Matching foster carers with looked-after children
We’re often asked how a looked after child is matched with a foster family and what input you have with deciding placements as a foster carer.
Successful placements rely on careful thought. We take into account the wishes of the foster carer and the insights of the social worker to find out what’s in the best interest of the looked-after-child. Because of the close relationships we build with our foster carers our social workers are excellent at understanding which placements are most likely to lead to stable, ongoing arrangements.
Take a look at our guide to how the matching process happens.
Step 1: The referral is received by the Placements Team
Looked-after-children have a range of needs based on their personalities and previous experiences.
Our Placements Team will consider your skills, experience, family situation and personality. For example, as a newly approved foster carer or one with only a few placements under your belt, you would not be expected to take on a child with complex behavioural needs.
We always want to minimise the disruption to a child’s life. A big part of this is helping a child stay near their current school and community where it’s in their best interest. Factors like where you live and whether you drive help us out with deciding placements because you’ll need to help take a child to school, appointments and any contact with their birth family.
When a potential match has been found, the Placements Team will either contact you directly or go through your own dedicated social worker, who is known as your ‘supervising’ social worker.
Step 2. The foster carer is approached with the potential placement
As a foster carer, you’ll always have a say in the placements you take.
When you become a foster carer you might have a preference for the age or gender of the children you’ll care for. That’s absolutely fine and will be taken into consideration. This feeds into the assessment process where you will be officially approved for a particular age range. It is very rare for a foster carer to be asked to care for a child who falls outside of this age range.
When you become a foster carer, you will also be able to tell us the types of foster care you would like to do. There are lots of different types of foster care and we believe that there’s a great foster care fit for everyone according to your lifestyle, interests and abilities.
One of the differences between the types of foster care is the amount of time that you’d have to consider whether you’d take a suggested placement. As you can imagine, our emergency foster carers often have to make placement decisions quickly! If you become an emergency foster carer you’ll be expected to take a wide range of children into your care at short notice, but usually only for a short period of time. The knowledge that you have provided a safe haven for a vulnerable child in need can feel very rewarding.
Longer term placements can be considered at a slower pace. As a long-term foster carer you'd receive a phone call or an email to give information about the looked-after-child and then a discussion would follow to address any questions you think of. We’ll chat about the needs of any children already living with you and think about how a new arrival might affect them. You would also meet up with the child’s social worker in person to talk through the potential placement and make sure it’s a good match.
Step 3: A decision is made
When you decide to go ahead with a placement, the looked-after-child’s social worker is informed and it’s up to them to confirm they’re happy with the match. You’ll be kept updated by your social worker and our Placements Team.
Plans would then be made for when the placement would start. If it is a planned placement from another foster carer then it might be possible to have some introductory meetings between you and the child you will be caring for.
We always ensure that looked-after-children and our foster carers receive ongoing support from our team at Fostering Rotherham, including visits from their social workers, and an assessment of any training or respite needs.
In the event that you felt that the placement wasn’t a good fit for you then your feelings would of course be respected. We’ll take the time to chat with you about the reasons behind your decision and see if any further training or support is required to enable you to take a wider range of placements in the future.
Have a chat with us!
We hope we’ve answered your questions about how children are placed with foster carers.
To find out more about what it’s like to foster with Fostering Rotherham, book a call back with one of our friendly fostering advisers.