Fostering Stocktake

Comments from CoramBAAF’s Health Group Advisory Committee

CoramBAAF’s Health Group Advisory Committee members are communitypaediatricians / medical advisers and specialist nurses for looked after children; psychologists; psychiatrists and representatives from Royal Colleges. Members cover the English regions plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group:

  • improves standards of health practice, service provision and training for health professionals in adoption, fostering and child care practice;
  • facilitates inter-disciplinary understanding of health matters and the exchange of information;
  • assists CoramBAAF in developing and promoting resources and training on health matters;
  • influences policy of government and relevant health organisations.

Contacts: Ellie Johnson, Health Group Development Officer

Kevin Lowe, Policy, Research and Development Team

These comments were not received in time to be incorporated in the main CoramBAAF response and do not necessarily represent the views of CoramBAAF.

Foster carer training

The provision of training on health topics is important and there is a need to increase foster carer engagement/attendance on health training. The provision/type of training needs to take into account different types of carers.

The requirement to attend training should extend to apply to connected person/ relative foster carers.

Health appointments

Foster parents should attend health appointments with their foster children and not send a substitute adult.

Foster carers’ understanding of, and ability to exercise, delegated authority needs greater clarification.

Health information re children in foster care

There should be an expectation that fosters will collate health information and maintain the personal child health record. If the placement should change, the foster carers should pass on the health information in a health handover to the new foster carers.

Availability of health advice and health support

There should be a statutory requirement for foster panels to have access to medical advice. Foster panels should include a health representative who should be a health professional with the appropriate competencies.

Foster carers should be supported to access services, organisations and parent support groups. This is particularly relevant for carers looking after children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Children in foster care may need additional support due to experiencing earlier adversity/trauma and abuse. Foster carers must form part of the family and team that plan and work together to meet the children’s needs in the context of the permanency planning for the child as per Section 8 of the Children and Social Work Act, 2017. Foster carers should be able to access support/care and therapy from well-resourced, informed and child centred health services.

Other points

The group had reservations about foster families taking holidays without their foster children. They acknowledged that carers might need breaks, but felt that children living with foster carers should have every opportunity to be included in family holidays with foster parents and siblings.