How long do foster licence checks take?

For most applicants, foster carer checks are completed over several weeks as part of the wider assessment, with the full approval process generally expected to be completed within six months of a formal application. This is a regulatory expectation for agencies, rather than a guarantee that every individual check or assessment will finish within that period.

It is also worth noting that fostering does not involve a personal “licence” in the same way as driving or some regulated occupations. The term is often used informally to describe the checks and assessment required before a fostering agency can recommend you for approval.

What happens during the timeline?

• Initial discussion and application: You first speak with a fostering agency and receive information about the role, eligibility requirements and assessment process. The formal timescale starts when the agency accepts your application, not necessarily when you first make an enquiry.
• Identity and household checks: The agency confirms your identity, address and household circumstances. Checks may be needed for every adult living in your home, and sometimes for other people who regularly spend significant time there.
• Criminal record checks: Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks are normally requested for the applicant and relevant household members. The timing depends partly on the information supplied and whether the application needs to be checked against records held by more than one police force or authority.
• Local authority and other checks: The agency may contact local authorities where you have lived, and may make enquiries about previous involvement with children’s services. These enquiries help establish whether there is information relevant to your suitability to foster.
• Health assessment: You will usually be asked to complete a health form so that a medical professional can advise whether your health could affect your ability to care for a child. Further information may be requested from your GP or another healthcare professional if the assessing agency needs clarification.
• Personal and employment references: References are normally requested from people who know you well. Employers may also be contacted where appropriate. Referees need time to respond, and a replacement referee may be required if someone cannot provide a sufficiently detailed reference.
• Home visits and assessment meetings: A social worker visits your home and meets with you, your partner and other relevant household members. These meetings explore your background, relationships, support network, experience of caring for children, approach to behaviour, and ability to work with professionals.
• Training and preparation: Pre-approval training usually takes place during the assessment. It covers safeguarding, attachment, trauma, safer caring, promoting identity, managing behaviour and working with a child’s family. Completing the training and any follow-up work is part of demonstrating your readiness.
• Assessment report and panel: The social worker brings the information together in an assessment report. This is considered by the fostering panel, which makes a recommendation about approval. The agency decision-maker then makes the formal decision and sets out the terms of approval, such as the age range or number of children you may foster.

These stages do not always happen strictly one after another. For example, references, DBS applications, training and home visits may progress at the same time. Other parts cannot be completed until earlier information is available, so one delayed response can affect the later stages.

What commonly causes a longer timescale?

• Missing identity documents or incomplete forms.
• Delays in responses from referees, employers, medical professionals or public authorities.
• Previous addresses or time spent living abroad, which may require additional checks.
• Complex household circumstances, including changes in relationships or other adults joining or leaving the home.
• Information in a DBS or local authority check that needs further explanation.
• Health information requiring a more detailed medical opinion.
• The need for additional training, assessment meetings or evidence before a recommendation can be made.

A concern raised during a check does not automatically mean that an application will be refused. The agency considers the nature of the information, how recent it is, the circumstances involved, what has changed since then and whether it affects the safety and wellbeing of a child. You should answer questions openly rather than withholding information, because undisclosed matters can create greater difficulty than information discussed and assessed properly.

You can help the process by completing forms carefully, providing a full address history, warning referees that they will be contacted, responding promptly to requests, and telling the assessing social worker about any changes to your household or circumstances. It is also sensible to ask which documents are needed and whether any information is still outstanding, so you understand what remains before the assessment can be completed.

After approval, some checks are reviewed or repeated when circumstances change and at the intervals required by fostering regulations and agency policy. This means approval is not the end of safeguarding responsibilities: foster carers must continue to share relevant information and cooperate with ongoing reviews, training and supervision.