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Supervision, Support and training of
Foster Carers
Policy
Fostering Relations values the foster carers approved by this agency and is
committed to the provision of high quality supervision and support by its qualified
social work staff. This policy sets out the legal framework for this work and
describes how supervision and support will be delivered.
Legal
Framework
The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, Schedule 6, article 1
requires fostering agencies to set out in the Foster Carer Agreement what support
and training will be offered to foster carers.
National Care Standards Foster Care and Family Placement Services (March 2005)
stipulate the following:
Standard 5.8 requires agencies to ensure foster carers are supervised and supported
by an appropriately qualified social worker who visits in line with legal requirements,
including at least one unannounced visit each year
Standard 7 requires the agency to provide foster carers with a written agreement
between the carer(s) and themselves setting out the terms of approval, roles and
responsibilities of the foster carer(s) and roles and responsibilities of the agency
Standard 8.1 requires each fostering agency to ensure that a range of individual and
group support arrangements are in place.
Standard 8.2 requires the agency to ensure that foster carers know how to access
support 24 hours a day.
Standard 8.3 also requires agency social workers to keep in regular contact
with foster carers. Fostering Relations meets these standards through the
following;
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Supervision by named, qualified social workers with experience of family
placement work
Supervision Agreement
Supervision and Intermediate Meetings (one of each type in each calendar
month)
Telephone Contact
24 hour access to qualified social workers
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Unannounced visit at least once a year
A programme of training and a personal development/ training plan for each
foster carer
Support groups
Relationship between supervising social worker
and foster carer
The supervising social worker has a responsibility to support and supervise the foster
carer(s) however, s/he also has a primary responsible for the welfare of the child in
placement. The supervising social worker will strive to establish a relationship with
the foster carer which is supportive, honest and open in order to enable the foster
carer(s) to discuss all issues relevant to the child (ren) in the placement and to
their own professional practice as foster carers. This will inevitably include
discussion of aspects of the fostering household which may impact on the
child(ren) in placement. The supervising social worker has a responsibility for the
development of the foster carer’s practice and will use supervision to advise and
guide them in their care of the child(ren) and also help them to establish their learning
and development plans in liaison with the senior member of staff responsible for
foster carer learning and development. The supervising social worker will advise
on relevant legislation, Fostering Relations policies and procedures and keep the
foster carer(s) informed of news and developments within the agency and in
fostering more generally. The supervising social worker will ensure the foster
carer(s) know how to contact him or her between agreed visits and phone
calls and make them aware of contingency arrangements when they are not
available because of annual leave, sickness or part-time working patterns.
Supervision
Agreement
It is good practice to establish an effective working relationship between foster carers
and their supervising social worker. An established way of achieving this is for a
supervision agreement to be created which describes what is expected of all parties.
A supervision agreement will therefore, be discussed, signed and dated in the
following circumstances:
a) When foster carers are approved for the first time and a social worker is
allocated to them b) When there is a change of supervising social worker
c) When there are significant changes in the foster care household e.g. when
the household composition changes.
A copy of the Supervision Agreement, signed and dated by all parties will be placed
on the foster carer file and a copy given to the foster carers for their own records.
Supervision
Meetings
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The supervising social worker will visit the carer(s) at home at least twice each
calendar month on dates and times agreed with the foster carer(s). One of these
visits will be a formal Supervision Meeting and the other an Intermediate meeting.
The Supervision Record / Intermediate Meeting Record will be used to agree an
agenda drawn up between the foster carer and the supervising social worker at the
beginning of the meeting and the supervising social worker will ensure that all topics
listed in the ‘Suggested Agenda Items’ are discussed and recorded over a period of 6
months. The supervising social worker will record the discussion and agreed
outcomes on the Fostering Relations Supervision Record, a copy of which will be
given to the foster carer once signatures and dates from all parties have been
added. A copy of each Supervision Record will be stored on the foster carer file.
Where there is dissent over the content of a Supervision or Intermediate Meeting
Record which cannot be resolved in discussion, the supervising social worker will
record the foster carer’s views by hand on the Record and ensure that a wordprocessed version of the dissenting view is included in the next Record.
At least once a year the line manager of a supervising social worker will make an
arrangement to visit foster carers either alone or in the company of the supervising
social worker.
Telephone Contact
In the periods between meetings the supervising social worker will maintain
telephone contact with the foster carer(s) at a frequency consistent with their stage of
development as carers, assessed needs and the needs of the child in placement.
Records will be maintained of these telephone contacts on the carers’ records and
will have the worker’s name and date of the call recorded.
24 hour access to qualified social
workers
The supervising social worker will ensure that the foster carer(s) know how to locate
the telephone numbers of their own supervising social worker and the numbers of
senior management staff. The supervising social worker will ensure that the foster
carer(s) know whom to contact out of hours and during public holidays. The
supervising social worker will also ensure foster carer(s) understand the Critical
Incident policy and are able to identify situations where they need to contact agency
staff to report situations timeously.
Unannounced visits
It is a requirement of National Care Standards (5.8) that a supervising social worker
should visit the foster carer(s)’ home at least once a year for an unannounced visit.
The outcome of this visit will be recorded on the Unannounced Visit pro forma and
stored on the foster carer file. A copy will also be placed on the file of any child in
placement at the time of the visit.
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Health &
Checks
Safety
The Health and Safety – Foster Carer Households Policy specifies
the following: An inspection must be undertaken with the foster
carer(s)
As part of the Form F initial assessment that includes portfolios of
evidence of competence
in respect of “ability to ensure that children are cared for in a home where
they are safe from harm or abuse”
- The supervising social worker must undertake an annual (at least annual)
inspection using the Health & Safety Checklist. This is included in the foster
carer’s annual review and will be audited by the panel or reviewing officer
conducting the foster carers annual review.
(SEE ALSO – FOSTER CARER ANNUAL REVIEW POLICY)
Learning and Development
Each foster carer will have an individual programme of learning and development
which will include training courses. This will be drawn up after the initial approval of a
foster carer based on analysis of the competencies analysed in the Form F report
and will be reviewed at each annual carer review. The learning and development
programme will identify the development and training priorities for the individual carer
and there is an expectation that carers will meet these requirements.
Foster
carers are encouraged and supported to attend training opportunities on local or
national training courses out with Fostering Relations’ provision, subject to approval
by a senior manager. Fostering Relations is committed to supporting foster carers to
achieve accreditation through SVQ or ACAMAS awards. (Fostering Relations Carer
Learning and Development Policy refers).
Support
Groups
Fostering Relations arranges regular support groups for carers. Foster carer(s)
are encouraged to attend these in order to develop their skills, promote the aims of
Fostering Relations and to develop a network of support with other carers in a
relatively informal setting.
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Documents linked to this
Policy: Supervision Agreement
 Procedural Guidance; Supervision/Intermediate Meeting Record
 Supervision/Intermediate Meeting Record
 Unannounced Visit Proforma
Signed………………………………………………………Registered Manager
Date: April 2017
Review Date: April 2018
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