How is contact with a child’s parents managed in connected person fostering?

Contact with a child’s parents in connected person fostering is managed through the child’s care plan, placement plan and safeguarding arrangements. The local authority social worker, fostering service, parents and connected person carer should each understand what has been agreed, what boundaries apply and how concerns will be dealt with.

The purpose of contact is to support the child’s welfare and, where appropriate, help them maintain a meaningful relationship with their parents. Contact is not arranged solely around what adults want. The child’s age, views, emotional needs, history, wishes and feelings are considered, alongside any risks identified by the social work team. Some children may find contact reassuring, while others may become distressed before or after seeing a parent. These responses should inform future planning.

Arrangements may include:

• face-to-face meetings in an agreed venue
• contact supervised by a social worker or another approved person
• contact taking place without direct supervision, where this has been assessed as safe
• telephone, video or written contact
• contact with siblings or other significant family members, where this is in the child’s interests
• arrangements for who transports the child and who remains present during the visit

A court order may set requirements about contact, and these must be followed. The child’s social worker will explain how the order affects the day-to-day arrangements. A connected person carer should not agree privately to changes that conflict with a court order, the care plan or instructions from the local authority. If a parent asks for an arrangement to be changed, the carer should refer the request to the social worker rather than making a decision alone.

Supervised contact does not necessarily mean that a parent has done something wrong. It may be used to help assess relationships, support a child who needs reassurance, or manage particular safeguarding concerns. The supervisor will normally observe the interaction and report relevant information to the social work team. A carer’s role is to help the child attend safely and remain neutral, rather than question the child afterwards or criticise their parent.

Connected person fostering can involve complicated family relationships. A carer may already know the child’s parents and may have strong feelings about what has happened. Even so, the carer is expected to support the agreed plan, communicate respectfully and avoid putting the child in the middle of adult disagreements. They should not use the child to pass messages, ask them to keep secrets, or discuss court proceedings and allegations with them in a way that could cause confusion or distress.

Practical boundaries should be clear. These may cover unplanned visits, telephone calls, social media contact, gifts, photographs, overnight stays and contact with other relatives. Parents should know how to raise questions or request a review, while the child should have an age-appropriate explanation of what will happen and who they can speak to if they feel worried. Contact details and personal information may also need to be managed carefully to protect the child and the placement.

After contact, the carer should observe how the child appears and record relevant facts, such as whether the child attended, any significant incident, what the child said spontaneously and any noticeable change in their presentation. Records should be objective and dated. They should not contain speculation or hostile comments about a parent. Information must be shared through the agreed channels, particularly if the child discloses a concern, a parent behaves inappropriately, contact does not take place, or the carer believes the arrangement is no longer safe.

Contact arrangements can be reviewed when the child’s circumstances change. A review may be needed if the child’s behaviour or emotional wellbeing changes, a parent’s situation alters, new safeguarding information emerges, or contact is consistently missed. The child’s social worker and fostering team should consider the information available and decide whether the plan needs updating. Any proposed change should be explained to the child in a way they can understand.

Connected person carers are not expected to manage difficult contact situations without guidance. They can raise concerns with the child’s social worker and supervising social worker, ask for clarification about the plan and discuss how to respond to challenging behaviour or emotional reactions. Keeping communication professional, following the written arrangements and recording concerns accurately helps protect the child while allowing decisions about contact to be made by the appropriate professionals.