What records should a connected person foster carer keep?

A connected person foster carer should keep an organised record of the child’s day-to-day care, important decisions, changes in circumstances and any concerns. These records help the child’s social work team understand what is happening between visits, support effective care planning and provide an accurate account at reviews. Your fostering agency or local authority will explain which forms or systems to use, what must be reported immediately and how long records should be retained.

Record events as they happen, or as soon as reasonably possible afterwards. Use the date and time of the entry, identify who was involved and write what you directly saw, heard or did. Keep the wording neutral and specific. For example, instead of writing that a child was “being difficult”, describe the behaviour, what happened immediately beforehand, how the child responded and what action was taken. Where you are recording something told to you, make clear that it is the child’s or another person’s account rather than presenting it as something you witnessed yourself.

Useful records commonly include:

• Daily care and routines: relevant changes to sleep, eating, personal care, activities, whereabouts and presentation. Not every ordinary detail needs to be recorded; focus on information that helps others understand the child’s welfare, progress or changing needs.
• Health information: appointments, advice from health professionals, treatment, medication given or refused, accidents, injuries and changes in physical or emotional health. Record the action taken and any follow-up required.
• Education and development: school or college attendance, communication from education staff, homework or learning issues, achievements, exclusions, meetings and agreed actions. Include information about transport or arrangements where this affects the child’s attendance or safety.
• Behaviour and wellbeing: significant changes in mood, distress, conflict, missing episodes, self-harm concerns, substance-related concerns or other behaviour that may indicate a safeguarding or support need. Record the response and who was informed.
• Family and other important relationships: arrangements for contact, whether contact took place, the child’s presentation before and afterwards, practical difficulties and anything the child said about the experience. Avoid criticising parents or making assumptions about their motives.
• Meetings and decisions: the date, attendees, key information shared, decisions made, the reason for significant decisions where known, and the person responsible for each follow-up action.
• Practical and financial matters: relevant clothing, equipment, travel, activities or expenses where your agency or local authority requires evidence. Keep receipts and other supporting documents in the approved place rather than mixing them with sensitive narrative notes.

Keep separate records for incidents and safeguarding concerns. If there is an allegation, serious incident, injury, missing episode, disclosure or concern about abuse or neglect, follow the reporting procedure immediately. Your own note should set out the child’s words as accurately as possible, using quotation marks only where you can reproduce the wording reliably. Do not investigate, repeatedly question the child or add your own conclusion. Record who you contacted, when you made the report and any instructions you were given. An incident form or formal report may be required in addition to the ordinary daily record.

Include the child’s voice. Where appropriate, note the child’s views, wishes and feelings in their own words, while recognising that a child may communicate through behaviour or may not want to comment. Distinguish clearly between the child’s view, your observation and another professional’s opinion. Records should not label a child or reduce them to a diagnosis. They should help professionals understand what support is working, what is difficult and what needs to change.

Make entries accurate and easy to follow. Use plain language, avoid unexplained abbreviations and write in chronological order. Check names, dates and times before saving or signing an entry. If you make a mistake in a paper record, do not erase it or use correction fluid. Follow the agency’s process, which will usually involve drawing a single line through the error, adding the correct information, dating it and signing it. For electronic records, use the system’s amendment function so that changes remain auditable. Never backdate an entry; if you are writing later, state when the event happened and when the note was made.

Protect the records from unauthorised access. Keep paper documents in a secure place and protect electronic records with the required password and device security. Do not leave notes visible, send information through personal messaging accounts or discuss the child where others can overhear. Take particular care with documents containing the child’s address, school details, health information or family contact arrangements. Share information only through the channels approved by your supervising social worker, social work team or fostering agency. Safeguarding information should not be withheld from the appropriate professional because of confidentiality concerns, but it should not be circulated more widely than necessary.

Keep records in the way your agency or local authority specifies. It may provide a daily-recording template, secure online portal, communication book or separate forms for medication, accidents and incidents. Ask which documents should remain in your home, which must be uploaded or handed in, and whether records need to be brought to supervision, meetings or reviews. Do not destroy, delete or remove records when the placement changes unless the organisation responsible for them has confirmed that this is permitted. Retention periods and arrangements for the child to access information are governed by the relevant organisation’s policy and legal duties.

Review your entries regularly with your supervising social worker. A pattern that is not obvious from one note may become clear when records are considered over time, such as changes after contact, repeated sleep disruption or difficulties linked to education. Your records are not a substitute for reporting: contact the appropriate professional promptly if something is urgent, unsafe or outside the agreed care plan. Clear recording, prompt communication and accurate follow-up give the child’s wider team the information needed to make informed decisions.