Simply Fostering

References and Checks

Apply for Fostering - References and checks

Agency – Legal procedures

Fostering Providers (Agencies) have to undertake rigorous checks by law to ensure the suitability of foster carers to look after vulnerable children and young people.

Fostering checks and references
These include:

  • Disclosure and barring service (formally CRB) checks on anyone in the house over the age of 16 (except in Scotland) and if appropriate, any other people who would come into regular contact with a child or young person that was placed;
  • Local Authority checks;
  • References from employers, particularly where there is contact with children or young people;
  • General Practitioners reference and medical examination;
  • Two or three personal references. The referees will be interviewed and generally, must have known you for at least three years, not be related to you and if you are a couple, know both of you;
  • Interviews will be carried out with all adults in the household and if appropriate with birth children who may live elsewhere.

Significant adults

Agencies will need to run checks on adults who visit daily, stay overnight regularly, regular baby-sitters and any adult children of the foster carer who lives in fostering home.

Some agencies use identified Support Carers

Checks and references are undertaken for support carers, who might be a family member, or someone in the carer’s support network who provides respite for foster children in their own home, such as overnight stays, weekend or holiday respite.

Foster Care – Safe Care Policy – References and checks
References and checks for all the significant people in the carer’s network is central to the carer’s Safe Care Policy, which is part of every fostering family’s rules and expectations. The purpose is to ensure that everyone who lives in the fostering household and those who visit knows what the family rules are.

Protecting the Support Network – Protecting Children
The aim is to offer protection to foster carers, their children, any child placed, and any other adults in the household.

Successful Fostering

Being a foster carer is one of the most rewarding careers out there, but being with the wrong agency can mean not having the number, type of placements, and financial benefits you expected. Contact us and we will find you suitable agencies in your area with vacancies.

Apply For Foster Care

Deciding to foster.

Hopefully, you will decide to take the next step and if so, we would like to thank you for starting on the exciting journey to make a difference in children’s lives, by becoming a foster carer.

We are always here as a source of reference about fostering and our free Fostering Application Service and free Handbook will help you to ask the right questions and to find answers about foster care in the UK.

UK Wide Fostering Network

Try these: South WestDevonExeter

If you live in the UK… We’ve got you covered.
We cover the length and breadth of the UK with our unique Agency Network. Finding an Agency near you and supporting your move into foster caring.

 

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Free Fostering Essentials Handbook

By contacting us you are entitled to the Simply Fostering Essentials Handbook, a wall to wall guide to fostering.

An A-Z comprehensive guide to a range of useful fostering terms. Essential reading for any newbie foster carer. Includes subjects as varied as:

  • Parental Responsibility
  • Managing Behaviour
  • Human Rights
  • Reviews
  • Eat Disorders

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