What checks are involved when you apply for foster care?

Fostering checks are a series of safeguarding and suitability checks used to understand your identity, personal history, household and ability to care safely for a child. They are carried out with your consent and form part of a wider fostering assessment, rather than being a pass-or-fail test based on one piece of information.

As well as the standard checks explained during the initial application, the fostering service may need to verify the following:

• Identity and address history: You will normally need to provide documents confirming who you are and where you live. The service may ask about previous addresses so that relevant records can be checked accurately.
• Household members: Checks can apply to other adults living in your home, including a partner, relatives, lodgers or regular members of the household. The agency needs to understand who may have contact with a child placed with you.
• Children in the household: If you have children, their ages, needs and views may be considered. The assessment looks at how fostering could affect family life and what arrangements would help everyone adjust safely.
• Local authority records: The fostering service may make enquiries with children’s services about you and other relevant household members. This can include information connected with previous involvement in safeguarding or family support work.
• Employment and previous experience: Your employment history and experience of caring for children may be discussed. This helps the assessing social worker understand your availability, responsibilities, skills and any support you may need.
• Previous relationships and household changes: Where relevant, the agency may ask about former partners or significant past relationships. This is intended to identify information that could affect safeguarding or help explain your circumstances fully.
• Overseas history: If you have lived outside the UK, additional enquiries may be needed because UK records will not cover every country. The agency will explain what information or documents are available and what is required in your situation.
• Driving and transport: If you expect to drive a child, your driving history, insurance and access to a suitable vehicle may be considered. Transport is often relevant to school, appointments, contact arrangements and activities.
• Pets and other household risks: Animals, smoking, firearms, swimming pools, ponds and other features of the home may be discussed where they could affect a child’s safety. This does not automatically prevent someone from fostering; the focus is on identifying and managing risks.

The assessing social worker will also explore your reasons for fostering, understanding of children’s needs, approach to boundaries and ability to work with professionals and a child’s birth family. They may ask how you would respond to challenging behaviour, missing information, allegations, contact arrangements or a child who has experienced trauma. These discussions help test how you might apply training and guidance in real situations.

Financial circumstances can be considered too. The purpose is not usually to apply a simple income threshold, but to establish whether your household is financially stable and whether fostering would create an unmanageable pressure. You should give honest information about significant commitments, changes in income and any support you may require.

Being asked about a concern does not necessarily mean that your application will be refused. The agency considers the nature of the issue, how long ago it occurred, the circumstances, any pattern of behaviour, what has changed since then and the needs of children who may be placed. Deliberately withholding information is more likely to cause difficulty than disclosing a matter openly and allowing it to be assessed properly.

Most checks involve providing consent, completing forms and supplying supporting documents. The agency may contact other organisations or people directly, and it should explain what information is needed and why. If a check raises a question, you may be asked for clarification or further evidence. Some enquiries can take longer where information is held overseas, records are incomplete or a previous name or address must be confirmed.

You can prepare by gathering identity documents, address and employment details, information about previous relationships, overseas residence and household members. It is also sensible to tell your assessing social worker about any matter that could appear during the checks, including previous involvement with services, convictions, health changes or significant family circumstances. Your information should be handled confidentially and used for assessing your suitability to foster, subject to legal and safeguarding requirements.

Once the checks and assessment are complete, the information is considered alongside your training, interviews and home assessment. A fostering panel may review the completed assessment and make a recommendation before the agency’s decision-maker decides whether you are approved and what type of fostering placements may be suitable.