Policies, Values and Principles
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This chapter provides the context for all procedures for the Fostering Agency.
It contains the overarching policy for the recruitment and supervision of carers and the provision of services to children and families. It should be read by all staff and carers before proceeding to the body of the manual.
RELATED CHAPTERS
Consultation and Participation Policy
Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedure
Contents
1. Introduction
This policy sets out the framework within which the Fostering Agency works with carers and their families and children and young people in our placements.
It is underpinned by a range of legislation and guidance including, but not limited to:
- Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011;
- National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services 2011;
- Working Together to Safeguard Children;
- The Care Planning and Fostering (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2015;
- The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations - Volume 4: Fostering Services.
2. Key Principles
The culture of the Agency is characterised by high expectations and aspirations for all children. Leaders and managers of the Agency share an ambitious vision and a culture of aspiration and positivity, have high expectations for what all children can achieve and set high expectations of their staff and foster carers to sustain the highest quality care for children and to change and improve the lives of the children they are responsible for.
The Fostering Agency is committed to:
- Delivering and maintaining services that enable our staff and carers to recognise and build on the strengths of children and young people from all cultures, religions, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability and backgrounds; in ways that meet their needs and help them to achieve their full potential;
- High-quality care in a fostering environment where the focus is on the specific needs of the individual child or young person, to deliver sustained improvement to the lives of children even when they have complex or challenging needs;
- Delivering a holistic and integrated team approach, inclusive of social work, education, health and support professionals;
- Providing individualised care, support and a range of positive experiences for children to enable them to progress, including meeting the needs of children who live outside their home authority;
- Supporting carers to ensure that children continually make progress from their starting points across all aspects of their development, having a clear understanding of the progress that children are making in respect of the plan for them;
- Preparing and supporting foster carers to promote the progress children make in relation to their health, education, and emotional, social and psychological well-being;
- Making the voice of the child and children's views, wishes and feeling central to all practice; ensuring that children's views are understood and taken into account and that their rights and entitlements are met;
- Working to enhance children's life chances by enhancing the quality of their experiences on a day-to-day basis, providing them with a range of positive experiences, preparing them for their futures and managing transitions effectively;
- Making sure that children are helped and protected, and that effective and ongoing planning is in place to identify and minimise risks and safeguard children;
- Actively promoting tolerance, equality and diversity;
- The recruitment of foster carers from diverse backgrounds with a range of experiences;
- Making sure carers are fully informed about the information will we record on them and their families and understand how we will use this information, including who it may be shared with and how long we will keep it for;
- Maintaining the confidentiality of personal information, and only sharing data with third parties with the consent of the Data Subject or when necessary to safeguard the welfare of a child or adult at risk;
- Achieving stability and security for children and young people through building relationships with trusted adults that minimise disruption and afford protection from abuse and neglect;
- Retaining and supporting foster carers through a strategy and framework that ensures they are professionally supervised, developed and rewarded to ensure they are able to carry out their responsibilities effectively and efficiently;
- Building strong, positive and purposeful relationships between professionals, children, parents and other agencies to ensure the best possible all-round support to children in all areas of their development. Actively challenging when the responses from other services are not effective;
- Understanding that fostering children and young people is a lifestyle choice that involves support not only for the carers, but for family members directly and indirectly concerned;
- Developing a workforce of Managers, practitioners and support staff who are appropriately qualified, trained and registered with their regulatory bodies, and supported in continuous professional development;
- Providing a supportive environment for staff and foster carers through effective supervision and appraisal and high-quality induction and training programmes, tailored to the specific needs of the children;
- Monitoring and reviewing performance, identifying any weaknesses and taking decisive and effective action to remedy them.