Private Fostering

Private Fostering

Statement of Purpose

To be read in conjunctionwith the City of London Corporation’sProcedures on Private FosteringArrangements

Introduction

This document is a description of private fostering arrangements within the City of London. This statement of purpose is designed to meet the requirements of Standard 1 of theNational Minimum Standards for Private Fostering, and to provide aclear guide of the service for professionals, the public, corporation staff, partner agencies andexternal organisations.

This document will describe the private fostering arrangements, the assessmentprocesses and the support and advice offered to private foster carers, privatelyfostered children and their parents within the City of London.

Any comments or enquiries regarding this statement of purpose should be passed tothe Children’s Services Manager Pat Dixon on 020 7332 1251, or by email to

Regulation

The City of London’s Private Fostering Service is regulated by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Their contact details are:

Head Office

Ofsted

Royal Exchange Buildings
St Ann's Square
Manchester
M2 7LA

London Office

Ofsted

Alexandra House

33 Kingsway

London

WC2B 6SE

Tel: 08456 404045

Textphone/ Minicom: 0161 618 8524

Email:

Website:

ISSUE NUMBER / AUTHOR / APPROVED BY / APPROVAL DATE / REVIEW DATE
1 / Marie Ologbosere / Pat Dixon / November
2014 / November
2015

REVISIONS:

VERSION / PAGE / PARAGRAPH / DESCRIPTION OF CHANGE / REVISION APPROVED BY / DATE APPROVED
1.1 / ADDITION OF NEW LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

The City of London Corporation holds statutory powers and responsibilities as a local authority in relation to private fostering arrangements.

The Private Fostering Service is part of the Children’s Social Care Service which is located within the Family and Young People’s Service, a division of the Department of Community and Children's Services, the Director of People, and Assistant Director of people. The Department is committedto maintaining high standards in relation to private fostering service provision and toreviewing this on a continual basis.

The Department works to ensure that equal opportunities are incorporated into all

aspects of service delivery and all prospective private foster carers are assessed

and supported on the basis of the needs of the individual private foster child/youngperson regardless of race, religion, class, marital status, sexual orientation ordisability.

The City of London’s Children’s Social Care Service is very small; it provides generic services for children and families across the City of London. It does not have separate teams such as Adoption, Fostering, or Children with Disabilities. The team provides; Children in Need,Children with Disabilities, Child protection, Looked After Children, Leaving Care,Adoption, Fostering, Private Fostering and a Duty and Assessment service. The Community and Children’s Services directorate, including the Children’s Social Care Service is based in the North Wing of the Guildhall complex at;

Children and Families Team

Community and Children’s Services Department

City of London Corporation

North Wing, Guildhall

POBOX 270

London EC2P 2EJ

Tel: 020 7332 3621

Fax: 0207 332 3621

Email: DCCSDutyF&

Office hours: 9.15 am – 5 pm Mon – Fri.

The Children’s Social Care team is made up of the Children’s Service Manager, a Team Manager, one Senior Social Worker,twoSocial Workers, , and one full time Administrative Support Officer. There is also an Early Help co-ordinator and support worker.

There are clear arrangements in place in the absence of the Service Manager. Onday-to-day issues, the Team Manager will deputise for the Service Manager. In the absence of the Service Manager and Team Manager the team can seek advice and support fromtheAssistant Director of People, Chris Pelham, and or the Community and Children’s Services Director of People. An out of hour’s service which operates between 5pm – 9.15am is provided by the City & Hackney Emergency Duty Team.

Legal definition of a privately fostered child

In the definition provided by The Children Act 1989, a privately fostered child means:

A child, under the age of 16 (under 18 if disabled) who is cared for, or proposed tobe cared for, and provided with accommodation by someone other than:

A parent of his/hers;
A person who is not a parent of his/hers but who has parent responsibility forhim/her;
A close relative of his/hers, i.e. aunt/uncle/step-parent/grandparent/sibling butnot a cousin or great-aunt/uncle
And she/he has been cared for and accommodated by that person;
For 28 days or more; or
The period of actual fostering is less than 28 days but the private foster carerintends to foster him/her for a period of 28 days or more.

In the case of a child with a disability the upper age limit is 18 years.

A child is not privately fostered if the person caring for him/her:

Had done so for a period of less than 28 days;
Does not intend to do so for any longer period.

For the purposes of the Act parent includes unmarried or putative father. A Relativemeans as above stated, whether by full, half-blood or by affinity or step-parent.

Affinity refers to the relationship resulting from marriage, between the husband andthe blood relations of the wife and also between the wife and the blood relations ofthe husband.

An arrangement is deemed as private fostering if it meets the criteria above whetherfor reward (monetary or otherwise) or not.

Some common examples of private fostering arrangements include:

children/youngpeople with families overseas;
black and ethnic community children/young peoplewith parents working or studying in the UK;
trafficked children/young people andasylum seekers and refugees;
Children/young people living with host families for avariety of reasons, i.e. attending, language schools, undergoing medical treatmentetc.

The local authority's duties and functions under the

Children Act 1989 and the Children (Private

Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005

Care Planning,Placement and Case Review(England) Regulations

Local authorities have a duty to be notified about private fostering arrangements intheir area and to satisfy themselves that the welfare of children who are privatelyfostered in their area is being satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted and to securethat such advice is given to those caring for them as appears to the authority to beneeded (The Children Act 1989 Section 67(1)). Broadly the duties fall into threetypes of activity:

Giving and receiving notifications.
Ascertaining the suitability of private foster carers in their households.
Monitoring placements through visits and written records of visits.

3. Duties under the Children Act 2004 and the

Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering)

Regulations 2005

The new measures in the Children Act 2004 and the Children (Private Arrangementsfor Fostering) Regulations 2005 are intended to strengthen and enhance the existingprivate fostering notification scheme. Local authorities are required to raise publicawareness in their area of the requirements regarding notification of private fosteringarrangements. Notifications must now be given to local authorities when achild/young person is proposed to be privately fostered or is being privately fostered. This will enable local authorities to ensure that the welfare of privately fosteredchildren/young people is being satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted by ongoingassessments and monitoring of arrangements within statutory timescales.

These new measures, along with the National Minimum Standards for Private

Fostering, July 2005, focus all local authorities' attention on private fostering and

Require that authorities, to take a more proactive approach with partnership agencies and otherprofessionals in identifying arrangements in their area. They are expected toimprove notification rates and compliance with the existing legislative framework forprivate fostering and, therefore, to address the key problems identified with the formerscheme. It is intended that these additional measures will improve the arrangementsfor safeguarding children/young people in private fostering arrangements.

Training for relevant staff

Training will be facilitated by the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children’s Board, on all aspects of safeguarding.

There will also be specific training programmes identified on private fostering, this will include information on the notification requirements,the assessment processes of the suitability of the private fostering arrangement andwill be based on the premise that the child/young person's best interests and welfareare paramount.

Training will be at different levels for different professionals and will cover differentcultural child care practices and parenting styles. Relevant staff will gain further understanding and expertise in relation to private fostering through workshops, thelaunch of the private fostering procedures and regular supervision.

How awareness of the notification requirements will

be promoted

Awareness of the notification requirements will be promoted via information and

Advertising, in City publications such as Your Homes, Young City etc, as well as information published onthe City of London website ( theCity of London’sonline Families Service Directory website (

Information sessions will be undertaken with key professionals within the Corporation and with key partnership agencies. Information to communities within the City of London will be disseminated through leaflets and face to face contact at faith and community organisations, and schools. Publicitymaterials will contain information about the legal definition of privately fosteredchildren/young people, the procedure for notifying, the benefits of notification andconsequences of non-notification.

Publicity materials will be distributed to key access points, e.g. schools, libraries,

Voluntary/community sector organisationsand, internal organisations within the City of London offices. Theinformation leaflets will contain the contact numbers of the Children’s Social Care Service so that privately fostered children, their parents, private foster carersand professionals know where to go for advice and support. Publicity will be available in the different languages of the local community as required. All publicity leaflets will contain information on how to request a leaflet in the language or format needed.

Promotion of the notification requirements will be evaluated in terms of objectivesset on a regular basis, and responses to notifications will be carried out within therequired timescales.

Assessment of the suitability of private foster carers

and all their household

The City of London will assess the capacity of the proposed private foster carer, using the dimensions and domains in the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000)

All assessments will be child focused and take into consideration not only the immediate need of the child or young person but also their long term care needs, ensuring their active participation in the assessment and care planning process.

Assessment’s will evidence consultation with professionals and care plans will demonstrate a multi agency approach to meeting the child or young persons indentified needs, Following guidance from “Working Together to Safeguard Children” 2006.

Private Fostering Needs Assessments will be completedand signed off, managerially, within 35 working days. All aspects of private fostercarers' suitability including the suitability of their household will be assessed and all members over the age of 16 will have enhanced DBS checks.

Advice/support and information available to private

Foster carers, parents/those with Parental

Responsibility, and privately fostered children

A named socialworker (with their contact details) will be responsible for working with andsupporting the young person / private foster carer/parent and others concerned. Private foster carers will receive support through parenting programmes and activities and other support as and when required. dependent upon the needs identified have accessto there will be information materials provided, including the City of London Procedures on Private Fostering, in differentlanguages for private foster carers, parents and privately fostered children.

In addition to statutory visits, other visits when requested by privately fostered

Children/young people, their parents, private foster carers will be undertaken.

Interpreters who are independent of parents and private foster carers will be usedwhere it is the request of the child/young person or where the preferred language isnot English.

Private foster carers (including prospective foster carers) will have access to adviceon benefit entitlement, parenting strategies and techniques, and other appropriatetraining and support as will be identified.

Parents of proposed/current privately fostered children/young people will also be

given advice, if it is in the best interests of the child/young person, of other service provisionor other agency help available which would remove the necessity for the child/youngperson to be privately fostered.

Ensuring the welfare of privately fostered children is

safeguarded and promoted

Children's Services will ensure that privately fostered children/young people's

welfare is satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted by staff using the City’s Protocol on Private Fostering, adhering to the new regulations on

Private fostering and by undertaking a Private Fostering Needs Assessment.

Approval of arrangements as satisfactory or not will be concluded and signed off by the TeamManager, within 35 working days. A final decision on approval

of arrangements will be made by the Head of Children's Services. The Private

Fostering Social Work Panel will meet every 28 working days and the Team Manager will make emergency decisions, as and when needed, on any

aspect of the private fostering process.

Private Fostering Needs Assessments will include ensuring that the child/young

person's physical, intellectual, emotional, social and behavioural development is

satisfactory, and needs arising from his/her religious persuasion, racial origin and

cultural and linguistic background are being met. In addition, the assessment will

include the suitability of the accommodation and an evaluation of the parenting

capacity of the prospective/current private foster carer.

Private foster carers will begiven advice on the child/young person's individual needs, which may include adviceon any medical condition or learning disability, in order to enhance their ability tocare for the child/young person. Support services will be made available to privatefoster carers as identified by the Private Fostering Needs Assessment.

Privatefoster carers, where necessary, will also be encouraged to promote contact between the child/young person and his/her parents, siblings, extended family and significantothers.

The Children’s Social CareTeam will respond to notifications received andlikewise visits to privately fostered children/young people within statutory timescales.

Written reports will be completed following these visits, in accordance with the

Regulations, and will include conclusions drawn on the arrangement, whether the

child/young person was seen alone (if not, why not), his/her wishes and feelings

about the arrangement, any concerns raised and any relevant advice given.

All private foster carers will have an enhanced DBS checks undertaken on them. Allprivately fostered children/young people will have a named socialworker with their contact details and will be given information materials in relation totheir age and understanding on what private fostering means. In addition to this, allprivately fostered children/young people will have a named education link workerand a primary health care worker.

Those children/young people who have beendeemed as 'children/young people in need' or 'disabled' whilst being privatelyfostered will have access to an after care service and be facilitated to undergo anadult community care assessment, as relevant. Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) will apply.

Privately fostered children's welfare will further be promoted by anawareness

campaign, regarding the notification requirements which will be carried out within theCorporation. Training programmes on private fostering will be available and privatefostering will also be a part of more generalised child care training. Partnershipagencies, voluntary/community sector, faith groups will all be made aware of thenotification requirements and of their responsibility to safeguard and promote thewelfare of privately fostered children/young people.

The Department will carry out internal file audits on a regular basis, and will affect apolicy for the use of requirements, prohibitions, disqualifications and appeals;

decisions regarding offences will be made in consultation with the police. Decisionsregarding the latter powers will be made whilst bearing in mind the best interests ofthe individual child/young person.

Where child protection concerns are identified, a Section 47 investigation will be

carried out by following the Pan London Child ProtectionProcedures.

The role of other agencies in safeguarding and

promoting the welfare of privately fostered children,

including encouraging notification

Partnership agencies will be given information on their responsibilities regarding

notification under the new Regulations 2005, particularly where they are not satisfiedthat the social care team has been or will be notified of anarrangement. Information materials will be sent to schools, faith groups, housing, andhealth organisations. social workers will visit partnershipagencies and there will be workshops and training made available to them on theirrole in promoting the welfare of privately fostered children/young people. Otheragencies will also have access to the social care work team membersvia telephone, email and internet, and the City of London’s Procedures on Private Fostering Arrangements will be disseminated to them.

In addition to the above, partnership agencies will be required to nominate a

designated lead officer on private fostering.

10.

How relevant staff will have an understanding of the

Department's duties and functions in relation to

private fostering

Community and Children’s Services own staff will have access to this Statement of Purpose, the City of London’sProcedures on Private Fostering Arrangements which is available via the Tri-x system and in hard copy. Publicity and

information materials on private fostering will be made available as well. Other directorates within the City of London and outside agencies will also have printed copies of these documents and relevant training as part of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Board training.

The social care team will visit other departments within the