Fostering

Television

Fostering Agencies expect that it is the responsibility of all foster carers to supervise children’s access to screen images. There are generally no legal rules or specific Agency guidelines about what is acceptable on the screen. This is partly because standards of what is acceptable change with time, and partly because children react differently to stories and images they see depending on their age and maturity.
Foster carers are generally expected to follow the television ‘watershed’ and to look for warnings that a programme may cause upset or distress, taking into account the experiences and history of the child who is placed.

Training
All Fostering Agencies provide a relevant training programme for foster carers. Some offer the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Caring for Children and Young People Level III.
All Fostering Agencies provide a programme of workshops and events throughout the year that covers areas such as:
• Child protection awareness
• Managing children’s behaviour
• Life work
• Discrimination
• Drugs and Young People
• Child development
• Anti-Discriminatory Practice
• Safe care

Transport
Foster carers are advised to consider safe care when transporting children alone in a car, in particular if the child is known to have been abused. If the foster carer has to travel alone with a child then the child should sit in the back of the car.

Working in Partnership
In line with the Children Act 1989, partnership. Working effectively in the best interests of children requires close collaboration and co-operation between all involved parties:
• Children, their parents and extended families
• Foster carers and their families
• Family placement officers and managers
• Children’s social workers and managers
• Other internal professionals for example; Independent Reviewing Officers, Children’s Rights Service, Legal Section, Family Support Workers
• External professionals such as teachers, youth workers, health workers and voluntary sector workers who support children and carers.