The local authority

As you would expect from a large local authority, Northamptonshire County Council has a well-established process for handling enquiries from prospective foster carers, including information packs, information evenings and follow up visits from a social worker to discuss the enquirer’s circumstances.
“Obviously, if people don’t have a spare room or are in the process of major changes, we would advise them to wait until they have resolved this and then contact us again,” explains Pauline Allen, who is Principal Social Worker with a lead in permanent fostering. Families wanting to proceed are then invited to preparation training sessions. The pre-approval team will undertake the applicant’s assessment, which they aim to complete and present to fostering panel within 16 weeks. “Throughout the process, prospective carers are allocated a buddy, an experienced foster carer who can support them and help with their questions,” says Pauline. Of course, they will also have support from the agency.

Skills

What is Pauline looking for in permanent foster carers? “Resilience, ‘stickability’, and the ability to work well with us and others. They must meet the needs of the child they will care for. We want people who can see behind a child’s complex behaviour and see that it has a root in trauma or abuse suffered,” she explains. Since the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) introduced Training, Support and Development Standards for foster carers in 2008, new carers need to demonstrate that they meet those within 12 months of approval. This puts a strong emphasis on skill building in foster care. Foster carers will be expected to keep records of the child’s behaviour and routines, and to contribute to meetings and reviews of the child’s progress in their care. They will also be involved in life story work with the child.

Managing behaviours

“Permanent foster carers will need to be able to deal creatively with challenging behaviours, using different techniques,” continues Pauline. “They will have to work in partnership with birth families where appropriate, despite a possibly abusive history. Children know they are never going back to live with their birth family, but they might have contact with them and their siblings. There might be issues of divided loyalty between their two families. Some children might also struggle with accepting that they are fostered if their siblings have been adopted. Despite these challenges, we are looking for carers who can help children develop a secure attachment that goes through to adulthood.” A tall order perhaps, but full training will be provided. “Good, strong training is on offer to all our foster carers, and we put a strong emphasis on people attending. We expect them to take responsibility for their own development and to be proactive.” Training on offer is varied, from procedures and record keeping to attachment disorders, emergency first aid, and even psychology. “We encourage people to complete their CDWC workbook and to demonstrate their skills,” stresses Pauline.

Reviews

All permanent foster carers will have a supervising social worker, whose role includes both a ‘formal’ supervisory element, and a more ‘informal’ support part, to check how the placement is going. In their supervisory capacity, they will visit the foster carers to look at areas such as health and safety or training. There will also be regular reviews relating to the child or young person being cared for. “The process will include looking at how much the child is feeling part of the family: how they are accepted in the overall culture and lifestyle of their permanent foster family and extended family,” explains Pauline. “Our emphasis is on permanence,” she stresses. “It’s not just 18 and beyond that. We want children to be permanent members of the family – even if they’re 21 or older: they know that they can comeback, and still feel connected to that family. Even if they have contact with them, many children in car ehave seen their main ties with their birth family severed. It’s therefore essential that they know that their foster carers will always be a permanent family for them.”

Visit their website or call 0300 126 1009 for more information.

Isabelle Rameau

Find an agency in your area or attend an information event near you.

Originally published in the Be My Parent newspaper in May 2010.

This article is published with the kind permission of the people involved. You may download it for your own reference but if you wish to use it for any other purpose, please contact Be My Parent for authorisation: Be My Parent, BAAF, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Telephone: 020 7421 2666.

Last updated: 04 May 10

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