Social Work and Foster Care. Helen Cosis Brown
Government's Guidance and Regulations Volume 2 were published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2010. They were part of the implementation of the Care Matters White Paper, and the Children and Young Persons Act 2008. Volume 2 provides Guidance and Regulations regarding care planning, case review and the placement of children who are looked after. In the assessment of prospective foster carers and their subsequent reviews, the careful evaluation of what they can be expected to, as well as want to, have as their terms of approval is noted in Volume 2 as follows:
Foster carer assessments are designed to identify the ages, number or needs of the children to whom the foster carer is most likely to offer the best care. Research evidence consistently shows that placements outside the terms of approval are significantly more likely to result in placement breakdown, often if there is a foster child already in the household. Where the responsible authority wishes to amend the terms of approval to enable the child to remain with the carer, careful consideration must be made by the fostering panel to ensure that the carer has the capacity to meet the child's needs in the context of the needs of other children in the household.
(HM Government, 2010, p57)
A social worker's assessment of a foster carer's capacity to care for particular categories of children at the approval stage, and re-assessment of the appropriateness of a foster carer's terms of approval, as time goes on, is particularly important. This re-assessment is part of the foster carer review process and should be carefully considered at each review (Brown, 2011).
Importantly, the Guidance and Regulations Volume 2 sets out what is expected of children's social workers in respect of placement planning. This was further strengthened through the 2013 amendments (Department of Education, 2013c).
Delegation of Authority: Amendments to the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review
The amendments (Department of Education, 2013c) helpfully firm up the expectations placed on local authorities and fostering services in respect of the delegation of authority from those with parental responsibility to the foster carer, to enable foster children to live as ordinary lives as possible. The amendments note that delegated authority should be clarified in the placement plan for each foster child.
Regulation and Guidance Relating to Specific Areas of Foster Care
The following Regulations and Guidance relate to particular types or aspects of foster care, as well as requirements placed on local authorities to sustain enough foster carer placements for children needing foster care, and lastly training and development requirements for foster carers.
The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review and Fostering Services (England) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations
These Regulations were published by the Department of Education in 2013, and cover the temporary approval of prospective adopters as foster carers (Department of Education, 2013a). The Coram Centre for Early Permanence and the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) have since published helpful guidance for social workers and local authorities about fostering for adoption (Simmonds, 2013).
Family and Friends Care: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities
The Department of Education published this Guidance in 2010 (Department of Education, 2010a). The Guidance sets out what is expected of local authorities regarding the temporary approval of a ‘connected person’ to care for a child looked after. It also covers the requirements of the full assessment of a family and friends foster carer (connected person), which should be completed within sixteen weeks, and in exceptional cases a further eight weeks can be allowed once the local authority's ‘nominated officer’ has consulted the fostering panel and the independent reviewing officer for the child.
The Guidance has a more generally useful Annex A, setting out the legal framework for: private fostering; family care (informal); family and friends foster care; unrelated foster care; residence orders; special guardianship orders and adoption. For each of these the following are considered: route into the caring arrangement; parental responsibility; approval basis; duration; placement supervision; review of placement; support services; financial support – entitlement; and financial support – discretionary (Department of Education, 2010a, pp41–3).
Private Fostering
This book does not look specifically at private fostering, but for the benefit of the reader I have included here references regarding private fostering Regulations (Department for Education and Skills, 2005a), Guidance on private fostering (Department for Education and Skills, 2005b) and the National Minimum Standards for private fostering (Department for Education and Skills, 2005c), for information.
The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 3: Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers Including the Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010
The Guidance and Regulations were published by the Department of Education in 2010 (Department of Education, 2010b), the Government's intention being to:
Ensure care leavers are given the same level of care and support that their peers would expect from a reasonable parent and that they are provided with the opportunities and chances needed to help them move successfully to adulthood. Research and practice show that those leaving care supported according to the following principles have the best chance of successful transition to adulthood: quality; giving chances where needed; tailoring to individuals’ needs. The Guidance seeks to have these principles at the centre of decision making for care leavers.
(Department of Education, 2010b, p1)
The Government's objectives regarding care leavers were further enhanced by the ‘Staying Put’ initiative, enabling fostered young people to remain with their foster carers after their 18th birthday, until such time that they are ready to live independently.
‘Staying Put’: Arrangements for Care Leavers Aged 18 and above to Stay on with their Former Foster Carers, Department of Education, DWP and HMRC Guidance
The above Guidance was published by the Department of Education in 2013 (HM Government, 2013a). The Guidance states that the intention of ‘Staying Put’ is:
To ensure young people can remain with their former foster carers until they are prepared for adulthood, can experience a transition akin to their peers, avoid social exclusion and be more likely to avert a subsequent housing and tenancy breakdown.
(HM Government, 2013a, p4)
This Guidance sets out the necessary mechanisms required to enable this staged transition to happen for young people after the age of 18 years who have been foster children.
Short Breaks: Statutory Guidance on how to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Disabled Children Using Short Breaks
This Guidance was published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2010 (Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2010a), and sought to make sure that disabled children were offered good quality short breaks away from their families, to enable those families to have a break, and for that break to be experienced by a child as a positive time spent with another family with whom they become familiar. The Guidance looks at the use of foster carers for such breaks, alongside other provisions such as residential care.
The document brings together into one volume all the existing and new statutory Guidance relevant to the provision of short breaks for disabled children and their families. The main elements are:
short breaks and the provision of accommodation;
assessment, planning, implementation and review cycle for children using short breaks; and
the different settings