Support and Supervision

Support groups in Lambeth provide you with an opportunity to meet other carers and share your experiences of fostering, concerns and ideas and to undertake learning together.

They are particularly important for new carers who can learn from those with greater experience and for more experienced carers who are able to shares their experiences with others.

There is an expectation that you will attend support groups regularly.

Each new foster carer will be provided with the dates, times and venues of local support groups, together with contact names and numbers.

In Lambeth we have increased the types of support groups available to Foster Carers to meet your varied needs. The newly added specialist support groups will be facilitated by named SSW’s; usually every other month. Your supervising social worker will be able to give you information about venues, dates and times upon request.

The groups are a great way of meeting other carers, sharing knowledge, experience and forming networks. The meetings also provide us with an opportunity to listen to your views. We want to hear about your thoughts on improving the service and how we can support you caring for children some of whom have complex needs on a 24/7 basis. 

At the request of the facilitators, we invite guest speakers to the groups which provide us all with the opportunity to discuss pertinent issues connected to the fostering role. In addition, we issue a weekly Foster Carers Newsletter where we make announcements and invitations to various events and keep our foster carers up to date with any new developments or changes.

"Mentoring involves listening with empathy, sharing experience (usually mutually), professional friendship, developing insight through reflection, being a sounding board, and encouraging." (David Clutterbuck) 

“Mentoring is a longterm relationship that meets a developmental need, helps develop full potential, and benefits all partners, mentor, mentee and the organisation.” (Suzanne Faure)

In mentoring there is no hierarchical relationship or significant difference in status or authority between the foster carers. The purpose is to offer support and advice from someone who has relevant fostering experience and who can pass on their expertise.

Lambeth’s Mentoring scheme refers to approved foster carers in a structured one-to-one relationship with other approved foster carers. Peer mentoring is delivered by a more experienced foster carer (the mentor) to a less experienced foster carer (the mentee), outside of any line management relationship. Mentors offer support from a position of understanding as foster carers themselves. The aim of Lambeth’s Mentoring Scheme is to contribute to the Fostering Support Team’s programme of support to foster carers, through a professionally managed scheme that offers one to one supportive relationships between more and less experienced foster carers.

The mentor carers have a Lead SSW to facilitate the support group meetings once every 8 weeks. The mentor carers have a Co-Ordinator who advises and guides the group and mentors with their work. Alongside this the Peer Mentoring Scheme is responsible for the service to be updated and reviewed yearly.

The Objectives of the Mentoring Scheme are: 

• To support the recruitment and retention of foster carers;
• Provide a problem-olving resource for foster carers in difficulty;
• Personal Development for experienced foster carers;
• Enhancement to the quality of care to children through increased skills, confidence; and motivation of carers and thus;
• Improvement to placement stability.

New foster carers receive support from their mentor by the following:

• Help adapting to a new role and/or fostering service;
• Assistance with familiarisation with the organisation;
• gaining a greater understanding of role and tasks of a foster carer;
• Feeling less isolated geographically;
• Feeling less isolated for other reasons;
• Receiving feedback on performance;
• Receiving trusted advice and guidance;
• Developing new ideas, skills and knowledge;
• Gaining better communication links with the fostering service;
• Meeting training or development targets identified in Personal Development Plan.

Mentors will be allocated to new foster carers and sometimes to carers who may need additional support in a particular area. The Co-ordinating SSW for the mentoring scheme will arrange for a Mentee to be allocated to you once you have been approved. 

Should any carer feel they need to have extra support and feel this could be from the Mentor scheme please speak to your supervising social worker to request one.

The Fostering Service operates a 'buddy' system, where new carers, or more experienced carer, can be put in touch with someone who has greater experience of fostering, or greater experience within a particular field, with a specific behaviour, etc. Please ask your fostering social worker for details.

The Out of Hours Service can offer advice or assistance to ensure that those who are vulnerable are not placed at risk through having to wait until the offices open. Anyone can phone the Out of Hours Service for advice or assistance. A trained Telephonist will answer any call, take some details and then pass this on to the Duty Social Worker. The Duty Social Worker will then call you back (Out of Hours Service - 0207 926 5555).

The Fostering Service operate a dedicated fostering out of hours service, from Monday – Friday 5pm-9am and Saturday-Sunday (and public holidays) 24 hours. This option means there is 24 hours service, 365 days per year as the day team will pick up from 9am to 5pm during the normal service.

We will support our foster carers and children in placement and provide dedicated advice line to foster carers at point of need, to help carers with issues around children missing from their care or other advice and assistance required and reassure our carers that there is someone to help them 24 hours a day should the need arise.

This advice line supplements the service provided by the Emergency Duty Team. Lambeth Fostering Service's out of hour's service is the first port of call for carers needing advice or support. The support line is for the exclusive use of Lambeth foster carers once they are approved.

The support line is staffed by the Fostering Service Staff (via the mobile telephone) who has Foster carers should telephone the support line when:

• A child in care their care goes missing or is not back at a prearranged time;
• If a child becomes seriously ill, has an accident or needs hospital treatment;
• If a child is involved in an incident where the police have been or are likely to be called;
• If the foster carer wants to discuss difficult behaviour or a child has made allegations about another adult, member of the foster carer's own family household.

Foster carers can also ring if they want to discuss less serious issues that are particularly worrying them about a child or young person in their care.

Foster carers should be able to have a full discussion with the Fostering Duty Social Worker. At the end of the call the social worker will decide what should happen next in consultation with the foster carer.

It may be that if the call was for a discussion or advice only there will be no need for further action.

In cases where there is no immediate concern or risk, the Fostering Duty Social Worker will pass on any concerns about a child's or young person's behaviour to their allocated social worker on the morning of the next working day.

If the call was of a more serious nature, then the Fostering Duty Social Worker may need to involve the Emergency Duty Team - see Working with Families and other Professionals Procedure, Emergency Duty Team who will be able to contact the relevant managers on call or take other actions as necessary. If the call was of a more serious nature, then the Fostering Duty Social Worker may need to involve the Emergency Duty Team.

The Fostering Duty Social Worker will make a record of all calls to the support line. This recording should include:

• Date and time;
• A record of the conversation - including who said what to whom;
• Advice given and/or decisions;
• Action taken;
• Future plans - what other work needs to be done and what was agreed with the foster carer.

The Fostering Duty Social Worker will ensure that this record is typed up on the morning of the next working day. Copies should be distributed as follows:

• Child/young person's social worker;
• Fostering Duty Deputy Team Manager;
• Supervising social worker;
• Carer's file.

The contact details for this service are:

E-mail: FosteringSupportDuty@lambeth.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7926 3006

Foster carers can become members of The Fostering Network - cost per individual/family £37 per annum. The phone number of the Fostering Network is 0207 620 6400 and their website is accessible at www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/

The Fostering Network is able to provide insurance cover, research updates, access to a 24 hour legal advice line, magazines, independent support, and a help-line.

This is a confidential advice line for foster carers, which provides independent and impartial advice about fostering issues. It is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and run in association with the Fostering Network their website is accessible at www.fosterline.info.

Lambeth Council and Lambeth Fostering Service aim to provide a high quality service for all its users at all time. If your complaint hasn't been quickly resolved by discussion with the team manager then contact the team that deal with compliments and complaints.

However, if at any time you are dissatisfied with the services you receive, you have the right to complain. A leaflet explaining the Complaints Service is accessible on the Lambeth Council website or you can contact the Customer Care Manager on:

Phone: 020 7926 9777
E-mail: cbsteam@lambeth.gov.uk

The Fostering Social Worker is responsible for ensuring you have the necessary guidance and support. This will include an understanding about working within the National Minimum Standards for Fostering and all the fostering service's policies, procedures and guidance.

It is the social worker for the child/young person in the foster placement who holds responsibility for specific advice or support for the child and his or her Care Plan and Placement Plan.

1. Ensure you complete the induction programme and that your support, development and training needs are assessed and met so that you meet the standards and achieve the Training, Support and Development Standards certificate of completion by your first annual review, or soon after if extra support is required;
2. Give the Foster Care Agreement to you: 2 copies to be signed and one returned and placed on your file;
3. Support you with any specialist issues for disabled children for e.g. support in completing applications for relevant entitlements etc.
4. Your Fostering Manager will allocate a "Buddy" for you from an experienced carer and link you into the local support group.

5. Complete risk assessments surrounding bedroom sharing (each child over 3 has their own bedroom or, where this is not possible, the sharing of the bedroom has been agreed by the child's social worker, based on particular individual circumstances and agreed by the Service Manager);
6. Discuss and check equipment (especially in the child's bedroom) and ensure it is appropriate to the age of the child to be placed;
7. Take part in discussions about potential placements and planning meetings;
8. Ensure that the child's social worker gives you full information about children, including a history of abuse or suspected abuse and the reason for the placement;
9. Discuss contact with birth parents and family members;
10. Discuss how the child's health needs are promoted and how children should be encouraged to adopt a healthy lifestyle;
11. Help you in dealing with services such as health and education;
12. Help you with training needs for safer care practice, including skills to care for children who have been abused or training on issues affecting disabled children;
13. Discuss financial issues with you: allowances, pocket money, leisure activities, toiletries and travelling and the importance of your insurance policy;
14. Find out about holiday plans you have made, and whether the child is going with you? If not the child's social worker must be informed so alternative arrangements can be made;
15. Exchange contact numbers with all relevant members of the family, including out of hours support;
16. Ensure that arrangements are made for the provision of specialist equipment for disabled children;
17. Set a date for a first visit after a child is placed with you.

18. Check and follow up on all issues raised during the placement planning. Discuss any concerns with you and ensure appropriate support is provided straight away rather than waiting for reviews;
19. Consider your support needs during the placement;
20. Take part in any Strategy Meetings and Section 47 Enquiry relating to your foster family. Be involved in interviews/support as agreed if allegations are made against you;
21. Ensure you receive invitations to a child's Looked After Reviews and Child Protection Conferences, and attend when appropriate;
22. Prepare for and attend your Review meetings;
23. Ensure the training programme is updated and accessed by you and your family and children;
24. Visit regularly;
25. Make unannounced visits as required;
26. Update Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks on members of your family every three years, including those reaching 18, and other persons who come to live at the home, who are 18 or over;
27. Update medicals on you every 3 years or as necessary;
28. Record all contact with you;
29. Assess and review any health and safety issues within the fostering household including the addition of any new pets and the environment in which they are kept;
30. Provide reports for panel as required under the relevant procedures;
31. Where appropriate contribute to Court Reports as agreed with child's social worker;
32. Discuss how you can support young people into adulthood.

33. Support your family in what can be a difficult time;
34. Discuss with you and your family all the issues that have led to any unplanned end of a placement and identify any learning opportunities;
35. Support you to complete an end of placement report;
36. Attend Placement Disruption Meetings as required.

If your Supervising Social Worker has any concerns about your care or feels you need extra support, they will not wait until supervision meetings or reviews but deal with any issues as they arise.