Supervision and Support of Foster Carers

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

Foster carers are part of the team around the child, which is mutually supportive. They are actively involved in planning for the child, and their views are valued by the Local Authority to positively influence children's progress. They work very effectively together with children’s social workers to ensure that placements are appropriate, planned and meet the needs of children. The support provided to foster carers by the Fostering Service is also designed to help them to cope with the additional demands of fostering on their family life.

All approved foster carers will have an allocated, suitably qualified supervising social worker. The allocated supervising social worker is responsible for supervising and supporting carers, ensuring that they have the necessary guidance, support and direction to maintain a quality service, including safe caring practices. This will include an understanding that they must work within the National Minimum Standards for Fostering and the agency's policies, procedures and guidance. The supervising social worker should provide effective support and challenge through the supervision and review processes to ensure that carers are providing high-quality care.

The supervising social worker must also ensure that the foster carers' training and development needs are identified, and that newly approved carers work towards completing the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Carers Workbook. They also have the responsibility to ensure foster carers are familiar and made aware of new policies and guidance. For more information please see Being a Foster Carer Procedure and Being a Foster Carer Policy, Staffordshire Foster Carers Handbook.

The foster carer(s) should be fully aware of the Incident Notification Process and the need to immediately report to their supervising social worker and child social worker (EDS out of hours) the following:

• The Death of a Child;
• A Serious illness or serious accident of a child placed with them;
• The outbreak at the foster home of any infectious disease (which in the opinion of a general practitioner attending the home is sufficiently serious to be notified);
• An allegation that a child placed with foster parents has committed a serious offence;
• A child placed with them they have concerns about of being sexually exploited;
• The Police calling to the foster carer's home as a result of a serious incident relating to a child placed there;
• A child placed with the foster carer(s) who has gone missing;
• Any serious concerns about the emotional or mental health of a child, such that a mental health assessment would be requested under the Mental Health Act 1983.

The Foster Carer should also complete the incident notification form and send this securely to the Supervising Social Worker and Child Social Worker.

See also: Notifications of Significant Events Procedure.

The child's allocated social worker should be contacted for specific advice or support in relation to the child and their Care Plan and Placement Plan.

Carers will receive regular and effective supervision that is focused on children’s experiences, needs, plans and feedback. Supervision will be recorded by the supervising social worker and stored on the foster carers records.

The frequency of supervision visits will be agreed between the foster carer and the supervising social worker from the time of the foster carer's approval, and endorsed by the supervising social worker's line manager in line with the policy and recorded within a Supervision Agreement Document.

Supervision is essentially a supportive and enabling two way process to:

• Ensure the foster carers understand how they contribute to the local authority's services for children;
• Enable foster carers to contribute effectively to the plans for the children for whom they are caring ensure that plans for children remain in children's best interests;
• Provide appropriate monitoring and feedback on the foster carers' work to ensure the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Carers are fully met;
• Complete personal development plans for each carer, which are linked to their training and their annual review;
• Support foster carers by providing advice or making this available from elsewhere as appropriate;
• Give foster carers an opportunity to raise any problems and make sure they are addressed appropriately;
• Acknowledge the challenges and demands that the fostering tasks make on foster families and ensure appropriate support is available;
• Recognise and address any difficulties the foster carers' own children may be experiencing arising from fostering; and
• Assist foster carers to work in an anti-discriminatory way that respects and promotes individual differences;
• Children should be regularly seen in the home environment and given the opportunity to speak without the carer present. 

The agenda for each meeting should cover:

1. Matters arising from the last supervision;
2. Personal issues, e.g. effect of a placement on the foster carer's own family, changes in the carer's situation and circumstances etc.
3. Child/ren in placement:
   1. Their health, cultural, educational, leisure and contact needs - and any support needs;
   2. Progress and work with respect towards each child's Care Plan;
   3. Any accidents, injuries and illnesses experienced by each child;
   4. Any complaints in relation to children placed with them and their outcomes;
   5. Any concerns around behaviour management in relation to children they are caring for;
   6. Any other significant events (see Section 1, Introduction);
   7. Any medication, medical treatment or first aid administered.
4. Training/development issues for the foster carers and their family;
5. Safe caring and health and safety issues;
6. Foster carer's recording which is to be reviewed by the supervising social worker and saved on the Foster Carer’s case file. Foster Carer’s recordings will also be shared with the allocated Child Social Worker.

The supervision visits should be recorded on a pro forma Foster Carer Supervision Record, signed by the foster carer and the supervising social worker, and should include:

• Any concerns expressed;
• Any support needs expressed by the foster carers and how they will be met;
• Any financial issues.

A record of all supervision visits should be kept on the foster carers' file and one copy given to the foster carer(s).

The supervision records will inform the foster carer's review – see Review and Termination of Approval of Foster Carers Procedure.

The purpose of support visits / calls is to address any support needs identified within the supervisory visit or any issues raised outside of the supervisory visit including from the foster carer, the child/ren or other professionals working with the child and family. 

Frequency of supervision and support visits will be agreed between the foster carer and the supervising social worker subject to agreement with the Team Manager and recorded in a Supervision Agreement Document.

The frequency of visits for short break foster carers should be proportionate to the amount of care provided.

The requirement for unannounced visits to foster carers is set out in the Statutory Guidance and the National Minimum Standards.

National Minimum Standard 21: Support and Supervision of Foster Carers
21.8 Each approved foster carer is supervised by a named, appropriately qualified social worker who has meetings with the foster carer, including at least one unannounced visit a year.

Fostering Services, Guidance and Regulations (2011)
5.67 Every foster carer should be allocated an appropriately qualified social worker from the fostering service (the supervising social worker) who is responsible for overseeing the support they receive.

It is the supervising social worker’s role to supervise the foster carer’s work, to ensure that they are meeting the child’s needs, and to offer support and a framework to assess the foster carer’s performance and develop their skills.

They must make regular visits to the foster carer, including at least one unannounced visit a year.

3.82 Every foster home must be visited without appointment by a supervising social worker of the fostering service at least once a year, as a check on the standards of care being provided.

National Minimum Standard 10: Providing a suitable physical environment for the Foster Child
10.5 The foster home is inspected annually, without an appointment, by the fostering service to make sure that it continues to meet the needs of foster children

Staffordshire Fostering Service will complete a minimum of one unannounced visit per year. The main purpose of the unannounced visit will be to look at the home environment that a child is living in.

The unannounced visits will be undertaken by the foster carer's supervising social worker or Family Practitioner who will need to check:

1. Who is in the home;
2. Who is looking after the child;
3. If the carer is not at home, what arrangements have been made for the care of the child;
4. That the home environment meets the National Minimum Standards.

If the foster carers are not at home, the supervising social worker should leave a note for the foster carers to say that they have visited.

If the foster carers are not at home but the child is present and being looked after by someone else, the social worker should check the identity of that person but should not continue with the visit.

If the child/ren are not present then this cannot be recorded as a successful unannounced visit and then a further visit/s will be required to meet statutory requirements.

Unannounced visits should include:

• An opportunity to talk to the fostered child;
• See the child’s bedroom;
• Observe the home environment in terms of health and safety and safer caring. Address any concerns;
• Observe the relationship between all adults and children present.

Successful unannounced visits should be recorded on an unannounced visit form. If the carer or child was not present during the unannounced visit, then this should be recorded within a task note not an unannounced visit form.

There should not ordinarily be a regular programme of unannounced visits without particular reason – for example if a foster carer is being closely monitored. In such an event the reason for such will be explained to the foster carer.

Supervising social workers should ensure the following tasks are done: 

For the detailed procedure, see Allegations Against Foster Carers Procedure.

Where allegations regarding childcare or child protection are made, the supervising social worker should:

1. Support the family by ensuring regular support calls;
2. Discuss fully, with the carer and their family, all the issues that have led to the allegation, as agreed at the Strategy Meeting;
3. Make the carers aware of the process and of their rights during any investigation;
4. Make the carers aware of the Fostering Social Workers role and responsibilities in managing allegations and concerns and inform them of where they can seek alternative support and advice from the Fostering Network or other independent sources.

Transfer of Foster Carers Protocol England