What does a foster agency do after you are approved?

After approval, a foster agency remains responsible for supervising your fostering practice, reviewing your approval, coordinating support around placements and helping you meet the requirements of fostering regulations. Its role continues whether you have a child living with you, are between placements or are considering a change to the type of fostering you provide.

Your supervising social worker is usually your main professional contact. They help you apply policies and training to day-to-day situations, discuss how a placement is progressing and identify any additional support or development you need. Supervision should give you an opportunity to consider the child’s needs, your household’s experience and any concerns before difficulties become more serious. The agency should keep appropriate records of supervision and any agreed actions.

The agency reviews your approval and development. Your approval is not simply left unchanged after the assessment process. The agency considers whether the current terms of approval remain suitable, including the age range, number of children, types of placement and any other agreed conditions. Your annual review should consider your fostering practice, training, feedback, household circumstances and the needs of children you have cared for. A review may also be arranged sooner if there is a significant change in your circumstances or a concern about a placement.

Following a review, the agency may recommend continuing your approval, changing its terms or identifying actions for further development. You should be given a clear explanation of the outcome and know how to raise concerns if you disagree with a decision. Changes to approval are subject to the relevant fostering procedures, so the agency should explain what happens next and what representations or appeal options may be available.

Training and development continue after approval. The agency normally provides a training programme linked to the children it places and the skills expected of foster carers. This may cover areas such as safer caring, safeguarding, attachment, trauma, behaviour, first aid, equality and identity, education, online safety and supporting contact with birth families. Training needs should be reviewed as your experience develops or when a child’s circumstances require specialist knowledge. Keeping a record of completed learning helps demonstrate how you are maintaining and improving your practice.

Before and during each placement, the agency helps establish a working plan. This should include relevant information about the child, known risks, health needs, education, contact arrangements, routines, delegated authority and expectations for recording and communication. The placing authority remains responsible for the child’s care plan, while the fostering agency supports you in carrying out your role and liaises with the child’s social worker and other professionals. Ask who is responsible for each decision so that you understand what you can agree yourself and what must be referred to others.

Safeguarding concerns must be managed through clear procedures. The agency should explain how to report an allegation, complaint, missing episode, serious incident or concern about a child’s welfare. It should advise you on immediate steps, recording facts, preserving information and contacting the appropriate professionals. If an allegation is made against you or someone in your household, the agency should explain the investigation process, provide appropriate professional support and ensure that decisions are based on relevant safeguarding procedures. This does not mean that every concern will be resolved in the way a carer hopes, but you should understand what is happening and who is making each decision.

The agency also works with the wider network around the child. This can include the placing authority, schools, health professionals, independent reviewing officers, therapists and birth family members where contact is part of the plan. Effective communication helps keep information consistent and ensures that changes in the child’s behaviour, health, education or relationships are shared with the right people. The agency should also help you understand confidentiality and the limits on sharing information with friends, relatives or other carers.

You remain responsible for following the child’s care plan, recording significant events, attending required meetings and telling the agency about important changes in your household or circumstances. The agency, in turn, should make its expectations clear, provide relevant guidance and respond appropriately when you ask for help. A useful post-approval discussion should cover:

• who supervises you and how supervision is arranged;
• how reviews and changes to approval are handled;
• which training is required and how further needs are identified;
• how placement information, delegated authority and contact plans are explained;
• how to report safeguarding concerns, allegations and serious incidents;
• how decisions are recorded and how you can challenge or appeal them; and
• which records you must keep and how confidentiality is protected.

In practical terms, approval marks the start of the agency’s ongoing relationship with you, not the end of its involvement. The quality of that relationship can be assessed by whether responsibilities are clear, supervision is purposeful, training reflects real situations and safeguarding decisions are explained properly.