Chapter Contents
Types of Fostering
ISP provides a range of foster placements to meet the different needs of children and young people. Your terms of approval will confirm the types of placements that you can offer, and you can find this in your Foster Care Agreement.
Emergency placements
Some children need an emergency placement if they are taken into care quickly, e.g. to remove them from a situation of danger or neglect. This can happen late at night. Our out-of-hours workers can make an emergency placement and we need carers who are able to take these children.
A child who needs an emergency placements can be frightened and distressed and they need sensitive care and comfort. You will have limited information about them.
Short-term placements
Short-term placements can involve a period of days, weeks or months and may coincide with care proceedings. These placements will usually last for less than one year and they might be ‘time-limited’, with a clear timeframe or date for the child to move on. The long-term plan for the child will be a return home, adoption or (for older teenagers) a move to independent living.
Long-term fostering
Many fostered children need to be looked after for a longer period of time – often for several years. A long-term placement provides stability for the child, and can continue until they are a young adult. They will usually continue to keep in touch with their family and you will help to support this.
Respite placements
ISP foster parents are entitled to take up to 22 nights’ respite each year, during which time any fostered children will stay with respite carers. We will work closely with you and the child to find the most suitable respite placement for them. Some children stay with a friend or family member of their foster parent, or the family member looks after them in the foster home.
Some children come to ISP on a “respite only” basis. They might be children with disabilities, in residential care or whose parents have health problems that affect their ability to care for the child full time.
Placements for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs)
Unaccompanied children arriving in the UK have often experienced trauma and loss. They have left their families, homes and familiar culture behind and our language and customs can feel strange to them.
Our aim is to provide the best possible care and support for these young people, so that their future offers opportunities to thrive. We must be mindful of their cultural and religious needs, so our centres build links with a broad range of local communities. This can help the young people develop their own sense of identity without feeling isolated from the rest of society.
For more information, see our policy: Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
Parent & Child placements
A foster parent might look after a parent and their baby while the local authority carries out a parenting assessment. This happens when they are unsure if the parent can meet the baby’s needs and keep them safe. The foster parent’s role is to help the parent to understand their child’s needs over time and keep detailed records for the local authority – and sometimes the courts.
To be approved to take these placements you would need to complete our ‘child and parent placements’ training course. You will also need:
- A minimum one year’s experience as a foster parent or experience working in a relevant childcare profession
- To have completed all mandatory training courses
- To have completed Paediatric First Aid training
- A large bedroom plus living space for the parent and baby. Your own bedroom must be large enough to accommodate the baby’s cot should this be required
- Evidence of good record keeping and clear report writing. You will need to be confident speaking in professional meetings.
For more information, see our policy: Parent and Child Placements
Training opportunity: Parent and Child Placements – book on ‘Learnative’. Foster parents who are approved for Parent & Child placements must also complete Safeguarding Adults.
Placements for children with disabilities and complex health needs
Some children come into foster care because they have disabilities and need specialist care. We match these children with carers who have the necessary experience and training to meet their needs.
Children with disabilities have a large professional network around them and you will receive support with their health and learning. You will also be able to claim DLA payments to provide the extras they need.
Training opportunity: Disability Awareness – book on ‘Learnative’
Permanence
Permanence planning aims to ensure that children have a secure, stable and loving family to support them through childhood and beyond. All care placements need to look to the future, and achieving permanence for a child is a key consideration from the day the child becomes looked after. The permanence plan is part of the Care Plan, and the second care review (at four months) should address the child’s need for a permanent home.
Permanent foster care means the child stays with the same foster parent until they reach 18 years, which offers them stability and a sense of belonging. The foster parent continues to receive ISP’s support and services.
Staying Put Arrangements
Staying Put Arrangements
When young people reach the age of 18, they are no longer ‘looked after children’ or in foster care. A ‘Staying Put Arrangement’ can be made so that they can continue to live with their former foster parents if this is what everyone wants.
Every local authority has its own “Staying Put” policy. They are all different. For example, the local authority might want to deal directly with you around finances and other support, or they might choose to contract with ISP so that we provide you with support and supervision.
If you wish to consider a Staying Put arrangement, speak with your supervising social worker first and we will then help make this happen.
A young person in a staying put arrangement will not count as a fostered child or affect your approval terms, but they will count as a household member in relation to matching.
Training opportunity: Staying Put – book on ‘Learnative’
For more information, see our Staying Put policy
Special Guardianship
A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is a type of permanence. If granted, this means the child is no longer in foster care, and no longer has a social worker. The foster parent gains parental responsibility for the child, and the birth family retains limited parental responsibility. The local authority might offer some practical, emotional and financial support, but ISP will no longer be involved.
If you wish to pursue an SGO, this will be considered as part of the child’s Care Plan. It is essential that there are detailed discussions with both you and the child’s birth parents about the full implications of Special Guardianship in advance of any planning. Equally, the child or young person should be as involved in the process as possible. Decisions should not be taken in haste or because you feel under pressure – there needs to be a real commitment for the long-term care of the chid. It is also important to consider future relationships with the child’s birth family. If you would like to pursue special guardianship for a child, speak with your supervising social worker.
Adoption
What is an adoption order?
An adoption order transfers full parental responsibility for the child to the adoptive parents and the child becomes a full member of the adoptive family.
If you are looking after a child whose permanence plan is for adoption, you can apply to adopt the child. Like special guardianship orders, there are implications in terms of support and financial assistance so you should explore these in detail and make sure that plans are in the best interests of the young person and your family.
Can a foster parent who adopts continue to foster?
ISP will consider the carer’s continuing status as a foster parent for other children
