Cwmbran Foster Carers Approval Information.
Information for Foster Care Cwmbran Foster Carers on the Approval Process for Approval as a Foster Carer.
Making Your Initial Enquiry
Most fostering services start the process by sending a social worker to your home for an initial visit. This usually takes place within a few weeks of you contacting the fostering service. The social worker will explain the process of becoming a foster parent to you and answer any questions you or other family members may have. They will also want to get a sense of your home and your household.
The Form F Assessment
This is the main part of the approval process and the Social Worker from your chosen agency will visit you on a number of occasions (approximately 4 months in total) and write up a report about you and your household. This report will cover your history, current relationships, health, finances, past experiences of looking after children and people’s views of your motivation for becoming a Foster Carer. For Foster Care Cwmbran applicants this will all be completed within the remit of the Wales fostering standards and the areas that the Social Worker will be looking at in detail for the purpose of your assessment.
Checks and References
As part of your assessment, alongside completion of your Form F, the fostering service will complete enhanced DBS checks on all adults in your household, obtain a medical report from your GP and gain references from people who know you well. These will be arranged by your social worker at the same time as your assessment visits. It is helpful to your social worker if you can inform your GP and your referees that you are in the process of applying to become a foster carer.
Preparing for Panel
The fostering panel consists of independent people who meet to discuss your Form F in detail and to make a recommendation to the agency decision-maker as to whether or not to approve you as a foster carer. Typically, all applicants are invited to attend the meeting at which their Form F is discussed and you will be given the opportunity to discuss your application in depth with the panel. It is therefore essential that you are able to discuss the details of your Form F in depth.
After the Panel Decision
The agency decision-maker then considers the fostering panel’s recommendation, typically within a few days, and makes a final decision.
A useful reference for Foster Care Cwmbran is saferfostering.org.uk/foster-care-wales/cwmbran.
From initial contact to becoming a fully approved Foster Carer, the whole process from initial contact will take approximately 4-6 months.