CYP(3) PCC15

Children and Young People Committee

Inquiry into Arrangements for the Placements of Children in to Care in Wales:

Response from The Fostering Network Wales

The Fostering Network is the voice of foster care and the UK’s leading charity for all those involved in fostering. All our work is focused on improving the foster care experience, making a positive difference for children and young people in and leaving foster care. We achieve this by working together with foster carers and service providers.

The Fostering Network was established in Wales in 2002 and now has a strong membership base, including all local authorities, nearly 90 per cent of fostering households and the majority of independent fostering providers. We currently have 4,780 foster carer members in Wales providing 2,700 fostering households. We are therefore uniquely placed to engage all stakeholders in consultation and policy development, and to build consensus on the developments required to improve life for children who are fostered.

Amongst our staff are foster carers, registered social workers and other experts from across the spectrum of foster care, including those that have been fostered themselves. Together we have many years’ experience and unrivalled expertise.

Our strategic objectives are:

• To be the voice of foster care.

• To support our members and others who are involved in fostering with a range of services.

• To influence and shape the development and practice of foster care.

• To champion foster care and what foster carers do.

The Fostering Network Wales response draws on discussions held with members from all sections of our membership base including local authority fostering staff, managers of independent fostering providers and foster carers. We have concentrated our responses on those areas where we, or our members, have direct experience. Research also helps inform the response.

Foster Care in Wales

There are 4,635 children looked after by local authorities in Wales.  75% of them cared for by approved foster families. The role of these foster carers is pivotal in influencing outcomes for looked after children.  The Fostering Network Wales believes that strengthening this role is key to improving outcomes for children and young people. Our responses to this consultation include good practice examples and recommendations on how to achieve these.

Gathering information about a child

• In determining whether and where to place a child into care, a social worker will need an accurate picture of a child’s needs and circumstances, which may require them to have information from a range of local services- health services, social services, etc. who may also have to consider their responsibilities towards confidentiality. To what extent is information about a child’s needs effectively shared with decision makers, and do you have any examples of good practice in such inter-agency communications? Is there a clear understanding of who is ultimately accountable for decisions about a child’s care?

Information sharing

• Foster carers inform us that they are not always given the information they need to care safely for a child including health information about medication and allergies, and it subsequently emerges that the information was available to the local authority. The difficulties for foster carers when they do not receive the information they need to care for a looked after child are dealt with later in this report.

• Processes to ensure timely transfer of information between health bodies and health professionals needs strengthening. Our members inform us that often health information is delayed and dependent on individual health practitioners obtaining it. The sources of delay are not always clear.

In a survey undertaken by The Fostering Network  Caring for children with disabilities The Fostering Network 2009  foster carers caring for a child with a disability, reported that they felt that the relevant paperwork highlighting a child’s needs was not always passed to them, and that this meant that children’s needs were not met, and put placements at risk of breakdown.

Accountability

In our view it is essential that local authorities fully understand their responsibilities for looked after children and are required to demonstrate how they are fulfilling that responsibility at all levels across the council.

• The Fostering Network Wales is currently working with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) in supporting the development of a training programme for councillors in Wales informing them of their corporate responsibilities in relation to looked after children. There is a need for a continuous programme of education of councillors and officials to ensure they are fully aware of their responsibilities towards looked after children. Councillors must have high expectations of their services for looked after children and care leavers.  

Recommendation

Welsh Assembly Government must issue guidance clarifying responsibility for communication of information between:

• Statutory organisations.

• That a requirement is placed on health bodies to ensure effective systems for transferring information.

• That corporate parenting responsibility is included in all training of elected members, and they are supported to demonstrate how they can meet that responsibility within their portfolios.

Using that information

To what extent does the Children’s Commissioning Support Resource (CCSR) database provide sufficient information about child placements and to what extent is the database currently utilised? How could the database be better utilised?

Response

Local authorities and independent fostering providers share the common goal of trying to achieve the best possible outcomes for looked after children. One aspect of supporting this is to find the best placements for children. The CCSR does not appear to support joint working between local authorities and Independent Fostering Providers (IFP’s). The Fostering Network Wales is a member of the CCSR advisory group, but does not have direct experience of using the database. We support the intentions and ambitions behind the CCSR but are now concerned with its lack of use and the resource implications. Members report that the database is being bypassed and we suggest an urgent review is required.

There are a range of operational issues that have been highlighted to us including:

• Reliability and sufficiency of information.

• Too little information about the child needing a placement is recorded on the database to make even the first stage of matching with any accuracy. IFP members tell us that a child’s identified needs are not always clearly stated on the database. For example the request for a placement may say the child has sexualised behaviour, but this does not inform the IFP what level of supervision this child will need, so even first stage matching is difficult.

• Incomplete data. We understand that a number of authorities do not use the database for internal placements. Therefore the data is incomplete and cannot be used for planning service provision.

• The database is not used consistently across Wales. Not all providers keep their database information up to date. There are resource implications in keeping the data current and accurate.

• There is little evidence of CCSR being used to plan for service provision. CCSR was originally envisaged as being a critical mechanism to aid fostering service provision planning. If all of the available foster placements were recorded on the database this would allow regional planning for recruitment of carers and targeted recruitment according to shortage of foster carers to care for particular groups of children.

Improving utilisation of the database

• A database is a useful way of identifying potential foster care matches but will never replace the need for professionals to discuss the placement.

• An initial objective of CCSR’s was to provide accurate data about children’s movements and in particular about unmet needs in local authority areas. It was intended database information would assist planning and commissioning. There needs to be collaboration in commissioning services, which depends on having accurate data on which to base planning and commissioning. If the data produced by CCSR is available to all and is robust enough then the private sector will invest and provide these services on a regional basis, but currently, the data is not robust enough to support this approach.

Following a review of the purpose and use of CCSR by the CCSR advisory group an action plan should be produced and implemented.

3. Information about a child’s needs and circumstances will be needed by fostering agencies and foster carers in order to appropriately conduct risk assessments, provide for a child’s needs, etc. To what extent is appropriate information normally provided to fostering agencies and foster carers, and how could such communication be improved? Does the commissioning system enable or inhibit the provision of information to prospective fostering agencies and carers, and do you have any examples of good practice in the provision of information to fostering agencies and/or foster carers?

Provision of information to foster carers

Foster carers and fostering services must always be given all the information they need to help children reach their potential and keep them and those around them safe. This will include information about the child’s history; about day to day needs and preferences; about family relationships, contact arrangements and future plans to achieve permanency. Information must be given in a timely way and should be both verbal and written.

Provision of information to fostering services and foster carers - the current picture in Wales

There are serious concerns about the current availability of information to foster carers in Wales.

In a recent survey undertaken by The Fostering Network Getting the support they need  The Fostering Network 2009 publication due Autumn 09  about support that foster carers receive, 53% of the respondents in Wales said that in the past 3 years they had a child placed with them for whom they were not given all the information needed to care for them safely. 81% had not been given information about the child’s general behaviour, nearly 70% had not been told about the history of abuse suffered by the child, and just over 30% had not been told the child’s medical requirements. These figures are consistent with UK findings.The Wales data confirms an earlier UK study of 2003 when 58% Selwyn, J; Sturgess W; Quinton, D and Baxter, C (2003) Costs and Outcomes of Non-infant Adoptions: report to the Department for Education and Skills. London DfES  of carers felt they had been given inadequate information.Fit to Foster   Fit to Foster The Fostering Network Wales 2003 reported that 52% of foster carers when asked what would have helped to prevent a placement breaking down said receiving full information about the child would have made a difference. The Fostering Network is aware of cases where information has not been shared with foster carers because it is considered ‘confidential’.

The status and role of foster carers

• Foster carers are expected to offer more than just a home to children who need it. Their skills are additional to those of a parent and enable them to respond to, and help, children who have been ill treated, neglected, have attachment difficulties or emotional and behavioural issues. It is recognised increasingly that it is what foster carers do that is critical in helping children achieve their potential.

The Fostering Network believes that strengthening the role of foster carers - the practitioners with the greatest involvement in the lives of the majority of children and young people in care - is the key to improving outcomes for looked after children Foster carers must:Have the status and authority to provide children with a goodexperience of family life.Have the skills and support they need to help children achieve their potential.Be properly remunerated. Foster carers are at the centre of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals who work on behalf of young people in public care. They are required to deliver highly personalised care within a professional framework and need to approach what they do in a professional manner, this includes: report writing, assessments, home reviews, dealing with paperwork, attending placement agreement meetings, involvement with the police, attending court and giving evidence, managing contact, doing life-story work, and all the while continuing with parenting and meeting the emotional and physical needs of the child in their care in a way that safeguards the child and themselves.Foster carers’ role in relation to education is not  clear to professionals involved with the fostered child, for example:

The Fostering Network Wales undertook a survey for WAG of foster carers involvement in and their view of Personal Educational Plans (PEP). Foster carers and PEPs WAG 2009 due winter 200966% of the 504 foster carer respondents received information about PEPs but 20% were never included in discussions about the PEP of the child they were caring for. It is essential that all foster carers are given both written and verbal information about PEPs and are part of the team contributing to the production and monitoring of a ‘live’ document. Foster carers have a vital role in educating looked after children and young people, they must be included in formal meetings and their involvement in the statutory education system should be clarified.

Implications and the way forward

• The Fostering Network Wales regards recognition of this professional role and improved status for foster carers as critical to improving standards of practice. In England foster carers are named as part of the children’s workforce. They are included in the footprint of a sector skills council, the Children’s Workforce Development Council, and local authorities are required to consider workforce planning issues for foster carers as they compile their workforce plans. This is not the case in Wales.

• The Fostering Network considers that if foster carers were recognised as part of the professional team around the child they would be given relevant information and be included in decision making.

The Fostering Network campaign Together for Change Together for change campaign The Fostering Network  Autumn 2009 has three main themes which will ensure that foster carers:Have the status and authority to provide children with a good experience of family life.Have the skills and support they need to help children achieve their potential.Are properly remunerated.

Recommendation:

• Recognition be given to the enormous contribution made by foster carers to the lives of looked after children and young people by recognising their status, giving foster carers the authority they require, meeting their learning, development and support needs and ensuring they are properly remunerated. The Fostering Network Wales would wish to see these changes leading to foster carer registration with the Care Council for Wales.

• A mandatory framework for foster carer ongoing learning and development be introduced in Wales to support foster carers continuing development as is required for others in the childcare workforce.

• Guidance is issued highlighting the role of foster carers in the completing of PEPs to education providers, fostering providers and foster carers and looked after children.

To what extent are placements planned out? Is there clarity over whether placements will be for a short period of time, whether it may eventually lead to adoption, etc.? Can you provide any examples of good practice in the planning of foster placements?

Placement planning needs clarity and foster carers need relevant information.

The child’s care plan should be state clearly the expected outcomes for the child and how these will be achieved. The foster placement agreement should then state the objectives of the placement in the context of the local authority’s plan for the care of the child The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/wales/wsi2003/20030237e.htm#sch6. Our members inform us that the placement plan does not always reflect the child’s care plan. This does not allow foster carers to work with children as effectively as they would wish and achieve the outcomes identified for the child. The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003 states the information that should be included in the foster placement agreement. Relevant information including health history should be included in the placement agreement.Change of placement can be unsettling for children, moving to a different house living with different people, as well as possibly even a change of school. 30% of looked after children in Wales had two or more moves by the end of year 2008. WLGA Data Unit The Fostering Network Wales estimates there is a shortage of 700 foster carers in Wales. This is likely to be compounded in the future with the increasingly aging foster carer workforce. The age of foster care The Fostering Network 2009  68% of foster carers in Wales are in their 50s, 60s and 70s. It is likely that a large proportion of the workforce will retire over the next 10 years. The larger the pool of foster families, the more likely it is that a good match can be found, in terms of location, culture, language, religion, background, lifestyle and even interests, thus increasing the chances of  placement stability. We are aware that the shortage of foster carers and difficulties in matching children with families has led to some foster carers being pressurized into taking children either outside of their approval or where they do not have all the skill and knowledge to meet the child’s needs. In a recent survey undertaken by The Fostering Network Getting the support they need the Fostering Network 2009  31% of foster carers who responded in Wales reported that they had been asked to care for children outside of their approval range.  Providing stable placements is critical for turning round the lives of children and young people in care. For around a third of children and young people care is not a temporary stop gap before returning home, but a longer term arrangement, where it is essential they are given stability to help them develop and succeed. Adoption may be an appropriate step for a small proportion of younger children but for the vast majority it is not suitable or wanted by the child. Many young people want to retain contact with their birth families. Therefore long-term foster care is critically important for these children and young people so that they can develop attachment, permanence and a sense of family membership rather than constant movement between short term placements. Long-term foster care must be seen as a valid option for providing stability and permanence for children and young people in care, equal in status to adoption and special guardianship. Research suggests that outcomes are not significantly different (Sinclair  Ian Sinclair , Fostering Now messages from foster care). Long-term foster care is the primary source of permanence for the vast majority of looked-after children and young people, and the status of foster carers needs to be improved.Long-term foster care can be the placement choice for both young children and for young people who come into care later in their lives. Although the age of the child at the point of placement is a significant factor, the child or young person’s views and needs, and the nature of relationships they have formed are also key in determining the outcomes for the child. The Fostering (Wales) Regulations 2003 are clear on the type of information that is required in placement plans. There is a gap between the legislative requirements and practice that leads to difficulties in placements.

Recommendation:

• Long term foster care is given greater emphasis as part of placement choice.

• Local authorities are required to demonstrate how they are ensuring sufficient provision of suitable foster carers.

• The significant gap between legislation and practice should be investigated.

To what extent are the risks of foster placements explained to foster carers?

Risk must be considered in every placement and should be managed with early identification and clear planning. There are three elements to risk management in fostering placement:

• The preparation and training of foster carers.

• The planning, ongoing support and supervision that takes place between foster carers and social workers.

• The information given to foster carers.

Learning and development for foster carers

• There is a lengthy assessment process to become an approved foster carer. Part of that process includes pre-approval training (most commonly the Fostering Network’s Skills to Foster 2009) which is now almost universal, but, following approval, the situation relating to training  is much less clear and needs to be addressed with an ongoing programme of training.

• Safer caring is a component of the pre-approval training. In England the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has introduced Training, Support and Development standards for foster care which must be completed within 12 months of approval. The standards include safeguarding children and young people.

Planning

• Our foster carer members advise us that they feel the child’s social worker and their own social worker (the fostering team social worker) do not always communicate with each other and there is a lack of clarity of their roles. The foster carers report they feel there is a lack of joint planning. This may be a workforce issue, given the high turnover in staffs in many areas, high sickness levels and social workers who do not understand the cultural context of Wales.

• Potential carers are not always advised to ensure they have legal protection insurance in case of an allegation being made against them. This insurance is provided as part of the membership for individual members of the Fostering Network. Recently we provided legal support to a foster carer in Wales that cost £10,000.

Information sharing  

Our foster carer members advise us that information given to them is variable in quality and is down to individual social workers. Practice is not consistent across Wales. We have been told of fostering placements where carers were not told children had been sexually abused; and carers being asked to administer medication without information of its potential side effect. In a recent survey undertaken by The Fostering Network Getting the support they need The Fostering Network 2009 53% of foster carers in Wales said that in the last 3 years they had had a child placed with them for whom they were not given all the information they needed to care for them safely. This equated to the UK figures, were 50% of foster carer reported lack of information.

Recommendation:

• A mandatory framework for learning and development of foster carers should be introduced in Wales.

• Relevant information be given to carers prior to the placement. As a minimum, the information identified in the Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003.

To what extent do children and young people participate in their own placements’ process?

Practice in Wales is variable in this area. While on many occasions children have little choice about their foster placement, we have little evidence of children’s active involvement in decision making. In our view this is another area where guidance needs strengthening.

• There is a shortage of 700 foster carers across Wales, therefore even when placements are planned, there may not be a pool of carers available with the skills and knowledge to meet the child’s needs.

• Frequently there is no choice of foster carers available able to meet the needs of the looked after child. Even where this is the case, children should be included in meetings and their views sought and explanation given of why decisions are being made as they are.

• In planned placements there should be a gradual introduction of children to suitable carers, but our members advise us that this does not happen in all cases.

The Children’s Rights Director in England published a report in 2005 of children’s views of foster care. Children reported they didn’t get enough information about their foster families before they moved in and very little or no choice was given to children about where they were placed ‘Being fostered a national survey of the views of Foster Children, Foster Carers and Birth Parents about foster care. Dr Roger Morgan Children’s Rights Director June 2005. There is no reason to believe that the situation is any different in Wales. Similar research is needed in Wales to establish the views of fostered children.Sons and daughters of foster carers need to be properly valued and recognised for the role they play in fostering. They should be consulted and involved in decisions which affect them. They must be provided with appropriate support services which promote their mental and physical well-being.  Sons and daughters of fostering families tell us that they are not included in decision making about who is coming to live in their home.Sons and daughters need support to deal with many aspects of having a looked after child living with them.Positive relationships can be formed between sons and daughters of foster carers and fostered children where companionship and friendships are formed. Where sons and daughters see fostered children benefiting from and appreciating what their family has to offer, they find this satisfying. Conversely, where fostered children don’t appear to appreciate what the family has to offer them, the sons and daughters of foster carers can become disillusioned. Where a strong relationship has developed between sons and daughters of foster carers and fostered children it can be very hard for them to see children move on.

Good Practice

• There are examples in Wales of sons and daughters groups who support sons and daughters of foster carers to meet and share their experiences and concerns whilst being involved in social activities.

• There are fostering service providers in Wales who facilitate looked after young peoples groups to elicit their views.

• There are examples in England of Corporate Parenting panels establishing consultation groups with looked after young people.

• There are examples in England of young people at a suitable age and level of understanding having control of their review meetings, with support. They decide the relevant people to attend and are supported to chair the meetings. We have not been able to identify this level of engagement by children in Wales.

Recommendation:

• Revised guidance on the importance of planning placements is issued.

• Strengthen the regulations and guidance and standards that govern how agencies work with and support sons and daughters of foster carers, in order to ensure that the views and welfare of sons and daughters are taken into account throughout the fostering experience.

• Fostering providers must be required to support sons and daughters of foster carers with a range of appropriate support services that could include sons and daughters support groups.

• Good practice on the effective engagement of young people in decision making is identified and shared across Wales in line with their rights under (United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child) UNCRC following a placement.

To what extent do you consider that a child’s social worker remains engaged in their care, once they have gone into a foster placement? For example, who is responsible for initially liaising with schools? Are foster carers given sufficient flexibility and autonomy to care for their children, without bureaucratic impediment?

Foster carers value the support of their supervising social worker and need to know there is support available, but foster carers also need to support the child in their care and help them reach their full potential without unnecessary bureaucracy hindering them.

Clarity about the extent of the foster carers decision making

• Children and young people in foster care often miss out on the opportunities available to other children because foster carers are not allowed to make everyday decisions that would normally be fulfilled by a parent. For example, at present foster carers are not able to sign school consent forms for activities and trips, or allowed to take a child for a haircut without consent. These decisions have to pass through social services processes and we often hear of cases where children and young people are unable to participate in activities due to bureaucratic delays in this process. There is a great degree of variation around what decisions different fostering services will allow a foster carer to make, but in general there is a culture that is both highly bureaucratic and risk-averse that makes it very difficult for children and young people to take part in everyday activities.

• As we move towards the acceptance of foster carers as professional members of the children’s workforce, there needs to be a greater presumption of foster carer responsibility for everyday activities laid out in the child’s plan, particularly for long-term placements.

• The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations sets out the matters that should be covered in the foster placement agreement, which the responsible authority must enter into with the foster carer before a child may be placed with that carer. These include the circumstances in which the carer must obtain in advance the responsible authority’s approval for the child to take part in school trips or to stay overnight away from the carer’s home.

• However the reality on the ground is at odds with what the regulations suggest. Foster placement agreements are far from universal, and when one does exist it often will not give any clear guidance on how to deal with the specific issue of school trips. We believe there is a need to consider a wider range of areas for potential delegation beyond the two specified in schedule 6, particularly to encompass a wide range of school consent forms and permission for everyday events such as holidays or out-of school activities such as scout or guide camps, but the issue of school trips is not currently being addressed effectively.

• At present there is also a conflict between education law, which considers foster carers to have responsibility for children in their care, and children’s services regulations and practice that can often prevent the foster carers from engaging with the school or signing school forms.

• We believe that the Welsh Assembly Government should produce guidance that helps local authorities clarify their positions on the delegation of responsibility for signing for school trips, as specified in schedule 6, and other school related issues where they are given responsibility under education law but are prevented from taking decisions by social workers. We also believe that the government should assess a wider range of everyday decision-making beyond the school gate, in order to give greater clarity to local authorities so that they can delegate more decisions.

• Delegation of decision making powers will depend on the type of plan for the child. In order for placements to lead to the most positive outcomes for children and young people, foster carers should receive written confirmation of the parameters of their role regarding delegated authority including any additional responsibilities relevant to the placement. These need to be discussed, negotiated and made explicit in a written agreement.

Social worker involvement

Once again our members report there is considerable variation across agencies. Some carers are getting only the statutory minimum visits and others receive visits from their own social worker and the child’s social worker. We have been told that often these visits are not being coordinated, resulting in a foster carer having to talk to their social worker standing up in the kitchen because the foster child  is talking to their social worker in one room whilst the carer’s own children have to stay in their bedrooms. Statutory guidance exists in Wales that lays down minimum visits by social workers to children in foster placements. Once children have been in placements longer than one year, they could be seen only once every six months. It takes time for children and social workers to build up a relationship and it is unlikely that a trusting and open relationship can develop between them when visits occur at irregular intervals.

Good Practice

• The Fostering Network Wales produced, on behalf of WAG, a guide, Amy’s Diary Amy’s Diary Welsh Assembly Government 2009, for teachers and social workers on their respective responsibility to looked after children in secondary education.The Fostering Network Northern Ireland has been commissioned by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland to take forward proposals re delegating responsibility to foster carers. IRELAND CONTACT Phyllis Elwood The Fostering Network This would ensure a greater degree of autonomy in terms of the taking of everyday decisions to those family and friends who foster a child and to stranger foster carers looking after a child in medium or long-term care. Draft proposals have been consulted upon and are currently with the department awaiting agreement.The Fostering Network has been commissioned to undertake similar work in England.

Recommendation:

• Welsh Assembly Government should require local authorities to delegate more decision making to foster carers and ensure that regulations and guidance are inspected against. This will give children in care the opportunity to live a full family life.

• Further work must be undertaken to bring about the cultural change needed to ensure change becomes embedded in practice.

• The Fostering Network has undertaken work in Northern Ireland and England, and would be prepared to do similar work in Wales.

• Social work education reviewed to ensure there is sufficient information on looked after children included.

to what extent are placements of children into care qualitatively reviewed? Can you provide any examples of placements being given a cost-benefit analysis for example?We know outcomes for looked after children are not good enough.The reviewing system for outcomes is neither robust enough nor ambitious enough for looked after children.

• Outcomes for looked after children are measured nationally, and the indicators include frequency of placements and number of children leaving care. It is relatively easy to measure these events, but qualitative data about children’s emotional well being, is much harder to calculate, but essential to know.

• Individual placements are monitored and reviewed under regulatory requirements. Our foster carer members report that their views are not always sought at placement reviews and they often feel if their views are sought, that they are disregarded, reflecting lack of recognition of their professional role.

• The role of the independent reviewing office is crucial but again our members report their input is variable.

• Foster carers are reviewed within the regulatory framework annually and their training needs and view of the placement are considered.

The Fostering Network Wales published a cost analysis of support foster care Support Care The Preventative Face of Foster Care The Fostering Network Wales 2008 which calculated support foster care for two children cost £7,778 for 8 months against full time foster care at £27,040 (July 2007 costs). Support Care is a time limited form of foster care generally lasting 6 to 9 months where children spend one evening a week and a weekend with foster carers when additional interventions are being provided to families. Support foster carers are usually employed often from professions such as teaching or nursing.

General

Are there any further comments you'd like to make about the placement of children into care? Are there any specific recommendations you would suggest the Committee makes to the Welsh Assembly Government?

The following additional issues have been raised by our members:

Allegations

Most foster carers accept that, given the troubled background of many of the children they foster, they face a high risk of having an allegation made against them. Yet despite the potentially devastating impact it can have on them and their families they continue to foster. The scale of this risk was highlighted in a major survey of over 1000 foster carers conducted by the Fostering Network across the UK, in 2006. This found that one in three foster carers had experienced an allegation at some point in their fostering career. While foster carers recognise this risk as part of their commitment to the children they care for, the damage caused by the failure to investigate allegations in a timely and appropriate manner and to support foster carers who are subject to an investigation is unacceptable.Foster carers are not always informed of their rights when an allegation is made against them. They are left in a distressed state, with little information, not knowing where to get help.The Fostering Network Wales runs an advice and support helpline, Fosterline Wales, which regularly receives calls from distressed foster carers seeking support and information following an allegation.

Improvement in investigation is needed. Fostering service staff report that they do not receive information in a timely way from the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). This means staff are not able to keep foster carers informed and we are told of foster carers waiting months for information about the progress of the investigation.Unfortunately sometimes the allegations are substantiated.

<sty sys-align-left><sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>Recommendation <sty sys-list><sty sys-item><sty normal>Welsh Assembly Government should set enforceable statutory time-scales for investigations and the performance of fostering services  monitored against them. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Fostering services continue to pay fees to foster carers, who are effectively suspended from working as a foster carer during an allegation, until the investigation is completed and they resume work, or their approval is terminated. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Fostering services pay a proportion of the allowance to cover ongoing costs such as insurance, utility bills and rent or mortgage to foster carers who are effectively suspended from working as a foster carer during an allegation. <sty sys-item><sty normal>All fostering services provide foster carers with independent support throughout any allegation. Government guidance must be issued to clearly define the required level of independent support and inspection agencies must ensure delivery. <sty sys-item><sty normal>The Welsh Assembly Government set up transparent, accessible and independent appeals systems to review decisions about foster carers whose approval has been terminated or modified after an allegation <sty sys-item><sty normal>The proposed independent review system for foster carers. (Independent Review of determinations Wales consultation document) is established and accessible by foster carers whose approval is terminated or whose terms of approval are severely limited following an allegation. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>Family and friends care <sty sys-list><sty sys-item><sty normal>The current assessment for suitability to be approved as a foster carer has been developed to assess foster carers to care for a range of children who are unknown to them. An assessment for family and friends carers who know the children they are being assessed to care for, and may actually be caring for already, needs to be developed. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Family and friends carers tend to be older, in poorer health and in more disadvantaged circumstances when compared to unrelated foster carers, yet receive significantly less support. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Access and entitlement to support is based on legal status and not on need, resulting in some carers suffering significant financial hardship. <sty sys-item><sty normal>The Family Rights Group is piloting a specialist assessment form for family and friends carers in England. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>Recommendation <sty sys-align-left><sty normal>There needs to be recognition of family and friends care as unique. An assessment, support and learning and development framework developed to recognize that. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>Fostering Allowance <sty sys-list><sty sys-item><sty normal>The fostering allowance is a sum of money intended to cover the costs of caring for a foster child and pay for everything from nappies and clothes to food, birthday presents and outings. In England local authorities are required to give foster carers a minimum rate of allowances to cover the costs of fostering each child. There is no statutory requirement on local authorities in Wales to do this. <sty sys-item><sty normal>The Fostering Network publishes its own recommended minimum allowance rates every year for all four countries of the UK. These are higher than the rates set by the Government for English local authorities because they take into account the additional costs of travel and accommodation, which the Government rates do not. <sty sys-item><sty normal>The Fostering Network carried out a survey in autumn 2008 of local authorities in Wales to find out what rate of allowances they pay. All 22 local authorities responded. The results show that eight pay less than the English statutory national minimum rate. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Foster carers tell us that in many areas the fostering allowance is inadequate and they are left out of pocket. We are aware of considerable differences in levels of payment across Wales. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold> Recommendation <sty sys-align-left><sty normal>A national minimum allowance for foster carers should be set in Wales at a level that would ensure that there was equity in payment and allow comparison across the country. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>Summary of Recommendations <sty sys-align-left><sty normal>Support needs to be given to bring all agencies up to the standard of the best. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>The action to make the recommendations, which are explicit and implicit in this report, a reality in Wales should include: <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>WORKFORCE ISSUES <sty sys-list><sty sys-item><sty normal>Foster carers named by the Care Council for Wales as part of the children’s workforce. <sty sys-item><sty normal>A mandatory framework for foster carer professional development. <sty sys-item><sty normal>The role of the foster carer be included in social work training. <sty sys-item><sty normal>A national picture of the foster care workforce in Wales is established. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Social workers clear of their roles and able to articulate them to foster carers and looked after children. <sty sys-item><sty normal>An expectation of joint planning and the value of it recognized as a crucial part of social worker role. <sty sys-item><sty normal>A module on vulnerable children included in social work training. <sty sys-item><sty normal>A national minimum fostering allowance set by Welsh Assembly Government <sty sys-item><sty normal>That guidance is issued stating delegated authority must be agreed as part of the fostering placement plan. <sty sys-item><sty normal>That a requirement is placed on health bodies to ensure effective systems for transferring information. <sty sys-align-left><sty normal><sty sys-bold>SYSTEMS/POLICY <sty sys-align-left><sty normal>Guidance be issued regarding communication of information between: <sty sys-list><sty sys-item><sty normal>Statutory organisations. <sty sys-item><sty normal>That corporate parenting responsibility is included in all training of elected members, and they are supported to demonstrate how they can meet that responsibility within their portfolios. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Good practice on the effective engagement of young people in decision making is identified and shared across Wales in line with their rights under <sty sys-underline>UNCRC. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Long term foster care given greater emphasis as part of placement choice. <sty sys-item><sty normal>CCSR’s purpose revisited and reviewed following consultation with relevant stakeholders. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Local authorities are required to demonstrate how they are ensuring sufficient provision of suitable foster carers. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Different system for assessment of family and friend carers is introduced. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Foster carers provided with independent support if an allegation is made against them. <sty sys-item><sty normal>An expectation of joint planning and the value of it recognized as a crucial part of social worker role. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Fostering providers encouraged to establish sons and daughters groups to support the children of foster carers. <sty sys-item><sty normal>Guidance be issued about PEPs to education providers, fostering providers and foster carers and looked after children.