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A presentation from BAAF

Parent and Child Fostering: the UK Experience ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010 Should you wish to reproduce or adapt or exhibit in public this material, please get in touch with the Marketing & Communications Department, BAAF, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London, EC1N 8TS Email mail@baaf.org.uk Registered charity number 275689 (England and Wales) SC039337 (Scotland)

Paul Adams Fostering Development Consultant ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

This Presentation will consider: 1) The fostering context in the UK 2) Parent and child fostering - history and research 3) Parent and child fostering in practice 4) Planning in individual cases (including case study) ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Terminology

Mother and baby

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Parent and child

Part 1: the UK fostering system

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Team Around the Child Supervising social worker

Social Work Manager

Fostering Provision Local Authority Social Worker placing child

Local Authority Fostering Service

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Independent Fostering Provider

Value base  Listen to the child’s wishes and feelings  “full attention [should be] paid to the individual child’s gender, faith, ethnic origin, cultural and linguistic background, sexual orientation and any disability they may have”

Assessment of foster carers  Robust process (7-8 months)  Checks and references  Childhood and lifestyle  Parenting capacity  Fostering panel

Support and Training  ‘Skills to foster’ course  Post-approval training standards  Supervising social worker  Review process with independent oversight

Part 2: History and Research Serious case reviews

Quantitative local authority studies

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Small scale qualitative studies

Serious Case Reviews  London Borough of Bromley (2008)  London Borough of Brent (2009)

Quantitative Local Authority Studies  Martin T and Davies S (2007), An evaluation of parent and baby placements in West Sussex, West Sussex County Council Social Research Unit (unpublished)  Donnelly S and Wright V (2009), Evaluation of parent and baby placements in Brighton and Hove 2004-2008, accessed 13/2/11 at: www.brighton.ac.uk/sass/research/mrc/resource s/pbplacements_190609_report.pdf

Qualitative Studies  Knight et al (2006), Teenage Pregnancy among young people in and leaving care, Adoption and Fostering, 30:1, pp58-69  Greenaway (2010), Parent and Child Foster Placements: Views and Experiences, Unpublished  Adams and Bevan (2011) Mother and baby foster placements: experiences and issues, Adoption and Fostering, 35:2, pp.32-40

Emerging Theme 1 Recognition of the positive benefits that can be achieved from parent and child fostering – Birth parent views – Foster carer views

Emerging Theme 2 The importance of clarity around roles and responsibilities, and a need for good pre-arrangement planning – written agreements – contact plans – finances and respite

Emerging Theme 3 The importance of the relationship between the foster carer and the parent – trust and communication – chemistry and ‘fitting in’ – carers family – moving in pre-birth © British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

relationship

“It’s the economy stupid”

Emerging Theme 4 The importance of providing effective support to parent and child foster carers – supervising social worker – child’s social worker – training

Emerging Theme 5 The importance of good inter-agency working to manage risk and achieve positive outcomes – health services – transitional arrangements

Emerging Theme 6 The importance of assessment – assessing parents and risk – assessing foster carers

Part 3: P&C fostering in practice

Research

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Practice

Parent and Child Fostering Models

Assessment

Support

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Holding

Service Delivery Models ď ŹWithin existing fostering services (ad hoc and traditional) ď Ź Specialist services or schemes (with specific policies and procedures)

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Assessment and Approval Child protection awareness Working with birth parents Keeping records and contributing to assessments Practical considerations Accepting ‘good enough’ parenting

Assessment dilemmas ď ŹDo parent and child foster carers need other fostering experience prior to undertaking this role? ď ŹShould parent and child foster carers be considered unsuitable if they have other children in their household?

ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Support High quality supervision Foster carer support groups Access to other professionals Out of hours support

Training  Understanding parent and child fostering  Child development and paediatric first aid  Building positive relationships with parents  Promoting good attachments  Child protection and managing risk  Safer caring for parent and child carers  Contributing to assessments of parenting  Records, reports and court skills © British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Part 4: Planning in Individual Cases Importance of planning ahead What sort of placement Assessing suitability of P&C Full information at referral Risk assessment Preparing parent and child

Roles and responsibilities Child’s social worker Assessing Social worker Foster Carer Supervising Social worker Other professionals

Day-to-day planning Child care and baby-sitting House rules including smoking Contact and visitors Finance and equipment Planning for endings

Case Study: Baby William Debbie – mother Thomas – father Theresa – aunt Peter – local authority social worker Doreen – foster carer Ingrid – assessing social worker

Case Study: Planning Initial assessment and early planning Risk assessment regarding suitability Referral to fostering provider Written information provided Care planning meeting – details of structured assessment Placement planning meeting © British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

Case Study: Outcome Effective team communication Other expertise; learning disability Importance of relationships Useful tool; the workbook Planning for moving on On-going support

Reference and contact: Adams P and Dibben E (2011) Parent and Child Fostering London: BAAF Paul.adams@baaf.org.uk ÂŠ British Association for Adoption & Fostering 2010

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