How to safeguard everyone in your household

Home safety checklist

Foster homes should provide a warm and welcoming environment where children are safe from harm or abuse as well as bullying.

The home should be clean and well maintained, including decor. A number of checks will be completed during the assessment process and some of them must be updated on a regular basis, or if changes have occurred in the household.

Assessing and supervising social workers should satisfy themselves that each applicant's or carer's accommodation is suitable to enable them to provide safe and stimulating care.

In reaching such a decision, a number of factors will need to be taken into account, not least the age, gender and numbers of children proposed to be fostered. Please refer to the Health and Safety Policy (PDF) [254KB].

Once approved, The Health and Safety Check will be updated annually, or sooner if there's a significant change, such as getting an extension built or moving house.

The Safe Care policy will be drawn up before approval and will be updated annually, or if any new placement is being made. For further details, please refer to the Safe Care Policy Procedure.

If you have a firearm, you must complete a Firearms Questionnaire. If a change has occurred within the household which involved committing an offence, an assessment of the risk of reoffending will be undertaken as per the guidelines for assessment of risk of reoffending.

You'll be asked to complete a dog ownership/pet questionnaire on approval and then following any changes to pets within the household, such as new additions or incidents involving pets.

Standards and regulations

Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011

Standard 10 - Providing a suitable physical environment for the foster child (opens new window)

Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Standard 2 - Understand your role as a foster carer
Standard 3 - Understand health and safety, and healthy care

Read the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Bullying

Safeguarding and protecting children is an important part of fostering. Foster carers should look out for signs of bullying and should take steps to prevent it.

Your Safe Care policy should address bullying and cover:

Putting in place clear rules within the house that bullying is not acceptable and what actions will be taken if you suspect bullying or are told of bullying happening
Making it clear to children what is acceptable behaviour
Providing opportunities for children to think about the issue of bullying, such as writing stories or poems or drawing pictures about bullying
Having discussions about bullying and why it matters
Being good role models as foster carers

What is bullying?

Many looked-after children experience bullying at school, in the local area and sometimes from other children in the foster home. Bullying can include:

Name calling and teasing
Threats and theft
Physical violence
Damage to belongings
Leaving people out of activities deliberately
Spreading rumours

Bullying can take place by text message, email or social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

What are the signs and reasons for bullying?

Some signs of bullying can be:

Not wanting to go to school
Unexplained bruises
Torn clothing
Need for extra money
Continually losing belongings
Problems sleeping
Sudden loss of appetite
Problems at nursery, school or college
Withdrawn behaviour or temper tantrums
Unusually hungry at the end of the school day (lunch money being taken)
Rushing to the bathroom after school (fear of going to the school toilets)
Self harming
Extreme emotions

The bullying may be because:

The child feels or appears different: they may arrive at school by taxi, they may not be able to take part in after school clubs and they may be withdrawn from some lessons to attend meetings
The child may not be achieving as well as others in their class
The child may have had lots of moves of carer or school
The child may not have a friendship group
The child may not want others to know that they are looked after
The child may feel isolated and think they have no-one to talk to at school
Difficult and distressing life experiences have left the child with poor self-esteem and a lack of "coping" mechanisms

What to do if you think your foster child is being bullied or is bullying

If you have any concerns that incidents of bullying have happened between children within the foster home, or that a child may be a victim of bullying or is being a bully, you must discuss this with your supervising social worker.

They'll advise you on what actions are necessary to reduce or prevent it and will decide whether to inform the child's social worker.

When bullying occurs within the foster home it may be appropriate to call a meeting, preferably with the child or children, to discuss ways to prevent or reduce the bullying. The outcomes of the meeting may include the following:

The bully or bullies being asked to apologise
Some form of sanction/consequences being considered (in serious cases)
The children being encouraged to make friends

After the incident has been dealt with, you should monitor the situation to make sure that bullying does not happen again.

If the bullying continues or is serious, the child's social worker should be consulted as soon as possible and it may be necessary to conduct a Placement Planning Meeting or a referral may be required under the Child Protection Referrals Procedure (opens new window).

You must record all incidents of bullying of the child who is the alleged victim and the child who is the alleged bully.

Key points to help your child

Continue to act on the advice from the child's social worker and other professionals on ways to help build the child's self-esteem.
Help the child think about what to say to help explain why they are living with foster carers.
Encourage friendships and invite school friends home. There is strength in numbers. Bullies may target a child who is alone.
Build coping skills. Problem solve difficult situations and practice what you might do.
Do not reject a child who is a bully; reject the behaviour. Explain how the behaviour makes other children unhappy and help them develop other ways to feel better about themselves and to express how they feel.
Give the child praise each time they help you or are kind to someone.
Speak to the child's social worker and make an arrangement for both of you to see the child's class teacher or year head.
Make sure that you and other people around the child are good role models.

Children can be reluctant to report bullying for fear of reprisal or because they think they will not be listened to. You must make a point of talking to children about bullying in order to help them report it.

When a child says they do not like something another child, young person or adult is doing or saying to them, they must be listened to and taken seriously. Even if you do not view the action as serious, the child may.

Norfolk County Council can assist and advise on this area and ways to support children. You'll also find advice and information at Bullying UK's website (opens new window).

Standards and regulations

Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011

Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Internet, photographs and mobile phones

You need to encourage responsible and safe practices with mobile and internet use.

Do you ensure that access to the internet is supervised and appropriate parental blocks put in place? Are children made aware of the risks and dangers in age-appropriate ways?

Material on the internet can be distasteful and harmful to children. Your computer will store the history of any websites visited and some sites may be illegal. Therefore children's use needs to be monitored closely.

Different ways of communicating with friends are important to a child and are now a way of life from an early age. When a child is placed with you, find out their background and whether the internet, photographs and mobile phones contributed towards any abuse, so you can plan their use safely.

You should ask the child's social worker for advice and information. Your knowledge of different media will vary and while it's not important that you know everything about each one, you should do all you can to keep a child or young person safe.

If you're concerned that a child or young person is being bullied over the internet or phone, you should talk to them about it, record what is happening in the log book and speak to their social worker as soon as possible.

Internet use

The internet is a great source of information and can help children with their homework and school projects, as well as make friends in chat rooms.

But the fact that it's virtually impossible to police means you have to take some precautions when children or young people log on. Experts suggest that you:

Supervise their computer time the way you would keep an eye on what they watch on TV. This applies not only to the internet but also to 18 certificate electronic games, which may also contain images unsuitable for children.
Put your computer in a communal area, where access to unsuitable sites can be more easily monitored.
Never allow a child or young person to give out personal information online, including home telephone number, address, last name, school, passwords or bank or credit card details.
Remind the young person or child that the person in the chat room may be lying to them and telling them false information about themselves.
Clearly explain to the child or young person that they must never arrange to meet anyone they have met in a chat room.
Teach and encourage them to come to you if anything makes them uncomfortable, such as a request to meet.
Limit internet surfing time.
Find out about parental control software, which allows you to regulate the type of sites they can visit.
Try and take part in a child's web browsing, particularly for a new child in placement.
Explain the web's positive and negative sides and tell them that if they are not sure about a site they should talk to you.

Teaching the child to be cautious is important and can help when they start to use social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.

When they do, you should ensure the child's profile and postings contain nothing that might expose their identity or whereabouts. You should go through the site's terms and conditions, explaining them to the child - it's important you both understand them.

You should try to equip the child with the skills to decide who to trust, even when they have not met the person face-to-face and talk to the child or young person about what makes a real friend.

Photographs

If it's OK to take pictures or videos always ask the child's permission first and make sure they are clear on who will see them and why.

You should try and take photographs regularly of the child or young person to help record their life; it may also help when putting together their Life Story book. You should be clear on who can give consent for the child to have their picture taken or be filmed for school, etc.

Mobile phones

Mobile phones offer text messaging, a camera to take, send and receive pictures or video clips and access to the internet.

With a camera phone a child or young person can send pictures of themselves, friends and where they live, which can have security implications for some looked-after children.

Mobile phone network providers operate a barring and filtering mechanism to prevent those under 18 years accessing 18-rated content. The service can be provided for both contract and pay-as-you-go phones. You are advised to explore this with the network provider used by the child or young person, or see what other services they offer.

Standards and regulations

Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011

Standard 4 - Safeguarding children (opens new window)

Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Also refer to the Social Media Policy (PDF) [53KB].

What if a child goes missing?

Children in the care of a local authority often have a history of inconsistent parenting and poor adult role models. This may lead them to display behaviours which can place them and sometimes others at risk.

One such behaviour is absconding, going missing or staying out beyond agreed times. The reasons for such absences are varied and complex and should not be viewed in isolation from their home circumstances and experience of care.

Every effort should be made to ensure the safety and well being of looked-after children and young people. Each incident where a child or young person is missing must therefore require immediate attention from all the professionals involved, including foster carers and residential care staff.

The professionals must collaborate to ensure a consistent and coherent action plan is drawn up to secure the return of the child or young person.

When a child or young person goes missing from care, the police are always involved and it is therefore, important that social care staff and the police work together.

The definition of a missing child

There are various different terms which are used in relation to missing children. Statutory Guidance On Children Who Run Away Or Go Missing From Home Or Care (January 2014) (opens new window) uses the following definitions:

Missing Child: a child reported as missing to the police by their family or carers
Missing from Care: a looked-after child who is not at their placement or the place they are expected to be (such as school) and their whereabouts are not known
Away from Placement Without Authorisation: a looked-after child whose whereabouts are known, but who's not at their placement or the place they are expected to be and the carer has concerns or the incident has been notified to the local authority or police
Young Runaway: A child who has run away from their home or care placement, or feels they have been forced or lured to leave

The police (ACPO Interim Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (2013)) categorise children as either Missing or Absent:

Missing: Anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established and where the circumstances are out of character, or the context suggests the person may be subject of crime or at risk of harm to themselves or another
Absent: A person is not at a place where they are expected or required to be

Advice for foster carers when the children are missing or absent

When a foster carer realises that a child is missing from their care, they should consider which definition applies.

If the carer is unsure, then they can phone the child's social worker for advice during working hours, and the fostering duty team or Emergency Duty Team for out of hours support.

If a child falls is missing, the foster care must, without delay inform:

Police - provide as much detail about the child as possible
Child's social worker or team manager - if out of hours the Emergency Duty Team
The parents and those with parental responsibility - the decision to inform parents/those with parental responsibility must be made in consultation with the social worker, team manager or Emergency Duty Team

If the child is absent, the foster carer must:

Speak to the child's social worker or team manager to discuss whether they should be reported to the police straight away or if a decision to report to the police should be delayed for a period of time. Any decision to delay reporting to the police must be made by the social worker, team manager or out of hours Emergency Duty Team.

Reporting

Details of any child, either missing or absent, should always be recorded by the foster carer on the child's online portal account. They must inform their Supervising Social Worker who will have further conversation with them. In the absence of the supervising social worker, the fostering duty team or the fostering on-call (out of hours) should be informed with details of the young person, length of absence and when returned. A 'Return Home Interview' (RHI) needs to be completed within 72 hours. The foster carer should confirm whether an RHI has taken place. This information would be entered into a fostering database for children missing or absent from care.

Contact numbers

Police: 101
Police emergency: 999
Fostering duty team on call: 01603 306338
Emergency Duty Team: 0344 800 8014

Standards and regulations

Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011

Standard 5 - Missing From Care (opens new window)

Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Standard 2 - Understand your role as a foster carer
Standard 4 - Know how to communicate effectively

Read the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

What happens if an allegation is made?

All foster carers will receive training and guidance to help them provide a safe environment for the child and all members of the foster family.

We should have sent you information about child protection procedures and we should take into account any comments you may have about this.

It's important that you record any incidents or complaints, as they can provide important evidence if an allegation is made. Occasionally allegations and complaints are made against foster carers and those in their family.

This can place you in a difficult and sometimes distressing situation. If allegations against you or someone in your household are made directly to a social worker they have a responsibility to make you aware of it.

Reducing the risks of false allegations

There are several ways in which you can reduce the risk of allegations being made:

Think about whom in your household may be vulnerable to allegations
Keep a daily record
Be clear on what behaviour is expected
Develop your own safe care family agreement for keeping everyone safe
Make use of training and support from your supervising social worker
Have insurance cover
Work closely with other professionals and talk to them with any concerns

What happens if an allegation is made?

For more information, go to our Allegations Procedure (opens new window).

A foster child may make a false allegation of abuse. This could be for various reasons:

Misinterpreting an innocent action
To bring attention to previous abuse for the first time because you or someone in the household is trusted
As a way to have some control over their life which may seem out of control
To bring an end to a foster placement

The outcome of the investigation may:

Identify training needs for you
Need to consider your approval category at your annual review
Decide that you are no longer able to foster

If an allegation is made directly to you about another person's behaviour towards a child, you should inform your supervising social worker or the child's social worker as soon as possible or within 24 hours.

Support for foster carers

When an allegation is made against you, it can be a very stressful time. We'll give you key information on allegations and complaints as part of your training and preparation and we'll provide independent support in the form of advocacy and counselling in the event of an allegation or complaint.

An independent advice and mediation service is provided by The Fostering Network (opens new window).

Outcomes of allegations

All allegations will be taken seriously and investigated appropriately. There are four possible outcomes.

Unfounded

The term 'unfounded' means that there is no evidence or proper basis which supports the allegation being made.

It might also indicate that the person making the allegation had misinterpreted the incident or was mistaken about what they saw. Alternatively they may not have been aware of all the circumstances.

Substantiated

There is sufficient identifiable evidence to prove or support the allegation. Therefore, the allegation or concern is substantiated because it was proven beyond all reasonable doubt, given one of these situations:

The person admitted to what happened in a non-criminal process
The person accepted a caution
The person was convicted within a criminal processor
The allegation is agreed as substantiated on the balance of probabilities, following consideration of the information presented during the investigation in the safeguarding LADO process.

False or malicious

There is sufficient evidence to disprove the allegation. The term 'malicious' implies that an allegation, whether wholly or in part, has been made with a deliberate intent to deceive or cause harm to the person subject to the allegation.

For an allegation to be classified as malicious, it will be necessary to have evidence to prove the intentions to cause harm.

Care should be taken in dealing with such allegations as some facts may not be wholly untrue. Some parts of an allegation may have been fabricated or exaggerated but elements may be based on truth.

Unsubstantiated

An unsubstantiated allegation means that there is insufficient identifiable evidence to prove or disprove the allegation. The term, therefore, does not imply guilt or innocence. This is not the same as a false allegation.

Standards of Care issues

For more information, see our procedures regarding Concerns About Foster Carers (opens new window).

What happens if threats are made against foster carers?

For more information, download our document Where threats are made against foster carers (Word doc) [37KB].

Standards and regulations

Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011

Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Standard 2 - Understand your role as a foster carer
Standard 6 - Keep children and young people safe from harm

Read the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is the act of reporting some else's wrongdoing within an organisation. For more information, see the Whistleblowing Procedure (Word doc) [54KB].

You should inform your supervising social worker if you're worried or have any serious concerns. If the concern is about your supervising social worker, you should speak to a manager within Norfolk Fostering Service.

You should raise concerns confidentially or openly and without fear of any comeback. You should record your concerns giving names, dates and places where possible, and the reason why you are concerned.

If you do not feel able to do this, the member of staff you speak to will make a written record of their conversation. Concern should be expressed as soon as possible.

Certain information will be classed as a 'protected disclosure'. A protected disclosure must relate to a specific matter and be made in a certain way. Specific matters include:

A criminal offence has been, is being or is likely to be committed
A person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation
A miscarriage of justice has happened, is happening or is likely to happen
The health and safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be damaged
Damage to the environment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur
Information showing any of the above has been or is being or is likely to be deliberately hidden

The issue will be looked into and either an internal enquiry or formal investigation will take place. You'll be informed of the outcome. If you're not happy with the outcome, you can raise this with the manager who deals with complaints.

Concerns which come under another procedure, such as Child Protection, will normally be referred and dealt with under the Norfolk Children Safeguarding Partnership (opens new window).

Standards and regulations

Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011

Standard 4 - Safeguarding Children (opens new window)

Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Standard 2 - Understand your role as a foster carer
Standard 6 - Keep children and young people safe from harm

Read the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care

Complaints and compliments

For more information on this topic see our Foster carers compliments and complaints procedure.