How are therapeutic foster carers involved in care planning?

Therapeutic foster carers are involved in care planning by contributing practical, day-to-day knowledge of the child and helping translate professional recommendations into consistent care. Their role is to inform assessment, planning, review and implementation, while the child’s social worker, local authority and other responsible professionals make formal decisions within the statutory framework.

Contributing to the initial plan

Before or shortly after a placement begins, the therapeutic foster carer helps identify what the child needs to feel safe and begin building trust. This may include information about:

• known experiences of neglect, abuse, loss or disrupted attachments;
• triggers, fears and situations that may lead to distress;
• ways the child communicates feelings and asks for help;
• existing strengths, interests, routines and important relationships;
• health, education, sensory, emotional and behavioural needs; and
• the support required to manage contact, transitions and changes in routine.

The carer may not have all this information at the start of a placement. Care planning is therefore a developing process. New information from observation, conversations with the child and contact with professionals can be added as the child’s needs become clearer.

Helping to develop a therapeutic approach

A therapeutic care plan should explain not only what behaviour is being seen, but what might be driving it and how adults should respond. Foster carers can help professionals test whether recommended approaches are workable in everyday family life. For example, they may explain which language helps a child regulate, whether a child needs preparation before appointments, or how boundaries can be maintained without increasing fear or shame.

They may also help establish practical routines around sleep, meals, school attendance, personal care, play and contact. These details are important because therapeutic support is most effective when the adults around the child respond in a predictable and consistent way.

Keeping the child’s views central

The child’s wishes and feelings should influence the plan in a way that is appropriate to their age, understanding and communication needs. A therapeutic foster carer may help the child express views through ordinary conversations, play, drawings, activities or other communication methods. They can notice when a child’s words, behaviour or withdrawal suggest agreement, worry or confusion, but should not speak for the child without making clear what has been observed and what has been directly said.

Where a child does not agree with part of the plan, this should be recorded and explored rather than dismissed. The plan may need to explain how adults will address the concern, revisit the decision or provide additional advocacy.

Providing evidence between meetings

Care planning depends on accurate information over time, not just what happens during formal appointments. Therapeutic foster carers usually keep clear records of significant events, patterns, progress and concerns in line with the fostering service’s requirements. Useful information can include:

• what happened before, during and after an incident;
• how long distress lasted and what helped the child recover;
• changes in mood, sleep, appetite, presentation or relationships;
• attendance and engagement in education or activities;
• the child’s response to contact with family members; and
• examples of new skills, safer choices and growing independence.

Records should distinguish between fact, the child’s own words and the carer’s professional observation. This gives the social worker and therapeutic professionals a more reliable basis for reviewing the plan and deciding whether an approach should continue or change.

Taking part in reviews and professional discussions

The carer may contribute to looked-after children’s reviews, placement meetings, education discussions, health appointments, therapeutic consultations and other multi-agency conversations. They can provide an update, ask questions, identify gaps in support and explain how proposed actions may affect the child at home.

Good preparation includes reviewing the current objectives, considering what has changed and identifying matters that need a decision. The carer should also know which actions they are expected to complete, which professional is responsible for each action and when progress will be considered again. A written record of agreed actions reduces the risk of different adults working to conflicting expectations.

Putting agreed actions into daily practice

Once the plan has been agreed, therapeutic foster carers apply its strategies consistently and give feedback about their impact. This may involve using a particular approach to co-regulation, offering structured choices, preparing the child for transitions, supporting safe contact or encouraging the child to recognise and communicate emotions.

Consistency does not mean responding rigidly. A strategy that works in one situation may need adapting in another, particularly if the child is tired, worried or reminded of an earlier experience. Changes should be discussed with the supervising social worker or relevant professional rather than introduced in a way that could undermine the wider plan.

Raising concerns and requesting changes

Care planning is not a one-off exercise. A foster carer should report significant changes, emerging risks or a lack of progress through the agreed professional channels. This includes concerns about safety, self-harm, missing episodes, exploitation, health, education, family contact or the suitability of current support. Immediate safeguarding concerns should be passed on without waiting for the next scheduled review.

The carer can also request that the plan is reconsidered when the child’s needs have changed, a recommended service is unavailable, contact arrangements are causing distress or the placement is placing unreasonable demands on the child or household. Raising a concern is part of responsible care planning; it is not a failure to follow the plan.

Supporting longer-term decisions and transitions

Therapeutic foster carers may contribute evidence when professionals consider permanence, changes to education, contact arrangements, reunification, another placement or the child’s move towards independence. Their perspective can help identify what the child has learned, which relationships are significant and what support will be needed to maintain progress.

When a move is planned, the carer can help prepare the child, share useful routines and explain successful strategies to the next caregivers where appropriate. Information sharing should follow confidentiality, safeguarding and data-protection requirements. The carer’s involvement should always remain focused on the child’s welfare, stability and voice.