The purpose of the fostering assessment is to see if you are suitable to provide care for other people’s children. The idea is that we work together to establish whether you meet the requirements for fostering and whether it is the right time for you and your household to be fostering a child.
An assessment is also a learning process; it should enable us and yourselves to identify your family’s skills and strengths, whilst giving you a realistic view about what it involves.
How have they shaped you to be the person you are today? Any past criminal convictions?
Are you reasonably fit to foster now and into the future?
Is your home safe for a child? Do you have space to foster?
Are your finances stable enough to be a foster carer?
Will there be people you can rely upon for support?
Working with children/young people – this might be through family, work, or volunteering
Motivation, commitment, positivity and to provide positive experiences to children in care
Be able to deal with behaviour that may be difficult or challenging?
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1. Initial enquiry
Making an initial enquiry is easy and this can be done by email, through this website , or by phone.
You will be able to speak to a member of the team to answer any questions you have and to discuss whether fostering is right for you and your family.
We will complete an initial enquiry with you to find out more about your reasons for considering fostering, your previous experience of caring for children and your housing space, and the time you have to care for children. The information will inform us whether you are a good candidate for fostering.
Following this call, you will be sent an information pack, which will contain information around the eligibility criteria, types of fostering, fees and allowances, and the fostering assessment process. If you wish to progress, an initial home visit will be arranged with you.
2. Initial Home Visit
Silver Lining staff member will visit you to discuss your interest in fostering further with you, to gather some background information about you and your family, and to check that your home is suited to fostering. This will also be an opportunity for you to ask any further questions you may have regarding fostering and highlight any experiences you have had that may strengthen your application to foster. If the visit is positive application form can be completed following the home visit or alternatively this can be completed later and sent to us by post. We will also be verifying your IDs and other documents during the visit. At this point, you will be asked to provide photocopies of ID and some other documents and to sign a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check consent form.
3. The Skills-to-Foster Preparation Training
You will be invited to attend a preparatory training course for prospective foster carers. Attendance at the course forms part of the assessment process, and all applicants are required to attend. Depending on when the training course starts, you may be invited to attend the course before the assessment begins or after or during the assessment.
The training will cover a variety of topics in order to prepare you for the fostering role. Following the course, the trainers will discuss with you whether you have the skills to foster at this time.
4. The Assessment
You will be allocated an assessing social worker who would have a discussion with you about your:
You will provide evidence of your ability to care for children or young people and the social worker would talk to your children, any adult children who have left home, and any former significant partners, where applicable.
A number of checks will be undertaken which will form a part of your assessment which includes:
Your assessing social worker will put all the information gathered during the assessment in one report. You will have a chance to read, make comments and sign the finished report before it is presented to the independent fostering panel.
5. The Fostering Panel
Your assessment report would be presented to the fostering panel which you would be invited to attend. The fostering panel is a group of people independent of the agency who will make a recommendation to the agency decision-maker on your suitability to foster. The agency decision-maker considers the panel recommendations and makes the final decision.
6. Post Approval
Once you are approved as a foster carer, you will be allocated a Supervising Social Worker who will be your first point of contact. You will also be contacted by our placements team to discuss any potential placements.
