Working with Families and other Professionals

As a foster carer you have an important part to play in the lives of children and families that you may work with.

Some children who are looked after will go home, and regardless of the plan it is important for them to keep their relationships with parents and other family members, unless it is harmful or detrimental to their safety or welfare.

Parents or other relatives may visit a child in your home, or the child's social worker may feel these meetings should take place somewhere else. Contact / Family Time will be set out in the child's Placement Plan and Care Plan.

See: Contact (Family Time) Between the Child, their Family and Others.

You will be supported to develop an open and honest relationship with the parents ensuring  they know at all times that their child is the most important person and their well-being is being looked after by you.

This may be difficult for both foster carers and parents. You will all be supported by the service to achieve best outcomes. Remember, no matter what a family may have done, a child will continue to love their parents; you should never speak about parents in a negative way. It is helpful for a child to see a positive relationship between you and their parents.

During your time as a foster carer, you will also work alongside many other professionals including your Supervising Social Worker as part of a team around the child/young person that makes sure the child's needs are met and developed and they are safe from harm.

Professionals will include amongst others;

Each child or young person placed in foster care will have a social worker.

Social workers work with the whole family, not just the child/ren, and although their primary concern is for the child's welfare they do have to balance this with the wishes and needs of the parents. They should keep you informed about the progress of the plan for the child and any changes of plan or direction.

Their role is to:

• Assess the needs of a child;
• Develop a relationship with the child;
• Plan for the child and regularly review that plan;
• Work with you, the child and the child's family;
• Share information with you;
• Identify and obtain resources so that the child's needs are met;
• Visit the child at the foster home within one week of the placement and then at least every six weeks for the first year or visit in line with the Care Plan. Thereafter, where the placement is intended to last until the child is aged 18, at intervals of not more than three months, and in any other case, at intervals of not more than six weeks.

If as a foster carer you or the child in placement are having some difficulties contacting the social worker; it is important to let your Supervising Social Worker know so that they can work to try and resolve this.

Each child or young person placed in foster care will have an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). Wherever it is possible, the IRO will meet the child before the first Looked After Review.

Sibling groups, whether or not placed together, should usually have the same IRO who will be allocated for the duration that the child is looked after.

The IRO has two roles: chairing a child’s Looked After Review (unless a child wishes to chair it themselves, where they would support the child to do so) and monitoring a child’s case on an on-going basis. They can be a good source of support to you if needed when plans for a child are not going how it should, although it is the SSW you should try to speak to first. (Top tip – Do not be fearful of making direct contact with your child’s IRO to ensure your child’s needs are being met. Duties with timeframes will be allocated to participants within the Looked After Review.

If the child’s case is before the Family Court, a Guardian is appointed by the court from CAFCASS (Children and Family Court and Support Service) when they want an independent view of what has been happening and what should happen in the child's life. They may also be involved in adoption proceedings.

You should support the child to share their views particularly about their future, and are supported to spend time with the guardian appointed so that the Guardian can tell the child’s story in court where the child is not able to do this themselves. (Guardians are hugely important as a voice for the child and support total engagement).

The Local Authority looking after a child has a duty to appoint a person to be the child's Independent Visitor where it appears to them that it would be in the child's best interests to do so. The Independent Visitor will have a duty to make regular visits to the child and maintain other contact, by telephone and letter as appropriate.

Independent Visitors are particularly important where children have no contact with any member of their family.

The main purpose of the visits and contacts will be to befriend the child and give advice and assistance as appropriate.

The Adoption (Adoption South East) Team is responsible for finding adoptive families for children who cannot remain with their birth families. They will look at the child's background, health and any special needs and find the right adoptive family. When the adoptive family is linked with a child, they have a period of introductions before the child goes to live with them. You will play an important role in supporting the child through this time and introductions. It is important that the child sees you working alongside the adoptive parents. You can also give valuable advice and support to the adoptive parents who will be feeling anxious about getting it right. Your Supervising Social Worker will guide you through this and should be contacted if you have any concerns.

This list is not exhaustive, during your role as a foster carer you may work with other agencies and individuals to ensure the child/young person receives the support and advice they and you need. Your Supervising Social Worker will discuss this with you.