Managing behaviour
Managing difficult behaviour is a skilled task and all Fostering Agencies provide training on alternative strategies. Rewards and attention for positive behaviour are more effective than punishment for challenging behaviour. Strategies for behaviour management should be discussed with the fostering social worker.
In addition to no corporal punishment, there are certain other punishments that are unacceptable to Fostering Agencies:- deprivation of regular food and drink
- using the threat of restricting family contact as a punishment, this is against the spirit of the Children Act
- withholding permission for and access to educational trips, it is wrong for a child who misbehaves at home to be punished at school and vice versa
- use of withholding of medical or dental treatment
- locking children up or any form of physical restraint, except when this is to prevent a child damaging themselves or others and then only the minimum force necessary
Minimum Standards for Fostering Services
The National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services are an integral part of the legal framework in which the fostering provision is regulated and conducted under the Care Standards Act 2000.
The National Minimum Standards are mandatory and as a Fostering Service Provider all Fostering Agencies must comply with them. If Agencies are found to have substantially failed to meet these Standards, then Ofsted has a duty to inform the Secretary of State for Health, who will take the necessary steps to ensure the requirements are met.
The Minimum Standards represent the ‘basic’ requirements rather than ‘best’ possible practice and are designed to be applicable to a wide variety of Fostering Providers rather than a standardisation of service. As well as providing a measure by which services are regulated, the Minimum Standards act as a basis for the induction and training of staff and a guide for families as to what they should expect from a Fostering Service.
Missing From Foster Care
If a child is missing, the foster carer must operate the Fostering Agency’s policy which is usually to contact their fostering social worker, the child’s social worker or their team manager as soon as possible. If it is outside normal office hours the foster carer would at minimum contact the Emergency Duty Team from the Local Authority who placed the child, then their local police station.
Names
The Children Act prohibits anyone from causing the child to be known by a new surname. This refers to children on Care Orders, but should apply equally to any child placed in care.
Legally, a child’s surname cannot be changed, except by adoption, but the child may call him or herself by any name. The first name is equally important.
Foster carers are strongly advised to call the child by the first name and to respect and encourage the child’s identity, individuality and self-esteem. Foster carers should never initiate a name change.
Nominated Carer
Some agencies operate a Nominated Carer system where people have been assessed and Police checked as suitable to provide support such as short periods of supervision for foster children being cared for by identified foster carers.
Ofsted
The new Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills came into being on 1 April 2007. It brings together the wide experience of four formerly separate inspectorates. It will inspect and regulate care for children and young people, and inspect education and training for learners of all ages.
Overnight stays with friends
A foster child may ask to visit or sleep - over at a friend’s house. While this may be possible it is the responsibility of Social Services and foster carers to ensure that the children in their care are safe at all times. For this reason foster carers must refer any request to the child’s social worker. It is the social worker’s responsibility to find out all they can about the people the child wishes to visit. Parental permission may be necessary and a police check may also have to be made.
Parental Responsibility
Parental responsibility means all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent has in relation to a child and his or her property.
Mothers automatically have parental responsibility and will not lose it if divorced. Married fathers automatically have parental responsibility and will not lose it if divorced.
Unmarried fathers do not automatically have parental responsibility.
An unmarried father can obtain parental responsibility by:- marrying the mother;
- having his name registered or re-registered on the birth certificate if his name is not already on there;
- making a parental responsibility agreement with the mother;
- obtaining a parental responsibility order from the court;
- obtaining a residence order from the court;
- becoming the child's guardian on the mother's death.
Foster carers never have Parental Responsibility for the foster children they look after. However, the Children Act states that although a person with parental responsibility for a child may not surrender or transfer any part of that responsibility to another person, he or she can arrange for some or all of the parental responsibility to be met by another person acting on his/her behalf.
The Placement Agreement meeting held when a child is placed with foster carers decides which aspects of parental responsibility will be discharged to the carers.
Of particular importance are:
- Health issues (including medical consent)
- Overnight stays away from the foster carer
- Diet
- Discipline
- Social contacts
- Routine (e.g. bedtime, coming-in time)
- Religious observance
- Education (e.g. school trips permission, attendance at parent’s evenings)
- Haircuts
- Leisure activities (permission for swimming, etc)
- Culture/language
- Pocket money and what it should be used for
Pets
Foster carers are expected to care for their pets properly. This means:
- paying attention to health and hygiene matters around the house and the garden
- considering safety issues for the animal, children, visitors and especially any foster children
Play
Some children, who are placed in foster care, may not have experienced any positive stimulation or encouragement. Such children may have little incentive to explore or to play, they do not see their world as an interesting place where fun is enjoyed and skills can develop.
However research has shown that by giving disadvantaged pre-school children a one-to-one relationship for play, affection and conversation, even for short periods every day, can make all the difference to their future performance at school.
Foster carers have an important opportunity to help children in their care by encouraging conversation and play.
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