This guide offers advice, information and practical suggestions on how to deliver a good quality parent and child fostering service. Parent and child arrangements with foster carers are a well-established phenomenon in England and Wales; less so in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the majority of cases, this means adults with their children living with foster carers, usually in the context of care proceedings. Having adult parents in the foster home brings new challenges to fostering services that are at different stages in their development of provision for making parent and child arrangements and best practice requires them to consider how this particular type of fostering differs from traditional fostering in each respect, from approval, through matching to support and training. This new edition includes information on the legal context of parent and child arrangements; messages from research and serious case reviews; types of parent and child fostering; assessment and approval; training and supporting foster carers; care planning and placement planning; developing policies and procedures. The book is illustrated with case examples of good practice from local authority fostering services as well as the independent sector. It also includes a set of assessment and matching forms (also available electronically) that can be used by fostering services in their parent and child fostering cases.
(Edited publisher abstract)
This guide offers advice, information and practical suggestions on how to deliver a good quality parent and child fostering service. Parent and child arrangements with foster carers are a well-established phenomenon in England and Wales; less so in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the majority of cases, this means adults with their children living with foster carers, usually in the context of care proceedings. Having adult parents in the foster home brings new challenges to fostering services that are at different stages in their development of provision for making parent and child arrangements and best practice requires them to consider how this particular type of fostering differs from traditional fostering in each respect, from approval, through matching to support and training. This new edition includes information on the legal context of parent and child arrangements; messages from research and serious case reviews; types of parent and child fostering; assessment and approval; training and supporting foster carers; care planning and placement planning; developing policies and procedures. The book is illustrated with case examples of good practice from local authority fostering services as well as the independent sector. It also includes a set of assessment and matching forms (also available electronically) that can be used by fostering services in their parent and child fostering cases.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
looked after children, foster care, children, shared lives schemes, parents, placement, childrens social care, parent-child relations;
The number of parent and child arrangements with foster carers is growing rapidly. Some local authorities have established dedicated teams to deal with this and independent fostering agencies in England suggest that these cases constitute up to 10 per cent of their total referrals. There is a history of ad hoc arrangements to allow teenage parents to remain with their baby. However, the new demand includes the placements of adults with their children, usually in the context of care proceedings. This is a specialist area of work, given the complexity around the legal status of the parent and child, as well as the uniqueness of having adult parents in the foster home. BAAF's practice guidance, based on the recent statutory guidance for England, brings together advice and good practice to support these emerging services. It focuses on the practical challenges and issues and includes information on: the legal context of parent and child arrangements; messages from research and serious case reviews; types of parent and child fostering; assessment and approval; training and supporting foster carers; care planning and placement planning; assessing parents and good enough parenting; and developing policies and procedures. The guidance is illustrated with case examples from both local authority and independent agencies. Appendices contain examples of assessment forms, placement agreements, and support schemes.
The number of parent and child arrangements with foster carers is growing rapidly. Some local authorities have established dedicated teams to deal with this and independent fostering agencies in England suggest that these cases constitute up to 10 per cent of their total referrals. There is a history of ad hoc arrangements to allow teenage parents to remain with their baby. However, the new demand includes the placements of adults with their children, usually in the context of care proceedings. This is a specialist area of work, given the complexity around the legal status of the parent and child, as well as the uniqueness of having adult parents in the foster home. BAAF's practice guidance, based on the recent statutory guidance for England, brings together advice and good practice to support these emerging services. It focuses on the practical challenges and issues and includes information on: the legal context of parent and child arrangements; messages from research and serious case reviews; types of parent and child fostering; assessment and approval; training and supporting foster carers; care planning and placement planning; assessing parents and good enough parenting; and developing policies and procedures. The guidance is illustrated with case examples from both local authority and independent agencies. Appendices contain examples of assessment forms, placement agreements, and support schemes.