Fostering Assessment Interviews

As part of the assessment, a qualified social worker will spend several hours with the applicants, talking through several different aspects of their life. This is a crucial part of the assessment, and the aim is for the fostering service to get a sense of the applicant/s personality, strengths and vulnerabilities. Some of the information being discussed is very sensitive; for example, applicants who have suffered abuse or other trauma are expected to talk about it. Talking about highly sensitive issues can be very difficult, so the assessing social worker will do their best to build a good working relationship with the applicant/s in order to support them through this process.

There may be circumstances and information that an applicant is unsure about sharing because they may not feel that the information is relevant to the fostering application; in such situations it would be best to share too much information rather than too little, because if it is felt that applicants aren’t being open and honest with the assessing social worker, it may impact on the trust that the agency has with the applicant/s and this may subsequently lead to the termination of the assessment.