How is my involvement reviewed over time?

Your involvement is reviewed through an ongoing cycle of supervision, evidence gathering and formal review meetings. The purpose is to confirm that your approval remains suitable, identify any changes in the support a child needs, and agree practical actions for your continued development as a foster carer.

Supervision provides a regular opportunity to discuss how fostering is affecting your household and how placements are progressing. You may talk through:

• the child’s day-to-day welfare, relationships, education and health;
• your working relationship with the child’s parents, social workers and other professionals;
• events that have been difficult to manage, including behaviour, allegations or safeguarding concerns;
• your use of agreed care strategies and the guidance available to you; and
• any changes in your family, employment, accommodation, health or availability that could affect fostering.

Supervision records the key points discussed, decisions made and actions agreed. You should be able to contribute to these records and raise matters that you feel are important, including concerns about a placement or the support provided. Keeping accurate records between meetings is also useful, particularly for significant incidents, contact arrangements, appointments and progress against the child’s care plan.

A formal review brings together information from the period since the previous review. This can include supervision notes, training records, placement records, feedback from the child where appropriate, and comments from social workers, education or health professionals and the child’s family. The review is not limited to whether a placement has been successful; it considers the full range of your fostering responsibilities and the circumstances in which you are approved to foster.

During the review, you may be asked to reflect on what has gone well, what you would handle differently and what further help would be useful. The discussion should also consider whether your approval terms remain appropriate. For example, the fostering service may need to consider changes to the age range, number of children, types of placement or other conditions if your circumstances or experience have changed. Any proposed change should be explained and considered through the relevant fostering procedures.

Reviews can lead to an agreed development plan. This might include further training, additional supervision, mentoring, changes to household arrangements or specific strategies for supporting a child. Actions should identify who is responsible and how progress will be checked. If concerns are identified, the fostering service should explain the concern, the standards expected and the steps needed to address it.

Some events require attention outside the normal review cycle. These may include a serious incident, a safeguarding allegation, a significant change in household circumstances, a breakdown of a placement or information that could affect your suitability to foster. In such situations, the fostering service may arrange additional meetings, seek specialist advice or reconsider your approval under its procedures. This is separate from treating every routine difficulty as a failure: fostering involves challenges, and the important issue is how concerns are reported, assessed and managed.

At the end of a formal review, the outcome and recommendations should be recorded and shared with you. Possible outcomes include continuing approval unchanged, continuing approval with agreed actions, changing the terms of approval, or beginning a formal process to reconsider approval where there are serious concerns. You should be told what happens next and how to make your views known if you disagree with the outcome.

Before each review, prepare examples of the care you have provided, training you have completed, feedback you have received and any support or changes you want to discuss. Ask for clarification if a recommendation is unclear, and tell your supervising social worker promptly about important changes rather than waiting for the next scheduled review. Taking part openly and keeping the records requested helps ensure that decisions are based on a complete and current picture of your fostering practice.