The 10 steps of the fostering process
Successfully applying to foster is a notoriously difficult process, and with good reason; care must be taken by services when placing the most vulnerable children with families who are unknown to us. This article provides an outline of the steps to become a foster carer and tips to optimise the likelihood of success.
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Reading about fostering
Fostering providers don’t usually educate applicants about fostering; applicants are expected to apply with a cursory understanding of fostering. In order to help you to get the knowledge needed, Sparks Fostering has provided a comprehensive overview of fostering on the Sparks Fostering website. Information can be read (in 20 languages) and/or listened to via the audio option.
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Speaking with other foster carers
People who know foster carers can get a great understanding of the fostering role by speaking with the foster carers and perhaps meeting with the children they look after.
Alternatively, a great way to learn about fostering and also learn about the fostering provider is to ask to speak with a foster carer who already works for the fostering provider that you’re considering joining.
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Initial enquiry
Typically fostering providers register your interest via a phone call. Sparks Fostering utilises a more efficient approach by asking potential applicants to complete a short quiz on www.SparksFostering.org/free-quiz After the quiz is submitted, a phone call is arranged, which can be a focused conversation based on the information provided in the quiz.
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Application
If the basic requirements to foster are met, an application is completed. For most providers, the application paperwork is on various forms and documents which are then processed and the information is transferred to the fostering assessment. Sparks Fostering takes a more efficient process in that a bespoke Sparks Fostering assessment is shared with the fostering applicants, who can type the required information directly onto the assessment.
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Checks
All fostering providers are required to carry out core checks, such as ID checks, financial checks, reference checks (friends, family and work), medicals and enhanced police (DBS) checks.
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Assessment
After sufficient checks have been completed, the assessment can progress to allocation to a social work interviews. The assessing social worker will speak with the applicants about the information on the checks, the fostering role and will also explore the applicants’ background, experiences and personality.
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Assessment training
During the assessment period applicants are required to complete various training courses so that they can be prepared for the fostering role. Most providers require applicants to attend several days of in-person training; however, at Sparks Fostering we appreciate that applicants have other commitments so we embrace remote training approaches.
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Panel and approval
The completed assessment is presented to a panel of at least 5 members of the community, most of whom are independent of the fostering provider. Panel members read the assessment and make a recommendation as to whether the applicants should be approved as foster carers. The recommendations are shared with the agency decision maker (a senior manager) who decides whether to approve the applicants. At Sparks Fostering, the Registered Manager has worked for several fostering providers over many years and has never had issues in having assessments accepted at panel and approved by the ADM. In fact, Sparks Fostering has adapted the mainstream process so that applicants can be confident about a positive outcome before they meet with panel members.
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Matching
After approval, referrals for children are shared with foster carers (via the fostering provider). Foster carers are then given an opportunity to ask any questions about the children. If the fostering service and foster carers believe that a specific child would be suited to the home, a meeting is requested with the child’s social worker. Any remaining questions and plans to move to the fostering home are discussed during the meeting.
This ‘matching’ process can take anywhere from a day to several weeks from the point of receiving the referral. A planned move (which takes several weeks) is ideal because the child and foster carers can potentially meet several times before the child moves to the home; however, this is not always possible.
10. Fostering!
Some foster carers have waited several months (or even over a year) before a suitably matched child joins there home; whereas at Sparks Fostering it hasn’t yet taken more than 3 weeks for a child to join the home. The children who are currently with our carers are in settled long term arrangements.
Throughout the duration of fostering, the fostering provider supports foster carers with training, information, regular supervision, allowances and fees and specialist support. Sparks Fostering prides itself on providing high levels of support so that foster carers are able to provide the highest quality care to the children.