relevant court order and that full information is shared with them about the child's needs and any behaviour management issues.

Except in emergency placing of children with foster carers, the Placement Planning Meeting should be held before the placement of a child in the foster home. Where this is not possible, it should be held in order that the Placement Plan is prepared within 5 working days of the start of the foster placement.

The child's social worker will complete and arrange for the circulation of the Care Plan and Placement Plan to the child, parents and foster carers before or at the latest, within 5 working days of the foster placement.

At the time of the foster placement, the foster carers should also be given any additional information about details of the child's day to day needs which are not covered by the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record but are important to ensure that the carers are in the best possible position to help the child settle in the new foster home, for example any particular fears at night-time or the child's favourite toys.

The child's social worker must provide the child and the parent with written information about becoming a cared-for child, including information on using the Complaints Procedure.

In addition, as indicated above, the social worker should ensure that any other information about the fostering home that is available for the child is obtained and given to them. Children must understand house expectations before they move to the foster home.

In all cases, the child should be accompanied to the foster home by the social worker and helped to settle in. Suitable luggage should be used, and a child's belongings should never be transported in bin bags or other inappropriate containers.

The child's social worker will update the child's electronic records with the details of the foster home. For in-house foster carers, the fostering service ensures that notification is sent to the finance section so as to trigger payments to the foster carer.  For IFA foster homes, this will be undertaken by the home-finding service.

The notifications should be before the start of the foster home placement, wherever possible, or no later than within 5 working days.

Notification will also be sent by the child's social worker to the Designated Nurse for CWCF, the education service, the relevant local Children's Services (if the foster home is in the area of a different local authority) and the child's GP.

The child's social worker will notify all family members consulted and involved in the decision-making process of moving a child to the foster home.

The child's social worker must also notify the allocated quality assurance reviewing officer if this is the first home for a child since becoming ‘cared for’, then adding a cared for episode on the case management system. will trigger the appointment of a Quality Assurance Reviewing Officer, and the setting up of arrangements for a Children We Care For Review.

These notifications must be made in writing, advising of the decision and the name and address of the person with whom the child is to be living.

The child's social worker should also notify - preferably in writing, but it may be verbally - all those involved in the day-to-day arrangements for the child, including nursery/school and any health professional or YJS worker actively involved with the child.

It will be necessary for the foster carer or the child's social worker to ensure the child is registered with a GP, Dentist and Optician, either retaining practices known to him or her (which is preferable) or in the area where they are placed.

In relation to a first home since becoming a cared for child, it will also be necessary for the social worker to submit appropriate documentation to the Designated Nurse for CWCF to arrange an Initial Health Assessment - see Health Assessments and Health Care Plans Procedure for further details. Consent for the INHA must be sought from the parent/person with PR without delay

The social worker must also contact the relevant school or, where the child does not have a school place, the relevant Virtual School officer with a view to the completion of a Personal Education Plan - see Supporting the Education and Promoting the Achievement of Children with a Social Worker, Looked After and Previously Looked After Children Procedure.

For any new home for a child, every effort should be made to enable the child to remain at the same school unless there are reasons which would be detrimental to their well-being.

The child's social worker must visit the child in the fostering home within one week of the placement and then, at a minimum, every six weeks during the first year, thereafter every six weeks (three months if the placement is intended to last until the child is 18). Where needs direct the frequency of visits should increase above statutory minimum. For children in long-term foster placements, visits after the first year should be agreed as part of the children we care for process and must be ratified by the QARO ( IRO) - see Social Worker Visits to Looked After Children Procedure.

The foster carer will also receive support and supervision from their supervising social worker (for in-house fostering) - see Supervision and Support of Foster Carers Procedure - and from the independent fostering agency (for external fostering homes)

Where there are concerns in relation to the progress of the child whilst in their fostering home, consideration should be given to the reasons for this, and it may be appropriate to seek additional resources to assist the carers.

Where there are any changes to the type of care arrangement or to the child's legal status, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic records.

The records should be monitored for quality, adequacy and retention.

A child we care for review should be convened where:

• The child is, or has been, persistently absent from the fostering home;
• The fostering service/IFA, parents or area authority are concerned that the child is at risk of harm; or
• The child so requests, unless the QARO considers that the review is not justified.

See also Children We Care For Reviews Procedure.

When the child leaves the fostering home, the child's social worker must update the child's electronic records and the fostering service (for in-house carers) or the Home finding service for IFA carers must notify the finance department so that payments to the carer/provider will cease. The home-finding service will also send copies to those notified when the placement was made.

All written information on the child, which the foster carer holds, should be transferred to the supervising social worker for transfer to the child's social worker.

If appropriate, the foster carer should be asked to complete an end-of-foster placement report.

Children must, when they leave the home, be helped to understand the reasons and be supported with the transition, including return home and independence.

Foster carers must be supported to maintain links with children who leave their care, where appropriate. This is important to help children understand their experiences and are supported to keep in touch with people who are important to them.

Where the Foster placement ends in an unplanned way, consideration should be given to holding a Disruption Meeting - see Disruption Meetings (Permanent Placements: Fostering and Residential) Procedure.

Where a former carer's records are requested by a new agency, these must be made available within one month of the request.

A person who is approved as a prospective adopter may be given temporary approval as a local authority foster carer for a named cared for child, where the local authority consider that this is in the child's best interests. This is referred to as Early Permanence.

Before giving such approval, the responsible authority must:

• Assess the suitability of that person to care for the child as a foster carer; and
• Consider whether, in all the circumstances and taking into account the services to be provided by the responsible authority, the proposed arrangements will safeguard and promote the child's welfare and meet the child's needs as set out in the Care Plan.

The temporary approval period expires when:

• The placement is terminated by the local authority.
• The approval as a prospective adopter is terminated;
• The prospective adopter is approved as a foster carer;
• The prospective adopter gives 28 days' written notice that they no longer wish to be temporarily approved as a foster parent in relation to the child; or
• The child is placed for adoption with the prospective adopter.

Where it is the case that the most appropriate route to permanence is long-term foster care, the regulations set out the arrangements for making such a fostering placement, including:

• That foster care is the plan for permanence and is recorded in the child's care plan (Reg 5(a));
• That the foster carer has agreed to act as the child's foster carer until the child ceases to be cared for; 
• That the responsible authority has confirmed the nature of the arrangement with the foster carer(s), the birth parent and the child; and
• The child and foster carer have a clear understanding of the support services they will receive to promote the placement.

The assessment and planning process for long-term foster care should address the child's current needs and likely future needs, and the capacity of the foster carer to meet these needs now and in the future. The length of foster placement will vary according to the child's age and the long-term plan for the child, including the transition to adulthood. These factors must all be considered in planning for support and services where long-term foster care has been identified as the plan for permanence for a child.

Before deciding to place a child in a long-term foster home (whether or not this means moving to a new carer), the ability of the identified long-term foster carer to care for the child both now and in the future should be assessed. The support and services which will be needed to ensure that the fostering placement is stable, secure and meets the child's needs should be identified taking into account the carer's previous fostering or other childcare experience, family configuration (including placement of other children under fostering arrangements), existing relationship (if any) with the child, knowledge and skills and capacity to care for the child long term under a fostering arrangement.

It is imperative that the foster carer fully understands and explicitly agrees to the long-term commitment they are making to the child [regulation 22B (2)(f)]. A record of the discussion of these matters, including the outcome, should be made as part of the assessment process.

The decision to place a child in a long-term foster home with a particular foster carer should be discussed and recorded as part of the review process. This decision should then be recorded in the placement plan and agreed and signed by the foster carer [regulation 9(3)].

Where it is agreed that the child will stay long-term within a foster home, this should be communicated clearly to the foster carer, the child's parents or any other person who is not a parent but has parental responsibility and the child. (Reg 2(1)).

Where the decision has been taken that the plan for permanence is long-term foster care and the child is in an existing foster home, it may be that the carer and (where appropriate) the child want the existing foster arrangement to be the long-term foster home. Such a proposal should be considered in a reasonable timescale, taking into account the existing relationship between the child and the foster carer, the length of time in their care, the child's relationships with the foster carer's wider family and community. Consideration should also be given to the progress the child has made in the foster home and should be recorded through the children we care for review process.

There may be circumstances where it is not considered appropriate to assess the ability of the current foster carer as the long-term carer for the child. In these instances, the reasons for this decision should be clearly set out in writing to the foster carer. This decision should also be communicated to the child, where it is appropriate to their age and understanding.