Who should contribute to your foster parent plan during Stage 1?

The main contributors to a foster parent plan during Stage 1 are the applicants, everyone who lives in the household, and people who can provide informed evidence about the applicants’ circumstances, character and ability to care for children. The fostering service will usually explain whose views are needed and how each contribution will be recorded.

The applicants should provide the central information for the plan. This includes their reasons for fostering, relevant experience of caring for children, household routines, relationships, support network, health and lifestyle, and any circumstances that could affect fostering. Where two people are applying together, both should contribute individually rather than relying on one person to speak for the household.

Other adults in the household should have the opportunity to discuss how fostering could affect them. This may include a partner who is not applying, adult children, relatives or lodgers. Their views can help identify practical matters such as privacy, routines, use of space, household responsibilities and how everyone would respond to a child joining the family. Their contribution does not replace the applicants’ responsibility for the plan, but it can show whether the proposed arrangements have been considered openly.

Children in the household should also be included in an age-appropriate way. They may be asked what they understand about fostering, what they think might change and whether they have questions or worries. Younger children may communicate through a simple conversation, while older children may be able to give a more detailed view. Their opinions should be taken seriously, while recognising that the adults remain responsible for making safe and appropriate decisions.

Family members and friends can contribute where they know the applicants well enough to comment meaningfully. Useful contributors might include relatives, close friends, or people who have seen the applicants caring for children. They may be able to describe the applicants’ reliability, relationships, problem-solving, communication and ability to seek help. A person should be chosen for the quality and relevance of their knowledge, not simply because they are willing to say positive things.

The fostering service may ask for formal personal references from particular people. A referee should give an honest account, including any relevant concerns, rather than treating the reference as a character statement with no limitations. The assessing social worker may explore how long the referee has known the applicant, in what circumstances, and whether the referee has observed their interaction with children.

Professionals may contribute factual information when it is relevant and properly requested. Depending on the applicant’s circumstances, this could involve an employer, childcare professional, education professional, health professional, social care professional or another person with direct knowledge of an important issue. A medical adviser, for example, may consider health information as part of the assessment, while an employer may confirm practical details relevant to the proposed fostering arrangements. The professional’s role is to provide evidence within their area of knowledge, not to write the entire plan or make an unsupported recommendation.

Information from professionals is normally gathered through the fostering service’s assessment and checking processes. The applicant may need to give consent before confidential information can be requested or shared. It is important to be accurate about previous support, health matters, employment, relationships and any involvement with services. Trying to leave out information can create difficulties later if checks produce different evidence.

The assessing social worker and fostering service also have an important role, although they are not contributors in the same way as family members or referees. They help structure the information, identify gaps, test whether statements are supported by evidence and explain which checks are required. They should not write an applicant’s personal views for them, but they can ask questions that make the plan clearer and more balanced.

A useful way to organise contributions is to match each person to the information they can genuinely provide:

• Applicants: motivations, experience, strengths, limitations and proposed routines.
• Household members: the likely impact on daily life, relationships, space and responsibilities.
• Children: their understanding, feelings and questions about fostering.
• Family and friends: observed character, support and experience of the applicants as carers.
• Professionals: relevant factual information, subject to the appropriate consent and checking arrangements.

Not every person needs to contribute to every part of the plan. Contributions should be relevant, honest and proportionate. Personal information about relatives, friends or household members should be handled carefully and shared with the fostering service rather than circulated more widely. If someone disagrees with the proposed plan, that difference should be recorded and discussed instead of being removed.

Before Stage 1 is completed, applicants should check that the plan reflects the household’s actual circumstances and that important contributors have been identified. The fostering service can then explain whether further references, conversations, checks or supporting information are needed before the assessment progresses.