What training is involved during a foster care assessment?

Training during a foster care assessment is pre-approval preparation designed to help you understand the role, examine your readiness and identify any support or development you may need. It forms part of the wider assessment rather than being a separate test: your participation, reflections and ability to apply learning may all contribute to the assessor’s understanding of your suitability to foster.

Most prospective foster carers complete a structured preparation course, often based on the Skills to Foster framework or an equivalent programme. The exact content and format vary between fostering services, but the course normally combines presentations, group discussion, case studies, exercises and opportunities to ask questions. You may attend with other applicants, which can help you compare perspectives and consider how different households might respond to similar situations.

The training usually explores practical questions such as:

• What fostering involves on a day-to-day basis and how it can affect household routines, relationships and commitments.
• How foster carers work with social workers, schools, health professionals and other members of a child’s professional network.
• How to keep accurate records, share relevant information and maintain appropriate confidentiality.
• How to respond to allegations, complaints, disclosures or concerns in line with the fostering service’s procedures.
• How to promote a child’s identity, relationships, culture, religion and sense of belonging.
• How to contribute to planning meetings, reviews and decisions about a child’s care.
• What safe caring means in practice, including agreed boundaries within the household.
• How to recognise your own limits and seek advice before a situation becomes difficult to manage.

A key part of the course is reflective learning. You may be asked to consider your own upbringing, relationships, values, experiences of caring for others and responses to stress. This is not intended to judge your family history or require you to have had a particular childhood. It helps you and the assessing social worker understand how your experiences may influence your approach to fostering, and whether further discussion or support would be useful.

Training can also help you distinguish between what a child needs from a foster carer and what should be managed by other professionals. Foster carers provide day-to-day care and contribute important observations, but they do not work in isolation or take on responsibilities that belong to social workers, therapists or health professionals. Understanding these boundaries is important for safe decision-making and constructive professional relationships.

Everyone whose circumstances could affect the fostering household may need to be involved in some way. This can include a partner, household members and, where appropriate, children living in the home. Their views and understanding matter because fostering affects privacy, routines and family life. The fostering service will explain who should attend particular sessions and how children’s views can be gathered in an age-appropriate way.

Attendance alone does not determine the outcome of an assessment. Your assessor will consider how you engage with the material, whether you can think about different viewpoints, and how openly you discuss potential challenges. You do not need to know everything before training begins. It is more useful to ask questions, acknowledge areas where you need to learn and consider how you would use advice than to give answers you think professionals want to hear.

After training, the learning is normally explored further through assessment discussions and visits. Your assessor may return to subjects covered on the course, ask how they relate to your household and identify any additional preparation needed before a recommendation is made. This could include reading, further discussion, specialist advice or a plan for developing particular skills. Any concerns should be discussed clearly with you rather than left unexplained.

Preparation training is only the beginning of a foster carer’s learning. Approved carers continue to undertake training and development in line with their fostering service’s requirements. This ongoing learning may respond to the needs of a particular child, changes in guidance or procedures, and areas identified through supervision and review. The assessment training therefore gives you a foundation, while continued development supports you once you begin fostering.

Before attending, it is useful to read any information sent by the fostering service, discuss practical arrangements with the people in your household and note down questions. Be prepared to take part in group exercises and to reflect honestly on situations rather than treating the sessions as an examination. If you have a disability, learning need or communication requirement, tell the fostering service so it can consider appropriate adjustments.