Can I change fostering agencies during the assessment process?

Changing fostering agencies before approval normally means ending or withdrawing your current application and starting an assessment with another fostering service. Your assessment is not automatically transferred as a complete process, and the new service must satisfy itself that you meet the legal and practical requirements to foster.

What happens to the work already completed?

The new agency will usually ask about your previous application and request relevant records from the agency you are leaving. This may include information about interviews, household circumstances, identity checks, health information, references, training and any risk assessments. Information sharing must be handled lawfully, and you may be asked to give consent for records to be released.

Some checks or documents may still be usable, but they may need to be verified, updated or repeated. The new agency will decide this according to its own policies and the circumstances of your application. It cannot simply rely on an assessment carried out by another organisation without reviewing the evidence itself.

Does the assessment start again?

Not necessarily in every detail, but you should be prepared for parts of it to be repeated. Each fostering service is responsible for its own recommendation and must complete enough work to present a clear, balanced assessment to its fostering panel. The new assessing social worker may therefore revisit information you have already provided, speak to household members again and explore any changes since your original application.

The point at which you change can affect the amount of duplicated work. Moving early may mean that fewer stages have been completed, whereas changing after a full assessment has been written or shortly before panel may require careful agreement about which documents can be considered and what further work is needed. The new agency should explain this before you decide to proceed.

Steps to take before moving

• Ask your current agency for a clear explanation of your application status, including which checks, interviews and training have been completed.
• Discuss your reasons for considering a move. Concerns about communication, support, timescales, the assessment approach or a change in personal circumstances may be capable of being resolved, although you are not required to continue with a service you no longer trust or feel is suitable.
• Contact the prospective new agency and provide an accurate account of your previous application. Ask whether it will consider existing records, which stages may need repeating and whether there are any costs or practical consequences explained in its terms.
• Ask both agencies how your personal information will be shared, stored and transferred. Keep copies of documents you are entitled to receive, but do not assume that you can personally move confidential records between organisations.
• Confirm in writing when your application with the first agency will end and when the new assessment will begin. This helps prevent confusion about who is responsible for the next stage.

Be open about the previous application

You should tell the new agency if your previous application was withdrawn, paused, declined or subject to concerns. This includes information about safeguarding, criminal-record checks, health matters, household circumstances or significant disagreements about the assessment. Withholding relevant information can undermine the new assessment and may raise more concern than the original issue.

A decision to change agency does not remove either service’s safeguarding responsibilities. If concerns have been identified, the agencies may need to share relevant information and deal with those concerns before an assessment can continue. A new agency should be given the opportunity to understand the full background rather than receiving only the information that supports your application.

What if you have reached fostering panel?

If your assessment has already been completed or presented to panel, ask the current agency what stage has been reached before withdrawing. A panel recommendation belongs to the assessment conducted by that fostering service; it is not an approval that can simply be carried to another agency. The new service will decide whether it can use any of the existing work and whether a fresh assessment or panel recommendation is required.

If you have already been approved as a foster carer rather than merely assessed, the process is different. You should discuss a formal transfer with both fostering services, because approval status, records, existing placements and the needs of any children in your care must be considered. Do not treat an approved-carer transfer as the same process as changing agencies during an initial application.

If you are unhappy with how the change is handled

Raise practical concerns first with your assessing social worker or their manager and ask for written clarification of the proposed next steps. If the issue is not resolved, use the agency’s complaints procedure. Keep records of important conversations and decisions, particularly where they relate to the withdrawal of your application, the sharing of information or the reasons for repeating assessment work.

Changing agencies can be appropriate when the relationship or assessment approach is no longer suitable, but it should be a considered decision. Before committing to a new application, establish what information will be reviewed, which stages may be repeated and how the move could affect your overall assessment.