How is my personal information used during a foster care application?

Your personal information is used to establish whether fostering is suitable for you and your household, support the required assessment, and protect children and young people. It is considered in context rather than as a simple checklist, so information about your circumstances, experience and ability to provide safe, consistent care may all be relevant.

Information you may be asked to provide includes your identity and contact details, household composition, address and home circumstances, employment, finances, health, relationships, previous experience, motivation to foster and details of other adults in the household. You may also be asked for references and information needed for statutory checks, including relevant criminal record information. Some of this is sensitive personal data, so it is subject to additional legal safeguards.

The main uses of this information are to:

• confirm your identity and establish who is applying;
• consider your suitability, resilience, availability and ability to meet a child’s needs;
• identify any support, training or further information that may be relevant;
• carry out references, background checks and other parts of the fostering assessment;
• meet safeguarding, regulatory and legal responsibilities; and
• keep an accurate record of the application and decisions made during the process.

Information is normally collected from you, but the assessment may also require information from other sources, such as referees, previous employers, health professionals, education or social care records, and organisations carrying out relevant checks. You should be told, where appropriate, why a particular source is being contacted and what information is required. If information is incomplete, inconsistent or out of date, you may be asked to clarify it before the assessment can progress.

Access is limited according to people’s roles. This can include staff involved in recruitment and assessment, assessing social workers, managers, panel members and organisations or professionals involved in checks or safeguarding decisions. Information should only be shared where there is a lawful reason and where it is relevant to the assessment or the protection of a child. It should not be treated as information that every member of staff can view.

Data protection law requires personal information to be handled fairly, lawfully and transparently, collected for specified purposes, kept accurate and retained only for as long as there is a legitimate reason to keep it. The privacy information provided by Become a Foster Family should explain the relevant purposes, legal bases, categories of recipients, retention arrangements and contact details for data protection enquiries. It should also identify any additional conditions used when handling health, criminal record or other special category information.

You have data protection rights , although some rights can be restricted in particular circumstances. Depending on the situation, you may be able to request access to your information, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, object to a particular use, request restriction of processing or ask for deletion. Deletion is not always possible where information must be retained to meet a legal, safeguarding or regulatory duty. You can ask the organisation how to exercise a right and what identity checks or other limits apply.

Confidentiality does not prevent necessary safeguarding action. If information indicates that a child or another person may be at risk, it may need to be shared with an appropriate professional or authority in accordance with the law. If you are unsure why a question is being asked, how a record will be used, or who may receive it, ask the assessing team before providing the information and refer to the organisation’s privacy notice for the detailed position.