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ADOPTION POLICY REVIEW GROUP: CHOICES FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTERING AND ADOPTION
Chapter 8. Public Fostering
Public fostering is where local authorities make arrangements to 'look after' children by placing them with individual named carers. The children are 'looked after' in terms of s.17 of the 1995 Act, and all placements are regulated by the LA Regs and the F Regs. All publicly fostered children are 'looked after', although, obviously, not all 'looked after' children are fostered.
(a) Section 25 of the 1995 Act
Questions can arise as to whether or not a child is 'looked after' under s.25 of the 1995 Act, particularly when they are cared for by family or friends. Many children who are 'looked after' without a formal order under s.25 of the 1995 Act are placed with foster carers. In terms of fostering (and other placements) there are uncertainties, when it is not clear if a child is actually 'looked after' or not. For example, a child may be living with relatives or friends and questions arise as to who made the arrangements or organised the placement: was it the local authority or a voluntary organisation or the family? Depending on who actually arranged the placement and how the arrangements were made, the child may or may not be 'looked after'. Questions also arise when a hospital or residential placement is arranged by health services and/or education departments with local authority social work: is the child 'looked after' or not? Does it depend on which budgets are paying? While such situations do not all involve fostering, they highlight the difficulties with s.25.
Discussion about this issue and some clarification of what constitutes being 'looked after' under s.25 would facilitate matters, for foster care and other types of care.
(b) Respite care provision
If respite care is provided by a local authority for more than twenty-four hours at a time, children are 'looked after' under s.25 of the Act. This means that the local authority duties in the LA Regs apply to them, with the modifications set out in reg.17 of those regulations, about 'short-term placements'. Carers must be approved under the F.Regs, although the assessment and tasks are not the same as those in long-term fostering. However, service provision varies from authority to authority, and there is a need for clarity about provision of this service, probably in Guidance.
(c) Emergency and immediate placements under the Fostering Regulations
Emergency placements are made under reg.13 of the F Regs, with carers who have been fully approved under reg.7. Immediate placements are made under reg.14 of the F Regs, for up to six weeks, with family or friends of the child, being carers who are not approved under reg.7 but about whom basic checks have been made, as listed in regs. 13 and 14.
Following on from a reg.14 placement, there is a need for a form of interim approval under reg.7, to cover the gap that occurs in some cases at the end of the six week period. At that time, if the child is not yet (and may never be) subject to a supervision requirement, s/he should return home or be placed elsewhere or be placed on a supervision requirement. This last option is unlikely to be achieved within six weeks unless the child is already in the hearing system. A removal from the immediate placement is often not in a child's interests, whereas staying there may be the best plan. A mechanism is needed to allow 'interim approval' after initial checks, to allow time for a full assessment of the carer if that is the best plan for the child. A full foster carer assessment takes considerably longer than six weeks.
Another change which could help would be to extend the period of placement under reg.14 to, say, three months. However, a form of 'interim approval' would still be needed, to allow for proper completion of a full assessment. If the child is to be placed on a supervision requirement, then full assessment under reg. 7 may not be necessary; but there can be no certainty of a supervision requirement being in place even at the end of three months, if matters are disputed by the birth parents.
Generally, regs.13 and 14 could be re-ordered and clarified, to remove the need for cross references between them.
(d) Placement recommendations to Children's Hearings
Regulation 15 of the F Regs and r.20(6) of the Hearing Rules 1996 allow children to be placed on a supervision requirement with carers who are not parents, either:
- if the carers are fully approved under reg.7 of the F Regs, reg.15(1)(b); or
- if the local authority have carried out various procedures and think the placements are the best choices for the children, reg.15(1)(b).
The latter provision is used to facilitate placements with family and friends where they have not been approved under reg.7, do not wish to apply for such approval or the authority do not seek to approve them for whatever reason. The provisions work reasonably well, but the terms of reg.15 could be clarified, and there should be a clear tie in with r.20(6) of the Hearing Rules. There is also a question about whether supervision requirements should be able to be made and continued without it ever being necessary to complete formal approval processes for these carers.
(e) Arrangements with voluntary organisations.
These are provided for in regs.16 and 17 of the 1996 Regs. These need to be clarified:
- reg.16 suggests that a voluntary organisation can carry out all of the fostering tasks for an authority, except actually having the 'looked after' responsibility for the child: that must remain with the authority. However, there is uncertainty about the status of voluntary organisations' fostering panels, and how authorities satisfy themselves about these. There is a variety of practice. It would be helpful if it could be made clear whether voluntary agencies can have their own panels, without authorities having to approve the panels or individual carers. The definition of 'foster carer' in reg.2(1) suggests that no carer can be approved by a voluntary agency's panel.
- Guidance: Vol.2, pages 67 to 68, needs to be clarified to avoid the existing confusion which (particularly para 109, pg. 68) talks about 'private arrangements' with other fostering agencies and suggests, wrongly, 'private fostering'.
(f) Fostering placements under reg.12(4).
This is a contentious provision in the F Regs. Not only does it prohibit fostering by a same sex couple who live together, but it also effectively prohibits fostering in households where there are two adults of the same sex who are not in a same sex relationship: e.g. a foster mother and a former foster child who is female, who has chosen to stay on in the house as part of the wider 'family'. There are E.C.H.R. issues about this provision, and not just about same sex couples.
The position is different in England and Wales, where there is no such restriction and a same sex couple can be jointly assessed and approved for fostering and adoption. And in Scotland, a same sex couple may be assessed jointly for adoption, even though only one of them can adopt. The BAAF Practice Note 44: Assessing Lesbian and Gay Foster Carers and Adopters looks at practice issues in this area.
There are other questions about this regulation:
- if a foster carer marries or starts to live with a new partner during or after approval, who exactly needs to be assessed, when, and to what level?
- what does 'household' mean and who does it cover?
(g)Checks on households which 'looked after' children are visiting
There is nothing in the F Regs about this although it is a frequently asked question in practice. A child who is 'looked after' away from home may wish to stay at friend's house overnight. Many authorities will only allow this if the family to be visited are made the subject of police and other checks. This is a higher level of 'checking out' than is usually be carried out by birth parents when their child who is not 'looked after' goes to stay at a friend's house overnight. Many 'looked after' children feel discriminated against by such rules and policies. On the other hand, local authorities have responsibilities to their 'looked after' children, and feel that this level of checking is necessary. Some authorities delegate the power of permission to stay overnight to foster carers, but there is a variety of practice throughout Scotland.
Consideration needs to be given as to whether there should be specific regulations about such arrangements.
QUESTION:
22. Would clarification of s.25 placements be helpful?
23. What are views on the suggestions about emergency and immediate placements?
24. Should the placement provisions for supervision requirements, in reg.15, be changed?
25. Should the arrangements with voluntary organisations be clarified, and if so, how?
26. Should reg.12(4) be amended?
27. Should there be regulations for 'looked after' children on overnight visits, and if so, what should they say?
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