Review and Termination of Approval and Resignation of Foster Carers

The purpose of a foster carer review is to consider whether the foster carer continues to be suitable to be a foster carer and their household continues to be suitable, and whether the terms of the foster carer’s approval continue to be appropriate.

The process of a foster carer review is described in National Minimum Standards (NMS) 20.6 Fostering Services 2011 as “The Reviews of each Carer’s approval include an appraisal of performance against clear and consistent standards set by the Agency, and consideration of training and development needs, which are documented in the Review report. The Foster Carer’s personal development plan is reviewed and the effectiveness of training and development received is evaluated. Reviews take into account the views of each child currently placed with the Foster Carer.”

In summary, this means that the review is to provide an appraisal of the carer’s ability and their experience of fostering during the last year.

Therefore the foster carer review provides an excellent opportunity to ensure that the quality of care provided meets the standards demanded by the Service. To be effective, the review has to be based upon reliable evidence regarding the standard of care provided.

The foster carer review should be seen as a process, involving a fresh look at the foster carer’s approval and any significant changes in the household and support network, rather than a one-off event or a rubber-stamping exercise.  In this way, the foster carer review is a key part of the Service’s approach to quality assurance. 

The foster carer review provides an opportunity for the foster carer to demonstrate good practice and to provide feedback upon the quality of supervision and support they have received.  It also provides an opportunity to reflect upon the learning and development needs of foster carers and their individual training profiles. Such information can then be analysed to develop the training strategy of the Service as whole.

The review concludes with a written report provided by the Service, setting out whether the foster carer continues to be suitable to be a foster carer and the foster carer’s household continues to be suitable, and the terms of the foster carer’s approval continue to be appropriate.

A review must take place not more than one year after approval and thereafter whenever considered necessary but at intervals of not more than one year.

A foster carer’s first review has to be considered by the Fostering Panel. Reviews are then considered by Panel every three years as good practice and to ensure Panel fulfils it’s monitoring role. Reviews will also take place in the event of a significant change in circumstances of a foster carer, for example, where there are concerns about the care provided by the foster carer as a result of standard of care concerns or a complaint or allegation, where there is a significant change in the foster carer's circumstances (e.g. health ) and where there is a permanent change in the foster household membership.

The Mosaic workflow, in respect of the foster carer review process, is completed in respect of each foster carer review. The Service uses CoramBAAF Review templates for this purpose.

As well as formal reviews, there will be regular supervision, dialogue and feedback between the supervising social worker and the foster carer.

Prior to the review meeting, the supervising social worker will ensure that identified parties are consulted in order to obtain the information necessary to review whether the foster carer remains suitable. The supervising social worker will provide a report using the Supervising Social Worker Report template detailing the foster carer's progress and placement history and any significant events or changes within their household. The report will also detail any complaints or allegations or standard of care matters. The report will also set out details of compliance with repeat Enhanced DBS checks and medicals, insurance, Safe Care Plan, Health and Safety checks including Pet and Dog Assessments, record keeping, attendance at training, supervisory visits and unannounced visits. The report will include information regarding the accommodation. The supervising social worker should provide a recommendation as to the carers continued suitability to foster.

The supervising social worker will also, as part of the formal review, seek the views of all members of the foster carer's household as well as the written views on the quality of the placement offered from all social workers who have used the foster carer for a placement since the last formal review as recorded on the Child’s Social Worker Report. This will include contacting a social worker from outside the Service where appropriate.

The supervising social worker will also seek and take into account the views of any child placed with the foster carer since the last review via the child's social worker whose responsibility it is to seek feedback from the child regarding their views on the care provided. On occasion where the child’s social worker has been unable to obtain the child’s views the supervising social worker may obtain this feedback via direct consultation with the child concerned. There is a strong emphasis upon the voice of the child in the 2011 Fostering Standards, regulations and guidance. Given it can be difficult for children in foster care to provide genuine and balanced feedback regarding a fostering household where they are still living, particular care will be taken to provide opportunities for children in care to participate meaningfully in the foster carer review process. How this is best achieved will depend upon the age and character of the specific child, but the invitation to contribute to the evidence for the foster carer review should in any case extend beyond simply sending them a consultation form. Support to assist with consultation with young people and children may include assisting the young person to complete the feedback form (a task that, for reasons of bias and potential awkwardness, it is usually not appropriate to delegate to the foster carer), speaking with the child away from the foster home or engaging in an email or text exchange with the young person, or using other communication methods such as artwork, which they may be more comfortable with than a formal feedback template.

The child’s social worker should seek feedback from children and young people in the following areas:

• Whether they were made to feel welcome upon arrival;
• What they think of their bedroom, toys, equipment provided, food provided;
• What it’s like on a day to day basis living with the foster carers;
• How the foster carer helps them keep in touch with their birth family or others (where appropriate);
• Whether they feel able to speak to their foster carer if they’re feeling unhappy or worried;
• How the foster carer helps them with their school work;
• How the foster carers have encouraged them to get involved in sports, clubs, other interests;
• How the foster carer helps them with any health issues;
• How the foster carer prepares them for independence (where appropriate);
• Who they would talk to if they were unhappy about something in the foster home.

These should be regarded as areas of carefully planned consultation and feedback, not just the headings of a feedback form.

The supervising and child’s social workers should determine the best way of maximising the quality and honesty of the feedback from the child in placement. Sometimes, non-verbal communication can provide eloquent evidence of the child’s experience of foster care.  This may be particularly true of pre-verbal children or children with disabilities but can also apply to other children uncomfortable or unwilling to express their opinions and views more formally.

Children’s views will be recorded on the Fostered Child’s Comments template or the Fostered Young Person’s Comments template.

In addition views will be sought from the birth children of the foster carer living in the household using the Sons and Daughters (C or YP) Comments Template

The supervising social worker will provide a copy of all of the review reports to the foster carer and to the reviewing officer to enable them to prepare for the review in advance. The foster carer will have the opportunity to communicate his or her views for the review in writing using the Foster Carer’s Report.

To support the foster carer review process, it is the supervising social worker’s responsibility to ensure that the report is balanced, clearly identifying any issues and the steps taken to address these.  It is the reviewing officer’s responsibility to note when significant information is not recorded or not fully addressed in the review paperwork.

The purpose of the foster carer review is to consider the evidence drawn from the consultation parties set out in section 3 of this procedure, which is then weighed up and evaluated by the supervising social worker and the reviewing officer in their reports. The review should hold no significant surprises for the foster carer: as set out in NMS 13.9, “areas of concern, or need for additional support, that are identified between Reviews are addressed.  Such matters identified between Reviews are addressed at the time they are identified, where appropriate, rather than waiting for a Review.” It is important to note that foster carer reviews are an annual look back at the fostering year and ongoing practice. They are not meant to be problem-solving forums or to address difficulties that have built up over time– these should be dealt with as they arise, through the routine supervision and support offered by the supervising social worker, or by discussions with other professionals working alongside the foster carer or child. Where issues have arisen in the preceding year, the foster carer review can be a good arena to reflect on these, consider any learning, and, if necessary, help the two parties to move forward restoratively.

The review meeting is usually held in the foster carer’s household but can be held on the Service’s office premises.

At the review meeting, the agenda will include an appraisal of the foster carer's training and development needs, an evaluation of the training received since the last review, the foster carer's views of the service and support provided as well as the appropriateness of placements made and the care provided by the foster carer. The review will also consider the quality of the foster carer's recording; the up-dated health and safety check and safe care plan. The views of children’s social workers, children placed and the foster carer's own children will also be considered. The review should also consider the suitability of existing bedroom arrangements, including a risk assessment if children over the age of three are sharing a bedroom

The review meeting should be attended by the reviewing officer, the supervising social worker and, unless a single carer, both of the foster carers. Foster carers who are approved as respite carers only, should attend their reviews even when they provide a limited number of respite days and nights.

At the conclusion of the review, the reviewing officer prepares a written report setting out:

• If the foster carers continue to be suitable to act as foster carers and if their household continues to be suitable; and
• Whether the terms of the approval continue to be appropriate;
• A summary and analysis of the information shared and considered for the review and any conclusions reached;
• The reviewing officer’s report should confirm or otherwise whether the recommendation of the supervising social worker is supported by the review meeting chair and all those present.

Any recommendations arising from the review will be discussed with the foster carer and recorded by the chair and added to the review report. The foster carer should have the opportunity to put their views on the recommendations in writing to be presented to the Fostering Panel or the Agency Decision Maker when the completed review is considered. The recommendations contained within the review report should form part of the ongoing supervision conversations between the carer and their supervising social worker.

Following completion of the Reviewing Officer Report the review reports and the recommendation are passed to the manager of the Family Placement Service who completes a Manager Report. The review will be completed on the date when the Manager signs off the Manager Report, the ‘Review date’.

If no review meeting is possible within the necessary timescale, a review must take place and the relevant paperwork completed in the absence of the meeting. Circumstances leading to this can be, for example, unforeseeable and exceptional, like a bereavement or serious health concerns, including accidents and personal incidents preventing completion of the review on time.

There may be occasions, with more complex reviews, where more than one meeting will be required in order to share the information appropriately and gauge the foster carer’s response to any concerns, complaints or allegations.

Following completion of the Manager Report the reviewing officer passes the completed review reports to the Foster Panel or to the Agency Decision Maker for consideration according to the circumstance below  

1. Panel and then ADM for the first review following approval and subsequently every three years;
2. Panel and then ADM when required for subsequent reviews as outlined in section 2 of this procedure where significant changes to the foster carer's approval or the termination of the foster carer's approval are recommended or where any circumstances exist which require consideration by the Fostering Panel. This may include the situation where an updating Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check reveals a new concern about the foster carer or a member of the household or there are allegations or complaints or standards of care concerns;
3. Directly to the ADM for reviews not presented to a Panel for consideration of the review recommendations. Where continued approval with no changes to the terms of approval is recommended or when a change of approval with written consent is proposed, this is subsequently considered by the Agency Decision Maker.

Whether presented to the Fostering Panel or not, the review will be presented to the Agency Decision Maker for a decision as to whether the foster carer remains suitable to foster and whether the terms of approval remain suitable. Where it has been presented to the Fostering Panel, the Agency Decision Maker will take into account the Panel’s recommendation.

The supervising social worker will present the review reports and recommendations to the Fostering Panel. The foster carers will be invited to attend Panel and Panel procedure will be followed. Where a review is not presented to Panel the reviewing officer will send the review reports to the Agency Decision Maker for their consideration.  Any recommendations for change in the foster carer's approval should be highlighted in the report.

Where the review recommends the termination of approval of the foster carer, see Section 7.1, Proposal to Terminate Foster Carer’s Approval.

Where the Fostering Panel's recommendation is for a different category of approval, see Section 7.2, Proposal to Revise the Terms of the Foster Carer’s Approval.

Where the foster carer has decided to give up fostering, see Section 9, Resignation by Foster Carers.

The supervising social worker will send a copy of all the review reports including the Reviewing Officer Report and Manager Report to the foster carer and will confirm the ADM decision verbally and in writing with the foster carers. A new Foster Carer Agreement should be signed by the foster carer, supervising social worker and Family Placement Service manager at the conclusion of each review.

A copy of the review reports and a record of the outcome of the review will be retained on the foster carer's case record.

Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks should be updated on the foster carer and all adults over the age of 18 living in the foster household every 3 years and if necessary, a review of the foster carer's approval should be carried out immediately to take account of any new information.

See: Persons Disqualified from Fostering Procedure

Medical information should also be updated at least every 3 years by the Service requesting that the foster carer obtain a CoramBAAF AH2 Medical Report from the foster carer's GP. In the event of any serious concerns about the foster carers health, a full CoramBAAF AH Medical will be requested and further medical advice should be sought from the foster carer’s GP with a view to convening a foster care review if a significant change/concern is indicated.

A foster carer may give written notice at any time of their wish to resign from the role. Once written notice has been given, their approval will automatically be terminated 28 days after receipt of the notice. The foster carer cannot withdraw their notice once it has been received, nor can the Agency Decision Maker decline to accept the resignation. Should a foster carer who has resigned subsequently wish to foster again, they will need to be assessed under the procedure for Assessment and Approvals and Review of Foster Carers Procedure. There is no requirement for the Foster Panel to be notified of resignations. However the Panel may find it helpful to be advised, as part of its monitoring role.

If a foster carer resigns during a standard of care process or allegation notification will be sent to Panel along with a report setting out the concerns or allegation with the view of Panel clearly noted for the record.