Notes for Social Workers

Notes for Social Workers and Child Care Professionals

In summary, what are Social Workers and Child Care Professionals required to do under new legislation?

Social workers and child professionals are expected to:

Take action to raise public and professional awareness of the requirements of the regulations particularly the notification requirements
Satisfy themselves that the welfare of privately fostered children in their area is satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted by assessing the suitability of all aspects of a private fostering arrangement and providing on going monitoring and supervision of the placement for so long as it continues
Provide private foster carers, parents, and all concerned with such advice and information they may need to promote the child’s welfare
Consider whether the Council needs to exercise any wider powers allowed under the Private Fostering Regulations, to prohibit arrangements, disqualify persons, impose requirements or undertake other actions which are otherwise available under the Children Act

If you have doubts that the Council has been told about the arrangement?
If you are not sure, you should notify the Council. It is better to be safe than sorry.

What forms need to be used?
Details of the forms that need to be used are listed below. Contact the Family Placement Team on 01344 351582 to obtain them.

Referral Form
PF1 Private Foster Carer Record
PF2 Parental Responsibility record
PF3 Suitability To Foster Children Privately Declaration

What’s the legal framework?

Council Policy
You can download the Bracknell Forest Private Fostering Policy from the download section to the right of this page.

Legal framework
The DfES has also published information on private fostering which can be found on the Every Child Matters website.

Here you also will find the :

Who does what?
The Family Placement Team and field work teams have overlapping and shared duties in relation to private fostering. Family Placement has primary responsibility for promoting public and professional awareness of the requirements of the regulations and will also concentrate on arrangements for the placement as follows:

Conduct initial evaluation of carers and household to ensure that it is a safe and secure environment
Make a recommendation as to the suitability of the placement, highlighting any concerns that may arise regarding the child’s needs
Provide additional advice and guidance to all parties concerned about private fostering
Present recommendations to Panel

Field workers will concentrate on the child’s needs:

Identify and make initial contact with the parties to explain private fostering and gather basic information about the actual or proposed placement
Assess the child’s needs and determine if better support services might avoid a private fostering arrangements
Make recommendations regarding the child’s welfare needs
Supervise the placement and provide ongoing support to the parties involved for the duration of the placement
Identify any new services that might be applicable as needs arise

If you would like more information about private fostering, please contact Richard Bottomley in the Family Placement Team.