Information for Parents with a child in care

If your child is in care, fostering provides a chance for your child to live in a family home environment rather than living in a residential home.

Foster carers are members of the public who have been trained and assessed to care for other people’s children. They will work with you to try and maintain your child's routine and care. You remain the child's parent and continue to have responsibilities for your child.

How are foster carers trained?

All carers go through a very thorough process of training, assessment and checks before we approve them as carers. While people don't have to have a qualification to become a foster carer, more and more foster carers in the Vale are gaining their NVQ qualification in Health and Social Care. 

What do foster carers do?

All the foster carers in the Vale work to a set of guidelines that clearly set out what is expected of them. 

• The foster carer is expected to help any fostered child keep in contact with their friends and family where this is allowed.
• They are expected to make day to day decisions about the child's routine care.
• They have regular supervision with a professional member of the Vale fostering team.
• They are expected to work with the social services department and you to ensure that you are involved in the important decisions that may be needed for your child.

Standard of care

Every child in foster care will have a social worker who will visit and see your child on their own regularly to ensure that your child is safe and well. 

Each foster carer has a supervisor assigned to them, normally a social worker from the Vale fostering team. Each foster carer has their registration reviewed every year.

Any complaint made against a carer is investigated thoroughly and is considered in their yearly review of registration.

You are still the main person with responsibility for your child, it is expected as far as possible that you remain involved with your child.

What if you're not happy about the care provided?

It is best to try and talk to the foster carer and your child's social worker about concerns you have so that they can be resolved.

It is often the small things that can annoy people and sometimes be a cause of conflict such as differences over bed times, diet and dress. 

If you don't think these matters can be resolved in this way, you should speak directly to the child's social worker's team manager.

If you wish to make a formal complaint about the care your child is receiving you can obtain a copy of the complaints leaflet from your child's social worker or from reception at Haydock House.

Your child can make a complaint themselves through our Children's Complaints Officer.  Please see our children's section of this website for more details.