How to safeguard everyone in your household

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

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