Far too many children are still missing out because foster carers are not being empowered to make day-to-day decisions about their care.
Foster carers look after children in their own homes, as part of their own families, and must be trusted, encouraged and supported to make everyday decisions on their behalf. This is underlined in the Foster Carers’ Charter, launched in 2011, which states that local authorities and fostering services must ‘support foster carers in making reasonable and appropriate decisions on behalf of their foster child’.
Children's Minister Tim Loughton said:
I am concerned by accounts that foster carers are facing unnecessary obstacles when trying to make everyday decisions about the lives of the children they look after. Small but essential matters, such as whether the foster carer can take the child for a haircut, should be agreed at the outset so foster carers don't have to keep seeking permissions from several layers of bureaucracy.
When considering delegation to foster carers, local authorities have to balance the legal rights of birth parents with the needs of children and the role of foster carers. But wherever possible, local authorities should be delegating day-to-day decision making to foster carers and working with birth families to help them understand the importance of appropriate delegation.
In 2011 the Government funded the Fostering Network to work with the sector to produce a range of materials to support important changes in practice around delegation of authority. These can be found online.
The sector told us that they want all the statutory requirements on delegation of authority to foster carers to be brought together in one place. We have done that and in addition, developed a short, simple guide covering the key things everyone should consider about delegating authority to foster carers.
