What safeguarding training does a fostering agency require before approving carers?

Before approving foster carers, a fostering agency must provide or arrange safeguarding preparation that enables applicants to understand their responsibilities and demonstrate that they can protect children in day-to-day care. There is not one single nationally prescribed course with identical content for every agency. Instead, the agency must follow the relevant fostering regulations and standards, assess the applicants’ competence, and identify any further learning needed before approval.

Safeguarding preparation usually forms part of the agency’s pre-approval training. This is commonly delivered before or alongside the fostering assessment and should be relevant to the ages, needs and circumstances of the children the applicants may care for. The agency should explain how its training fits with the assessment process, what participation is expected, and how any concerns about understanding or suitability will be addressed.

Training should help applicants understand the practical expectations of fostering, rather than simply confirming that they have attended a session. The agency may use discussions, exercises, scenarios, written work or observations to explore how applicants would apply safeguarding principles in their own household.

Key areas normally considered include:

• the foster carer’s legal and professional responsibilities, including the need to follow the fostering service’s policies and the child’s care plan;
• how to maintain appropriate boundaries, privacy and confidentiality while still sharing information when a child may be at risk;
• how to keep clear records, pass information to the right people and cooperate with social workers, schools, health professionals and other agencies;
• how a child’s previous experiences, trauma, disability, communication needs or cultural background may affect the way they express distress or respond to adults;
• how to respond calmly and appropriately if a child makes a disclosure, behaves in a concerning way or presents an immediate risk to themselves or others;
• how allegations or complaints involving a foster carer, household member or visitor are managed, including the importance of reporting concerns promptly and not investigating them independently;
• how safer household arrangements are maintained when children have contact with relatives, use transport, attend activities or spend time with other household members; and
• how safeguarding responsibilities apply to everyone in the fostering household, including birth children, partners and regular visitors where relevant.

The assessment is as important as attendance. A certificate or attendance record does not, by itself, establish that an applicant is ready to foster. The assessing social worker should consider whether the applicants can understand safeguarding information, reflect on their own behaviour, accept professional advice and apply what they have learned. They may also explore how applicants would manage a difficult situation without acting impulsively or making promises to a child that cannot be kept.

Where an applicant has previous experience in childcare, education, health or social care, that experience may be relevant, but it does not automatically replace fostering preparation. Fostering involves specific responsibilities within a regulated service, so the agency should still identify any gaps in knowledge. Equally, applicants without professional childcare experience should not be excluded simply because they have not completed a previous safeguarding course; the agency should assess their ability to learn and put the training into practice.

Safeguarding training is only one part of the approval decision. The agency will also consider matters such as identity and criminal record checks, health, references, household circumstances, accommodation, financial stability, motivation, relationships and the applicants’ capacity to work with professionals. These checks are separate from training, but the findings may show that additional safeguarding preparation is needed before a recommendation can be made.

Applicants should ask how the agency deals with training that is missed, incomplete or not understood. Depending on the circumstances, the agency may arrange another session, provide additional reading, discuss the issue during assessment or recommend that approval is delayed until the concern has been resolved. If a serious safeguarding issue emerges, it should be recorded and considered as part of the agency’s formal suitability assessment rather than overlooked because the applicant has completed the course.

Learning continues after approval. In England, foster carers are expected to work towards the Training, Support and Development Standards for foster carers, with safeguarding forming part of that continuing development. The agency should provide induction, supervision and further training that reflects the needs of the child placed, new risks, lessons from incidents and any changes to guidance or law. This means pre-approval training is the starting point, not the end of safeguarding responsibilities.

Before applying, useful questions include:

• What safeguarding subjects are covered in the preparation programme?
• How does the agency test understanding rather than record attendance only?
• What happens if an applicant needs more support with a particular subject?
• Which safeguarding training must be completed before approval, and which is completed afterwards?
• How are other members of the household prepared for their role?
• How are training needs reviewed when a child’s circumstances change?

A well-structured process should leave applicants clear about both their authority and their limits as foster carers: they provide safe, consistent care, but they must involve the fostering agency and other relevant professionals whenever a safeguarding concern arises. The panel and agency decision-maker can then consider the training evidence alongside the full assessment before deciding whether approval is appropriate and what terms should apply.