Steps to fostering

There are 8 steps to fostering

1. Initial Enquiry

Contact the team: we ask for a few details so that we can send you out a full Information Pack. If you have any questions we will be able to answer them for you. 

2. Information Evening

If you decide you want to find out more after reading the Information Pack, we will invite you to our next Information Evening. These sessions involve a detailed presentation and a chance for you to ask further questions. At the end of the presentation you will also have the opportunity to talk one-to-one with a member of the team, social worker or existing foster carer.

3. Home Visit by a social worker

Following attendance at an Information Evening and if you decide you want to carry on with the process, a social worker will call you to discuss your interest further and make an appointment to visit you (and your partner if relevant) at home. A detailed discussion will take place during this visit with the opportunity for you to ask any further questions applicable to your individual circumstances.

4. Preparation Course

After the home visit you will be invited to attend a preparation course. The course is led by a foster carer and a social worker and includes sessions on:

• What do foster carers do? 
• Who are the children and young people?
• Working together
• Safer caring
• Understanding behaviour
• Moving on

5. Post-course Home Visit

A social worker will visit you at home again to talk about what you have learnt from your preparation course. Together we may decide that some form of individual preparation should take place, such as gaining experience of caring for children through voluntary work. If everything is satisfactory and you wish to continue you will progress to the next stage.

6. Application Form

You will be provided with a full application form and forms relating to statutory checks, which need to be completed and returned to allow you to progress.

7. Assessment

A fostering social worker will visit you and talk with you about your family background, motivation and expectations of fostering. You will be asked to provide information about your education, employment history, leisure interests, past relationships and experience of caring for children. We will also ask you to have a fostering health assessment with your GP.

The assessment process to be considered as a foster carer will be very thorough because fostering is a life-changing decision. We have to be sure that it is right for you, and we have to be confident in your ability to foster a child. During the process we will be honest with you and you will know what the likely outcome of your application will be by the time the social worker has finished all their visits. Equally, if you feel that fostering is not for you there is no obligation for you to continue.

8. Fostering Panel and approval process

The Fostering Panel is a group of professionals, including social workers, a foster carer, a county councillor and other independent members with particular interest or expertise in fostering.

Following the full assessment process your social worker will write a detailed report, which you will have a chance to read and comment on - The Fostering Panel will consider the report and you will be invited to attend the Panel meeting along with your social worker. The Panel will decide whether to recommend you as suitable to foster. The Operational Manager of Fostering & Kinship Services will then decide whether or not to accept the Fostering Panel's recommendation, based on all of the reports and minutes of the panel meeting.

If the decision is not to approve you, there are two options for you to express unhappiness with the decision if you wish. You can make representation to the Operational Manager, who will reconsider your application, or you can contact the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) for a completely independent review of your application.