Parent and Baby Foster Placements: Policy and Practice Guidance

Parent and baby carers offer a very specialised form of fostering. They have a role as a teacher of parenting skills whilst also contributing to the assessment process which will determine the care plan for the baby in placement. There is an expectation that carers will endeavour to educate, advice and support parents in placement and also model appropriate parenting behaviour. At all times the welfare of the baby/child in placement is the paramount consideration and the foster carer has to have that as their primary focus. The foster carer should be working to assist the parent to develop a secure and loving, healthy attachment relationship with their baby. The key attachment figure for the baby should be their parent and the parent’s capacity to provide this healthy environment for their child’s future well being and good emotional health will form a key part of the assessment.

A parent and baby foster placement is also a family home and the expectations of the placement have to fit with the reality of family life for the carers. It is also acknowledged that whilst the fostering task is a challenging one for the carer the expectations of the parents are also considerable. The stakes are very high for the parent and a parent and baby foster placement may be the key opportunity for the parent with the support of the carer to develop the skills and capacity to care for their baby in the community. The timescales for such work have to be determined by the baby’s need for timely resolution of permanence plans which would enable them to either be safely cared for by birth parents in the community, placed permanently within the wider family network or placed with adoptive parents. A parent is expected to live within a family home and care for their baby with the support and advice of the foster carer. Often it can be difficult for parents managing to live with another family home environment and taking account of the expectations of them to focus on the care for their baby within this setting which may include the children of the foster carers or in some situations other young people in placement. The Fostering and Adoption service has put together a booklet for parents about parent and baby foster placements which the social worker for the child should ideally discuss fully with the parent prior to placement.

The foster carer will provide a supportive home environment for the parent and the baby in placement and will endeavour to work in a clear, open and honest way with the parent focusing on the strengths the parent has and the progress made but also highlighting any area where there are still concerns or where additional support is needed. Foster carers will keep regular records of the progress in placement which will be shared with the parent and the carer will contribute to the overall assessment in this way. It is important to emphasise however that the social worker for the child is co-ordinating the assessment work and care planning and has the key responsibility to ensure there is no drift in the planning for the baby and that the expectations of the parent in placement and the role of the carer is kept under frequent review. There should be very close liaison between the social worker for the child and the social worker for the carer. Supervising social workers for parent and baby carers are expected to provide a high level of support in acknowledgement of the challenging nature of this fostering task.

Parent and Baby placements do carry unique risks due to the vulnerability of the often very young children being placed, and the necessity of having an adult in a carers’ home undertaking parenting tasks. Prior to the onset of any such placement a Placement Risk Assessment form will need to be completed to try and identify and thus reduce and manage such risks by the placing social worker. This risk assessment form is integral to the specific referral form for parent and baby placements.

It is not appropriate for a foster placement for a parent and their baby to be considered if the parent has significant mental health difficulties which impacts on their capacity to care for the baby and requires a very high level of supervision from the carer. Foster carers are not able to guarantee 24 hour supervision even in placements where there are no other children within the family home. There may be an agreement that for example the baby is cared for at night by the carer for a short period of time at the outset of the placement. However the parent does need to be able to be in a position to take on responsibility for night time care of the baby or the placement will not be able to progress. If there are significant concerns about the level of supervision that is needed then a baby monitor at night cannot be seen as a source of providing that supervision.

Likewise it would not be appropriate to consider a care plan for a parent and baby foster placement if the parent has substance misuse issues and this is not managed through a sustained programme of support through substance misuse services. Babies who are born withdrawing need a very high level of specialist care and it is not reasonable to expect a parent to provide that level of care to a very unsettled baby if they also need to manage their own substance misuse issues. If a parent does go through a period of detoxification in a specialist unit there would have to be clear evidence of sustained abstinence in the community before a parent and baby care plan could be considered and the timescales for the baby in achieving permanence do have to be at the forefront of the planning.

This assessment will need to outline any concerns about potential violence in the parent’s network, any anti social behavioural concerns, any risks to self or known mental health concerns and any known substance misuse issues. Clear guidelines about how such risks should be managed by the foster carer and the implications for their family or others in placement as appropriate will need to be developed. Risks related to the disclosure of the address of the placement by the parent to for example a known violent ex partner will have to be fully considered prior to placement. It can be very difficult for such information to be kept confidential if the parent is put under considerable pressure by someone in their network. The local authority has a clear duty of care to foster carers and their families and this information needs to be fully considered to inform the care planning. If the potential risks of such disclosure are too great then it is not appropriate to continue with a care plan for a parent and baby foster placement. Issues that have been identified as part of the risk assessment need to be shared and fully considered at the initial set up meeting.

It is good practice for the parent to have the opportunity to visit the placement and meet the carers prior to moving in. In such situations when the placement is taking place in a planned way the set up meeting should take place prior to placement. The foster carer should be provided with the referral form and background information prior to placement. The supervising social worker for the carer will also arrange to complete a safe caring agreement with the carer which will be shared with the parent.

The Set-up Meeting is a key meeting which has to be chaired by a Team Manager and if it does not occur before placement should take place within 5 working days of the placement. The set up meeting has to include the parent, carer, social worker for the child and social worker for the carer and can also include the Guardian and respective legal representatives as appropriate. There is a set up meeting template which should be used for all placements and this covers in detail the expectations of parents and the carers. It is also important that there is a robust discussion on the anticipated length of the placement, and what the potential exit plans are and any contingency to such plans to ensure that there is no drift in the permanence planning for the child. It is an expectation that most placement should not continue for more than 16 weeks with the assessment moving back into the community if good progress is being made. It will be made clear at the set up meeting what the consequences will be if the parent leaves the placement in an unplanned way. There will be a clear expectation that the baby will be moved to either a baby only foster carer or an appropriate concurrency carer if the parent moves out of the placement or the placement needs to be brought to a close because of concerns about the safety of the baby being compromised by residing with his or her parent.

At the set up meeting there will be discussion about the expectations of the carer in terms of recording and carers are provided with a Recording Template. Separate scaling questions can be used as required to record progress and the recording requirements need to be kept under frequent review between the social worker for the carer and the social worker for the child. Records will be shared regularly by the carer with the parent and the parent will have the opportunity to make comment. These records should then be sent to the social worker for the child and social worker for the carer and can be made available in court as part of an reports within the care proceedings. The social worker for the carer and the social worker for the child need to set up regular review meetings which are outside the CiC review meeting schedule. It will be appropriate for the Team Manager or Practice Manager to chair such meetings as required to ensure there is progress in the permanence planning for the baby and that the placement remains focused. If the plan progresses to rehabilitation a meeting will need to be convened to plan the detail of the rehabilitation plan including the additional support and supervision that might be needed and the future role of the foster carer.

There is separate guidance within Brighton and Hove on Family and Friends care and issues related to potential parent and baby foster placements and that guidance should be referred to if such a care plan is being considered.

Enquiries about this policy should be directed via e-mail to Clare Smith