What happens to my fostering approval when I transfer agencies?

Your fostering approval is assessed by the agency responsible for supervising you. When you move to another agency, the new agency must therefore satisfy itself that you remain suitable to foster and decide what approval terms should apply. The outcome may be approval on the same terms, approval with amended terms, or a decision that further work is needed before approval can be confirmed.

The new agency reviews your fostering information. This normally includes your original assessment, review records, training history, placement information, safer-caring documents and relevant reports from your current agency. You should also provide up-to-date information about your household, health, relationships, employment, accommodation and any changes in circumstances. The purpose is not usually to start your fostering journey from the beginning, but to establish that the information remains accurate and that the new agency can safely support you.

Checks and assessments may be updated where they are out of date or where circumstances have changed. For example, the new agency may need to clarify a change in household members, obtain refreshed references or consider new information relating to health, criminal records or previous placements. It should explain what is required and why, rather than asking you to repeat work without a clear reason.

Your approval terms are considered separately from the transfer itself. These terms describe the children or young people you are approved to foster and may cover matters such as age range, gender, number of children, sibling groups, particular needs and the type of placement. The new agency should discuss whether the existing terms remain appropriate. It may recommend retaining them, narrowing them or extending them, depending on your current skills, experience, household circumstances and the placements the agency can safely support.

The agency’s decision maker makes the formal approval decision after considering the available information and the recommendation from the relevant fostering professionals. You should receive written confirmation of the decision and the terms attached to it. If the proposed terms do not reflect what you expected, ask for an explanation before accepting them and check what evidence or development would be needed for a future review.

A transfer should also protect the continuity of any child’s placement. Your current agency, the new agency and the child’s placing authority need to plan who will supervise the placement, who will respond to concerns and how records will be handed over. The child’s social worker should be involved where the transfer affects the child’s care arrangements. A transfer should not be treated as an administrative change with no consideration of the child’s relationships, routines, school arrangements, support needs or permanence plan.

During the process, clarify who your supervising social worker is, who you should contact about an urgent safeguarding concern and which agency is responsible for supervision on each date. You should not assume that support arrangements, payment processes or local procedures will be identical after the move. Ask for the new agency’s policies on allegations, recording, training, respite, out-of-hours safeguarding arrangements and foster carer payments before the transfer is completed.

Your previous experience and training should inform the new agency’s planning. Ask for your development record to be reviewed so that completed training is recognised and any remaining learning needs are identified. You may need additional training where you are moving into a different type of placement or where the new agency has specific requirements. Continuing professional development remains part of your responsibilities after approval.

If the new agency cannot complete the process, the agencies should explain the reason and agree what happens next. This might involve providing further information, completing an outstanding assessment task or reconsidering whether the proposed move is suitable. Keep copies of correspondence, approval terms, training records and key decisions, and raise any disagreement promptly with the supervising social worker or agency manager. You can also ask for the agency’s complaints procedure if you believe the process has not been handled properly.

Before signing a transfer agreement, check four points in particular: the approval terms proposed by the new agency, the date responsibility changes, the arrangements for any child currently placed with you and the support and financial arrangements that will apply afterwards. Understanding these details helps you identify whether the transfer preserves your existing approval in practice or introduces changes that need further discussion.