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.

Your supervising social worker is your main contact together with the child’s social worker. Please refer to the Supervision and Support of Foster Carers Policy to learn more about the specific role of your supervising social worker.

The below list of professionals and people you will come into contact with is inclusive but not exhaustive and focusses on the team working directly with you and the child in your care.

We hope that many of the children who are looked after will go home, and even if they don’t, it is usually important for them to keep their relationships with parents and other family members.

There might be times where it is felt appropriate for parents or other relatives to visit a child in your home, unless the child’s social worker assesses these meetings should take place somewhere else. Contact and how it will be facilitated will be set out in the child’s Placement Plan and Care Plan.

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

It is important that you develop an open and honest relationship with parents and ensure they know at all times that their child is the most important person and that you are doing your utmost to meet their needs and keep them safe whilst they are in your care.

This is likely to be difficult for parents, so we all need to work sensitively with them. On the whole, children love their parents, so it is very important that no matter what the circumstance, we speak of parents with respect and empathy.

During your time as a foster carer, you will also work alongside many other professionals as part of a team around the child/young person that makes sure the child’s needs are met, 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 care plan for the child and any changes.

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 in line with the Care Plan. Thereafter, where the placement is intended to last until the child is aged 18, at intervals of not less than three months if agreed by all;
• 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, who will meet the child before the first Looked After Review.

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

The Independent Reviewing Officer has two roles: chairing a child's Looked After Review and monitoring the child's journey and progression of their care plan on an on-going basis. They can be a good source of support to you when plans for a child are not going how you expected, although it is the child's social worker you should try to speak to first, in addition to your own supervising social worker.

A Family Court Adviser is appointed by the court via CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service) when they want an independent view of what has been happening and what should happen in the child's future life. This will be applicable when a Local Authority is taking the child’s parents through a legal process.

You should support the child to share their views, particularly about their future, and supported them to spend time with the Family Court Adviser so that they can tell the child’s story in court and advocate on their behalf.

At times, the Family Advisers might want to see the child in your home and hear from you how they are developing in your care.

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 interest 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.

This is a person appointed to speak on behalf of another person and/or to support them. All children who are looked after should be given information about how to access an Advocate. The child's Independent Reviewing Officers should also make sure that this information is available to the child. You will have contact details for the Advocacy service.

The Child and Adolescent Health Service take referrals for Children Looked After. Some of these children, due to their experiences, may have higher levels of behavioural, emotional and mental health problems. Your role will be to highlight any issues of concern about a child/young person that may result in the need to refer to this service. The referral will be made by the child’s social worker. If the service is needed, you should make sure appointments are kept and work with professionals from the service. This could mean, that there are sessions for you and the child looked after together or you could also be seen on your own if it is felt that the child is not ready but you could support them via creating a bespoke therapeutic atmosphere.

You will work alongside the nurse and other health professionals to make sure the health needs of Children Looked After are met. This could also include physiotherapists, speech therapists, enuresis clinics, etc.

The EDT service is open at night and at weekends and is there to support you in safeguarding matters. They operate a call service and will respond to you as soon as possible. If no one is available when you ring, leave a message. You must contact the police first if you feel you, your family or the foster child are in any danger and do not wait for EDT.

Contact details

Telephone Number: 01344 351999

Available: 5pm to 9am weekdays, 24hrs on weekends and bank holidays

Website: Emergency Duty Service

BFfC’s IFA provides support outside of office hours and can be reached on 0118 937 3866. Please refer to the OOH guidance for more detailed information.

The Adoption 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.