7.11 Supervision and Support of Foster Carers

This chapter was added to the manual in May 2023.

Introduction
Policy
Post Approval / Pre-supervision of Carers
Supervision of Foster Carers
Mockingbird Home Hub Carer & Constellation Members
Supervision Agreement
Purpose of Supervision
Unannounced Visits
Support to Foster Carers from their Supervising Social Worker
Out of Hours Support
Foster Carer Support Groups & Fun Days
Appendices

1. Introduction

1.1	The Fostering Minimum Standards, June 2007 (amended October 2013) sets out the expectations in respect of supervising Foster Carers at standards 18.4 and 21.
1.2	The Family Placement Service (FPS) need to respond to the support needs of Foster Carers in a way which recognises and respects the challenge of caring for traumatised children and young people. Support, therefore, needs to include regular reflective and structured supervision sessions, using a trauma informed approach.

2. Policy

2.1	All approved Foster Carers will have an allocated, suitability qualified Supervising Social Worker from the Family Placement Service, who will support and supervise, ensuring that they have the necessary guidance and direction to maintain a quality service, including safe caring practices.
2.2	This will also include an understanding that they must work within the Isle of Man Fostering Minimum Standards, which are the statutory framework under the Regulation of Care Act 2013, and the Family Placement Service policies, procedures and guidance.

3. Post Approval / Pre-supervision of Foster Carers

3.1

Within five working days of the Agency Decision Maker’s confirmation of approval, or upon the appointment of a Hub Home Carer, the Supervising Social Worker/Liaison Worker must visit the carers to share and provide copies and, where relevant, obtain signatures, of the following:

Foster Carer Agreement, Hub Home Carer Agreement, or the Satellite Carer agreement, if part of a Mockingbird Constellation. Please see Appendix 1: Foster Carer Agreement, Appendix 2: Mockingbird Satellite Carer Agreement and Appendix 3: Hub Home Carer Agreement;
Payment Schedules, according to the carers’ approval status. Please refer to Foster Carer Payment policy;
Supervision Agreement – Please see Appendix 4: Supervision Agreement;
A copy of Foster Carer’s Handbook (which cites the Isle of Man Fostering Minimum Standards);
Training information;
Foster Care log books;
Communication Book (if agreed/required);
Template for mileage claims;
BACS form to ensure the carer(s) are set up for payments;
Foster carers consent to share information with The Fostering Network;
Lock box.

3.2

The signed documents need to be evident of the carers file, with a case note and be added into the file chronology. These arrangements should be reviewed annually in line with the carers review.

3.3

The Hub Home Carer should receive a separate agreement, which should also be signed and evident on their electronic file, with a case note and added to the file chronology. Please see appendix 3 for the Hub Home Carer Home Agreement.

4. Supervision of Foster Carers

4.1	Standard 22 of the Minimum Standards for Fostering Services on the Isle of Man sets out the expectations on the Family Placement Service in respect of the supervision of Foster Carers. Non-compliance will not meet its statutory obligations, which may lead to action being taken by the Regulator.
4.2	The primary responsibility for the Family Placement Service in support of Foster Carers is ensuring the welfare of the child(ren) that are placed with the Foster Carer. The safety of the service to children would be compromised by a failure to supervise carers appropriately.
4.3	The frequency of visits by the Supervising Social Worker to the Foster Carer’s home should depend on the circumstances and any reasonable requests from the Foster Carer. However, formal supervision of the Foster Carer(s) should take place at a minimum frequency of 4-6 weekly. This supervision will continue even when a child is not currently in placement with the carers.
4.4	Newly approved Foster Carers may require more frequent visiting as they adjust to the new role.
4.5	The service will track adherence to this standard via Performance Management Reporting arrangements. Any issues identified will be subject to immediate remedial actions agreed as part of the Performance Management arrangements.

5. Mockingbird Home Hub Carer and Constellation Members

5.1	For those carers who are part of a Mockingbird constellation, the Hub Home Carer (HHC) will provide peer support, which will also include regular social events/support groups.
5.2	Any such contact, either direct or indirect, between the HHC and the members of the constellation will be recorded and quality assured by the Liaison Worker. If the matter is of a safeguarding nature, the log must be written up and sent to the Liaison Worker, the social work team and the Fostering Team Leader within 24 hours.
5.3	If the incident/disclosure happened out of hours, the HHC must contact the Family Placement Service. Any safeguarding concerns must be dealt with according to Manx Care Policy and Procedures.
5.4	HHC logs must be sent to the Liaison Worker on a weekly basis for quality assurance and will then be uploaded onto the carers/child’s electronic file, via business administration. It will be the responsibility of the Supervising Social Worker to share these recordings with the carer, as part of their supervision for discussion.
5.5	It will be the responsibility of the Supervising Social Worker/child’s Social Worker to follow up any actions/discussions within their formal supervision and statutory visits to the child/young person.
5.6	If there are any disagreements in relation to the HHC’s recording, this should be resolved by the Liaison Worker and the HHC, in conjunction with the Supervising Social Worker. If this does not provide resolution, the Fostering Team Leader/Manager must be made aware.
5.7	There may be circumstances in which the HHC may need to contact the Family Placement Service out of hours. For example, and for information purposes, if there was an emergency and the child/young person required a sleepover or there was a safeguarding concern.

6. Supervision Agreement

6.1

At the first supervision session between a Foster Carer and the allocated Supervising Social Worker, a supervision agreement (see appendix 4) should be discussed and completed. This is a formal written document which sets out the expectations of both the Foster Carer and the Supervising Social Worker, which both parties should sign and retain a copy. The agreement will include frequency of visits, length of visits and the agenda for each supervision session. The Agreement will be discussed as part of the Annual Review to ensure that the agreement is suitable to meet the requirements of the Foster Carers and the Supervising Social Worker.

6.2

A copy of the supervision record and the supervision agreement should be uploaded onto the Carer’s electronic record (protocol) and added to the file chronology, with a case note. Foster Carers should also be given a signed copy, which must be kept securely within the lock box provided.

7. Purpose of Supervision

7.1	Supervision is an enabling two way process and is a support mechanism to ensure good outcomes for the children and young people placed with Foster Carers, as it has a key role in ensuring the development, support and motivation of carers. It also ensures Foster Carers are continuing to provide a high quality of care to the children they look after and carry out their duties within the Family Placement Service’s policies and procedures.
7.2	It needs to be a reflective opportunity to understand the child(ren) in placement and the parenting which each child requires.
7.3	The purpose is therefore to: Ensure the Foster Carers understand how they contribute to the Manx Care services for children; Enable Foster Carers to contribute effectively to the plans for the children for whom they are caring and to reflect upon the child(ren)’s needs and how these can be met. It will also be an opportunity to ensure the financial needs of the child/young person are being met. For example, how pocket money and clothing allowance is being spent and how they are being prepared for independent living; Provide appropriate monitoring and feedback on the Foster Carers' work to ensure the Fostering Services Minimum Standards are fully met; Any concerns need raised and/or escalated in a timely manner. For example, Standard of Care concern or an incident that requires an R&I notification. (Please see Standard of Care Concern and R&I Notification Policy); Complete personal development plans for each carer, which are linked to their training and their annual review. Foster Carers should be able to evidence any recent training that has been attended; Support Foster Carers by providing advice or making this available from elsewhere as appropriate; this should include challenge where appropriate and debriefing on incidents or placements that have ended; Give Foster Carers an opportunity to raise any problems and make sure they are addressed appropriately; Acknowledge the challenges and demands that the fostering tasks make on foster families and ensure appropriate support is available; Recognise and address any difficulties the foster carers’ own children may be experiencing arising from fostering; Assist Foster Carers to work in an anti-discriminatory way that respects and promotes individual differences.
7.4	To ensure supervision is purposeful it needs to be at a mutually agreed time for the Foster Carer and Supervising Social Worker, with adequate time allocated by both for the session to cover the full agenda and to allow for meaningful discussion to take place.
7.5	Agenda The agenda for each session should include, as a minimum, as well as those areas detailed in the Supervision Agreement: Matters arising from the last supervision; Any Standards of Care issues; including actions and updates or Notification to Registration and Inspection; Dates of any visits from the child’s Social Worker; Personal issues, e.g. effect of a placement on the Foster Carer's own family; Child(ren) in placement – their health, cultural, educational, leisure and contact needs – and any support needs arising from the trauma being displayed; Training/development issues for the Foster Carers and family; Safe caring and health and safety issues; Maintenance, storage and collection of the child(ren)’s Log Books, Incident Forms, Accident Forms and Medication Forms; Any dates of Foster Carer unavailability; Forward planning for the placement; Foster Carer's recording which are to be reviewed by the Supervising Social Worker who should sign the Child(ren)’s Log Book; Recording.
7.6	There is a template on Protocol for recording the supervision visit to Foster Carers which should be completed by the allocated Supervising Social Worker. This template should be shared and signed by the Foster Carer as an agreed record of the session. Please see Appendix 5: Foster Carer's Supervision Record.
7.7	This template allows for the development of plans to address any areas raised within the supervision session that require action. This record should therefore include any concerns expressed, any support needs of the carer and how these will be addressed and what will happen next, timescales for completion and by whom.
7.8	The supervision records will inform the Foster Carer’s Annual Review.

8. Unannounced Visits

8.1	Supervising Social Workers will also carry out at least two unannounced visits per year, as part of their monitoring and quality assurance function and use this opportunity to check the accommodation.
8.2	The main purpose of the unannounced visit will be to check: Who is in the home; Who is looking after the child or young person in placement; To see the home environment including the foster child or young person's bedroom and any communal spaces available to the child such as bathroom, kitchen, living rooms and outside play area in order to observe general cleanliness and assure health and safety compliance; Obtain feedback in respect of the child(ren)/young person. The Supervising Social Worker to comment upon their physical and emotional presentation and capture the views and any wishes or feelings made by the child/young person; If the carer is not at home, what arrangements have been made for the care of the child or young person; To look at the contents of the lockbox and ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
8.3	If the Foster Carers are not at home but the child is present and being looked after by someone else, the Supervising Social Worker should check the identity of that person and be assured of the appropriateness of this arrangement, but should not continue with the visit.
8.4	A record of unannounced visits should be kept on the Foster Carers electronic file and Foster Carers provided with a copy for their records.
8.5	There should not ordinarily be a regular programme of unannounced visits without particular reason - for example if a Foster Carer is being closely monitored. For this to be required, there would have been a joint decision with the Team Manager regarding the requirement for this and in such an event, the reason for this will be explained to the Foster Carer. Please see Appendix 6: Unannounced Visit Template.

9. Support to the Foster Carers from their Supervising Social Worker

9.1	Following approval the Family Placement Service have the responsibility to manage, supervise, support, develop, monitor and review its carers.
9.2	The Supervising Social Worker will also be required to support the Foster Carer(s) with the making of any placement, to include placement planning meetings and assist in their understanding of Delegated Authority. Please refer to Fostering Placement and Matching policy.
9.3	The primary role of the Supervising Social Worker is to ensure the safety and protection of the children within the fostering household.
9.4	Supervising social workers are responsible for undertaking the following tasks with their allocated foster carers:
9.5	Post Approval Ensure that all new carers complete the induction programme and that their support, development and training needs are assessed and met so that they meet the standards and achieve the National Standards for Training, Support and Development of Foster Carers by their first annual review, or soon after if extra support is required.
9.6	Give information to the carer in regard to The Foster Carer’s Handbook, the Foster Carer’s Agreement and payment schedule. The Agreement should be discussed with the carer, signatures obtained and evidenced on the carer’s electronic file and within the supervision notes.
9.7	Support carers with any specialist issues for disabled children for e.g. support in completing applications for any benefits the child is entitled to.
9.8	Pre-Placement Support Foster Carers to take part in discussions about potential placements with them:
9.9	Support the carer to participate in the placement planning meeting and ensure all known information regarding the child’s needs is shared with them. To support the carer to produce a Safe Care plan for the child and support any areas of concern they have.
9.10	Complete risk assessments and a Safe Care Plan. Discuss and check equipment (especially in the child's bedroom) and ensure it is appropriate to the age of the child to be placed.
9.11	Information about the Foster Carer and their household will be given to the child before they are placed in the form of the carer’s Welcome Book. Whenever possible children should be enabled to visit the Foster Carer's home before placement begins. In an emergency, at a minimum the Foster Carer's profile will be emailed by the Fostering Support team to the child's social worker so this can be discussed with the child before they arrive.
9.12	Discuss issues relevant to contact with birth parents and other family members to support the carers in understanding what their role will be with respects to contact when the child is placed and identify any specific or practical support they may need with this.
9.13	Discuss how child's health needs are promoted and how children should be encouraged to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
9.14	Assist carer with training needs for appropriate safer care practice, including skills to care for children who have been abused. For Foster Carers who offer placements to disabled children, this includes training specifically on issues affecting disabled children.
9.15	Enquire about holiday plans the carers have made, and if the child is able to join them? If the Supervising Social Worker must make alternative arrangements (the impact of this will be discussed with the child’s Social Worker as part of the placement decision process).
9.16	Exchange contact numbers with all relevant members of the foster family, including out of hours support.
9.17	That arrangements are made for the provision of specialist equipment for disabled children.
9.18	Ensure Foster Carers are provided with a copy of the Placement Plan.
9.19	Visit the placement within 24 hours of the child being placed.
9.20	Discuss with the carer any impact for any child(ren) already in placement and explore what support is required whilst introductions are undertaken.
9.21	During Placement Where necessary, check and follow up on all issues raised during the placement. Discuss any areas of concern with Foster Carers and ensure appropriate support/advice is addressed and in place at the time rather than waiting for reviews. Support can be provided to carers and their birth children by the teams fostering support workers.
9.22	Make practical arrangements to provide Foster Carers with breaks from caring as agreed appropriate in line with the needs of the placed children.
9.23	Ensure the Foster Carers receive invitations to child’s Looked after Children’s Reviews and Child Protection Conferences, and attend when appropriate (e.g. new placements or if the placement is vulnerable).
9.24	Prepare the carer for and attend Fostering Carer Review meetings.
9.25	Ensure training programme is updated and accessed by carers and carer’s family and children.
9.26	Review the Safe Care Plan and any changes in household circumstances, each child placed is required to have an individual Safe Care Plan.
9.27	Assess and review any health and safety issues with the fostering household including the addition of any new pets and the environment in which they are kept. All pets within the household require a pet risk assessment. For any household that has more than 2 dogs, the pet risk assessment must be approved by the Senior Manager for the Family Placement Service.
9.28	Discuss how the carers can support a child’s transition home or to another placement, and young people's transition into adulthood and contribute to the young person’s Pathway Plan. Consider the carer’s needs during and after this transition and the impact on the Foster Carers’ family.
9.29	Prepare carers for end of placements, particularly with babies, which can be emotionally difficult for carers, given the length of time care proceedings can sometimes take.
9.30	At End of Placement Support the carers and family to achieve a healthy ending to the placement at what can be a very difficult time.
9.31	Discuss fully with the carer and their family all the issues that have led to any unplanned end of a placement and identify any learning/training opportunities including consideration of whether a disruption/unplanned meeting is appropriate.
9.32	Attend Disruption meetings and Unplanned Ending meetings as required.
9.33	Support Needs of Carers The allocated Supervising Social Worker is responsible, through the supervision of the Foster Carer, for identifying any additional support needs of the carers. This may arise through their own circumstances or through the placement needs of the child. At the initial consideration of a placement, a pre-placement planning meeting for the child should be held and these needs will be highlighted and a plan formulated between the child’s Social Worker and the Supervising Social Worker as how the placement will be supported.
9.34	Practical support needs which create a cost implication will require the authorisation of the Team Leader/Manager.
9.35	If these needs arise during the placement, the Supervising Social Worker will discuss the carers support needs within their supervision session and create a plan, in consultation with the child’s social worker and the Team Leader. If a cost will not be met by the Family Placement Service, consideration to a special funding request may be considered. Any decision will be given in writing to the carer within 5 working days of the request having been considered.

10. Out of Hours Support

10.1

All Foster Carers will have access to the service in working hours. They should know the generic number and their SSW direct line to use. In an emergency outside of working hours a contact number is available for Foster Carers. Examples of an emergency would include should a child be unexpectedly absent from the placement, a medical emergency (including any A&E attendances), a sudden unplanned change of care arrangements or a significant difficulty which is impacting upon the carer’s ability to appropriately manage and which could jeopardise the stability of the placement.

10.2

The Family Placement Service out of hours is for support, advice and telephone guidance only. If a face to face visit is required to the Foster Carers, the Supervising Social Worker will need to liaise with the children’s services out of hours Social Worker.

11. Foster Carer Support Groups

11.1	Manx Care recognises the value of Foster Carers in the development of the Service. Their views and input will therefore be sought to be provide feedback regarding the efficacy of the Service to inform future planning for Service development. This will be achieved by Foster Carer group sessions being facilitated this is an opportunity for carers to meet together to share experiences and provide informal support to one another.
11.2	The Family Placement Service also provides access to the Fostering Network (member’s login required) for all Foster Carers. This is an online resource for information, support and guidance.
11.3	Fostering Fun Days The Family Placement Service may organise activity events specifically for Foster Carers and their families. This is an opportunity for fostering families to build social support networks with one another as well as an opportunity to celebrate their role as Foster Carers.