What training is needed for emergency foster care?

Emergency foster care requires approved foster carers to complete the fostering service’s required preparation and assessment before a child is placed. The training is designed to help you make safe decisions in uncertain circumstances, understand your responsibilities and respond to a child whose needs may not be fully known at the point of arrival.

Preparation before approval

Before approval, you will normally complete an introductory fostering course and take part in training linked to the assessment process. This explains what fostering involves in practice, including working with social workers and other professionals, sharing relevant information, maintaining appropriate boundaries and contributing to plans for a child’s care.

You should also expect preparation on:

• the legal and professional responsibilities of foster carers;
• confidentiality, record-keeping and information sharing;
• safer caring within your household;
• health, safety and risk management in the home;
• how to support a child’s identity, relationships, culture and personal history;
• working with birth parents and other important people in a child’s life; and
• how to recognise concerns and report them through the correct safeguarding process.

The exact course content and format varies between fostering services. Your assessing social worker should explain which elements must be completed before approval and whether any further preparation is required for the type of fostering you are considering.

Training for the uncertainty of emergency placements

Emergency care can involve limited background information, a short period of preparation and a child whose immediate needs are still being assessed. Training therefore needs to help you work carefully with incomplete information rather than make assumptions. This includes understanding how to establish routines, identify immediate risks, communicate concerns and keep clear records of significant events.

You may also be guided through practical issues such as what information to seek when a child arrives, how delegated authority works, how to manage contact arrangements and when to involve the child’s social worker or your supervising professional. These procedures help you avoid making decisions outside your authority while still meeting the child’s day-to-day needs.

First aid and other practical preparation

Fostering services may require or arrange first-aid training and may identify additional learning based on the age and needs of children you are approved to care for. Further preparation could be relevant where a child has medical needs, disabilities, communication needs, harmful or high-risk behaviours, or experiences that require specialist support.

You do not usually need to arrive with specialist fostering qualifications. Previous experience of caring for children, health or social care work, education, youth work or supporting people with additional needs may be useful, but the assessment will consider your individual skills and identify areas for development. Any adult who will play a significant role in caring for a child should understand the agreed household expectations and safety arrangements.

Training after approval

Approval is not the end of the learning process. Foster carers normally complete ongoing development, which can include refresher learning, support meetings, supervision and training linked to a particular child’s circumstances. The training plan may be updated as your experience develops or if you want to care for children with more complex needs.

After an emergency placement, you may be offered an opportunity to review what happened, consider which approaches were effective and identify any further learning. This is separate from judging whether you handled every situation perfectly; it is a structured way to improve future practice and ensure that support or training needs are recognised.

What to check with the fostering service

• Which training must be completed before approval?
• Is first-aid training included, and does it need to be refreshed?
• What preparation is provided specifically for emergency placements?
• How will training be adapted if a child has medical, developmental or behavioural needs?
• What ongoing learning and supervision will be available after approval?
• How will the service review your readiness before offering an emergency placement?

The most important point is that emergency fostering should not mean being expected to manage without preparation. A fostering service should assess your skills, explain the responsibilities involved and provide training and guidance that match the children you may be approved to care for.