Allegations against foster carers: pay and policies during an investigation During November and December 2010 the Fostering Network carried out a mapping exercise with fostering services in England to ascertain the current level of allegations against foster carers. In addition, we also sought information from local authorities and independent fostering providers about their current policies and procedures for continuing to pay foster carers a fee during an investigation when a child(ren) is removed. The information gathered provides a useful overview of the prevalence of allegations as well as the current level of financial support that foster carers receive. Findings A total of 17 fostering services (14 local authorities and three IFPs) provided us with information about the number of allegations made against foster families between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010. The fostering services that responded had nearly 3,500 approved foster families in total between them. Of these, during 2009-10: • 4.3 per cent1 of the sample foster care workforce had an allegation made against

them which resulted in a strategy meeting/discussion; • 1.4 per cent of the sample foster care workforce experienced a section 47

investigation, a total of 33.0 per cent of allegations; • 2.0 per cent of the sample foster care workforce experienced a standard of care

investigation, a total of 47.6 per cent of allegations; • 19.0 per cent of allegations resulted in no further action following a strategy

meeting/discussion. • 38.1 per cent of allegations concluded in no further action following a strategy

meeting/discussion or after the early stages of a section 47 or standard of care investigation which were not continued.

1 A recent research review by Biehal and Parry found that ‘evidence from two UK studies suggests that around 3.5 to five per cent of foster carers in the UK may experience allegations of abuse in a single year’ Biehal, N and Parry, E Maltreatment and Allegations of Maltreatment in Foster Care. A Review of Evidence (University of York conducted in partnership with the Fostering Network, September 2010)

Current policies and procedures Fostering services were also asked to share their current policy and procedures for financially supporting foster carers during an investigation. Information was gathered from 12 of the fostering services which responded to the survey and by nine other local authority fostering services making a total of 21. The current arrangements included: • 16 fostering services had some arrangement for paying their foster carers a weekly

retainer while they were effectively suspended during an investigation. However, the arrangements varied considerably in offer and duration:

o Fee until panel decision/agency decision maker (eight) of which one provided a further four weeks of fee payment following the outcome of the investigation.

o 12 weeks (one) and 12 weeks or until conclusion whichever is sooner (one) and six months or until conclusion whichever is sooner (one).

o Two weeks and a range of other options available as standard to foster carers between placements (one).

o No timescales/discretionary (three). o Proportion of fee and allowance until resolution (one).

• Three fostering services made no reference in their procedures to fee payments for foster carers who were suspended from fostering during an investigation.

• One service was in the process of amending their procedures. • One service stopped payments on suspension. Conclusion This study showed that while 4.3 per cent of the sample foster care workforce had an allegation made against them which resulted in a strategy meeting/discussion, a smaller number (1.3 per cent) of fostering households were involved in section 47 investigations during 2009-10. Although the data was only gathered in a 12-month snapshot, the sample size suggests that it could be used as indicative of prevalence. While there were variations between fostering services, no significance can be attached to this as the numbers of allegations in any single fostering service were small and could vary over time. A third of allegations led to a section 47 investigation and nearly half led solely to a standards of care investigation. The 38 per cent of allegations that resulted in no further action include some where this decision was reached after a section 47 investigation or a standards of care investigation was commenced. It was not possible to obtain any further accurate information on the outcomes of the investigations in the time available for this work. For many years the Fostering Network has campaigned for foster carers to continue to receive some sort of income from their fostering service during an investigation when they are effectively suspended. We know that being the subject of an allegation is exceedingly stressful for foster carers and is a factor that causes some to leave even when the allegation is unproven or unsubstantiated. It is therefore encouraging that

three quarters of fostering services did have arrangements for paying some level of fee or retainer to foster carers who are effectively suspended. Experiencing an investigation following an allegation can be very stressful for a number of factors and we know that poorly handled and lengthy investigations lead to foster carers choosing to give up fostering and resigning. We calculate that the cost of recruiting, assessing and approving a new foster family to be approximately £11,500 per family. While it is not possible from the information collected to estimate the additional cost of requiring all fostering services to continue to pay fees to foster carers who are effectively suspended, it appears that many fostering services already recognise that this cost offers value for money. However, although some policies were very clear, in others it was hard to know quite what would happen when a foster carer was suspended and we know from foster carers that this is of enormous concern. The level of discretion concerning payments may also lead to unfairness and inconsistency. In addition, of the fostering services that provided information many needed to develop policies to be inline with the expectations in Working Together to Safeguard Children. We are pleased that this requirement is now clearly stated in the National Minimum Standards (2011) so this should help to address the inconsistency of experience between fostering services. Recommendations The Fostering Network welcomes the inclusion of clearer and more detailed expectations for financial and practical support to foster carers during an allegation in the revised National Minimum Standards (2011). In particular, 22.11’there is written guidance for foster carers and staff, which makes clear how they will be supported during an investigation into an allegation including payment of allowance and any fee to foster carers while investigations are ongoing.’ However, the Fostering Network remains of the view that foster carers who are effectively suspended following an allegation should continue to receive fees and a proportion of the allowance to cover continuing costs until they are able to foster again or there has been a qualifying decision by the agency decision maker. There should also be further investigative work in this area to explore what happens in individual cases, including analysis of timescales and support during an investigation as well as the outcome. We also want to see all fostering services implement policy and procedures for foster carers that are consistent with Working Together to Safeguard Children and to include clear timescales for the investigation process as stated in standard 22.9 of the revised National Minimum Standards (2011). ______________________________ Helen Clarke March 2011

Data provided by fostering services (December 2010)

Total number of approved foster families at 31 March 2010

Total number of allegations which were made against foster families and resulted in a strategy meeting/discussion between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010

Of these, total number of cases which resulted in a section 47 investigation between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010

Of these, total number that did not lead to a section 47 investigation but which resulted in a standards of care investigation between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010

Of these, total number that resulted in no further action by the local authority or fostering service between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010

111 1 0 0 1

83 8 5 1 2

26 2 1 1 0

217 8 0 1 7

159 15 1 2 12

215 8 4 8 0

95 10 5 5 0

268 7 2 8 0

302 12 7 3 6

120 7 1 6 4

194 0 0 0 0

128 7 2 5 0

260 9 2 2 2

581 29 9 18 14

205 2 0 2 2

102 4 0 0 0

361 18 10 8 6

3427 147 49 70 56

% of fostering households

4.3 per cent 1.4 per cent 2.0 per cent 1.6 per cent

% of allegations 33.3 per cent 47.6 per cent 38.1 per cent