Coming out of lockdown - best practice in assessing foster carers

The approval of safe, capable and nurturing foster carers is a huge responsibility. To parent someone else's child is a great privilege and it is essential that this process is robust to ensure vulnerable children have the best possible life chances.

Covid brought many challenges in relation to managing this thorough recruitment and assessment process. In this seminar we will explore together those challenges, how we overcame them and celebrate the good practice that ensured the sector could continue to assess and approve carers safely. What can the sector learn and adopt in relation to the restrictions imposed? And what will be left behind or revisited to ensure we evidence how we monitor and revisit compliance and management oversight to satisfy decision making?

Themes explored will include:

• The enquiry of foster carers, initial visits and the types of people applying to foster in lockdown - did they have the same motivation? Will they still be fostering in 3,5 or10 years time?
• Managing the stage 1 assessment process, including medical report challenges
• Stage 2 of assessment - how we "connect" with applicants in a virtual world; types of learners to get the best experiences; managing difficult conversations; how you "dig deep" when you are not managing this process face to face; building relationships
• Fulfulling our duty of care to applicants and current foster carers as we emerge from lockdown - in a time when we all feel more vulnerable

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