What rights do I have during foster care checks?

During foster care checks, you have procedural, privacy and data protection rights, although these operate alongside the fostering service’s safeguarding duties. You can expect a documented assessment process, an opportunity to provide relevant information and a way to challenge errors or decisions. You do not have a right to be approved as a foster carer, or to prevent essential checks from being completed where they are required to assess suitability and protect children.

Your consent and participation: You should be told which checks form part of the assessment and asked to provide the necessary consent or information. This may include an enhanced DBS check, medical assessment, local authority checks, personal references and checks relating to other people in your household. You can choose to withdraw from the application, although the fostering service may be unable to continue without the checks needed to complete the assessment.

You should have a reasonable opportunity to explain information that may affect your assessment. This includes previous convictions, cautions, health conditions, periods of financial difficulty, past involvement with social services or other circumstances that require context. Withholding relevant information can create additional concerns, whereas giving a full explanation allows the assessing team to consider the circumstances, relevance, seriousness, recency and pattern of any issue.

Your personal information: Information gathered during checks should be collected, used and shared for legitimate fostering and safeguarding purposes. Access should be limited to people who need the information for their role, such as the assessing social worker, fostering panel members and the agency decision-maker. Information should not be discussed casually or shared more widely than necessary.

Data protection law gives you rights over personal information held about you. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to:

• ask what personal information is being held and request a copy of it;
• ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected;
• question how information is being used or shared;
• ask for processing to be restricted while the accuracy or lawfulness of information is considered; and
• raise a concern with the organisation’s data protection contact or the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been mishandled.

These rights are not unlimited. Information may need to be withheld or redacted where disclosure would identify another person, reveal confidential safeguarding information or put a child or another individual at risk. Personal information cannot necessarily be erased simply because it is inconvenient or because you disagree with an assessment decision.

DBS information: The DBS certificate is sent to you, so you can check the details recorded on it. If it contains an error, such as incorrect personal details or information that does not relate to you, you can dispute it through the DBS process. You should also tell the fostering service promptly if you believe the certificate is inaccurate. A dispute about the certificate does not automatically remove the need for the fostering assessment to consider other relevant information.

A criminal record does not automatically prevent someone from fostering. The fostering service should consider the nature of the offence, the circumstances, how long ago it occurred, any pattern of offending and evidence of changed circumstances. Certain information may have particular safeguarding significance, and information about offences or alleged behaviour must be considered in line with the applicable rules and guidance.

Health information: You should be told why a medical assessment is needed and what information the fostering service is seeking from your GP or another medical professional. Medical information should be handled sensitively and only relevant information should be used to consider your ability to care for children. You can discuss any concerns about the assessment with the medical professional and explain relevant circumstances, including treatment, adjustments or changes in your health.

Accuracy and your response: If a reference, record or report contains a mistake, identify the specific wording and provide evidence where possible. Ask for your explanation to be recorded alongside the information rather than assuming that a disagreement will be removed. Keep copies of documents you submit and make a note of important discussions, including who gave the information and what further action was agreed.

Before a final recommendation is made, you should normally have an opportunity to see the substance of the assessment and respond to significant information that may affect the outcome, subject to lawful redactions and safeguarding restrictions. In England, fostering panels consider assessment information and make a recommendation; the agency decision-maker then makes the formal decision. The precise arrangements, documents supplied and timescales can vary according to the fostering service’s procedure.

Reasonable adjustments and respectful treatment: You can request reasonable adjustments if a disability, health condition, communication need or other protected characteristic makes part of the checking process difficult. Examples may include accessible documents, additional explanation, an interpreter or changes to how meetings are arranged. You should not be disadvantaged because of a protected characteristic, although the assessment can still consider information that is directly relevant to caring safely for children.

If you disagree with the process or outcome: Start by asking the assessing social worker or supervising manager to explain the issue and record your response. If it is not resolved, use the fostering service’s complaints procedure. Ask whether you can have an independent advocate or support person for relevant meetings, particularly if you find the process difficult to manage. Where the concern involves personal data, use the organisation’s data protection complaints route; where it concerns a DBS certificate, use the DBS dispute route. A complaint does not necessarily pause safeguarding checks or guarantee that an application will continue.

These rights do not allow an applicant to choose which statutory checks are completed, require confidential information about another person to be disclosed or prevent the fostering service from sharing relevant information where this is necessary to protect a child. Their purpose is to ensure that the assessment is properly explained, information is handled lawfully and relevant decisions are made using accurate, balanced evidence.