Step-by-Step Guide: the Foster Care Assessment Process
While the foster care assessment can be intimidating, knowing a bit more about each stage should allow you to enter it with knowledge and assurance this will lead to something positive.
Your starting point is an initial inquiry and information session. Contact your local authority or approved agency to register your interest. You will also take part in an information session where experts explain the type of fostering, expectations from you and support. It is a totally free, no obligation place for you to ask any questions.
Then you would follow up with a formal application if you wanted to move forward. In-depth personal history, employment and health forms as well the reason for fostering. You should generally expect questions on how you were reared, your interpersonal relationships and parenting history. So long as you are honest — this is an exercise meant to get to know about you, not judge.
Statutory checks run simultaneously. They also include DBS checks (medical examinations, references from employers and the local authority). It is best to plan at least 6 – 8 weeks in advance so familiarity with requirements and deadlines are not overlooked. For Foster Care Wrexham, visit https://saferfostering.org.uk/foster-care-wales/wrexham/
The heart of the procedure is evaluations. A social worker can visit you at your home a number of times over three or four months to talk with you about yourself and the way in which vulnerable children could be cared for. They will look at the safety and suitability of your home.
Training requirements run alongside assessments. Partake in parent preparation groups based on child development, attachment theory and behavioural management. The training teaches you what carers need to know and puts you in touch with the other future foster parents.
Panel presentation concludes the process. Before being assessed it is presented to an independent fostering panel who recommend whether they think you should be approved. The vast majority of well-prepared applicants get good reviews.
