Foster Carer Handbook and at the Rates Determined by the Council

1 2 The copyright in the material in this Handbook is owned by the City of Cardiff Council unless otherwise stated. Brief extracts of the material may be reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news reporting. First published 2006 Revised publication August 2014 3 4 acknowledgements During the preparation of this handbook we have consulted widely with Foster Carers and Children's Services staff in Cardiff and we have also looked at Handbooks produced by other Fostering Services. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped us. We are especially grateful to Fostering Network (Wales) and to the London Borough of Bexley. We have drawn on publications from Russell House Publishing and Papworth Publishing in developing the Handbook and we appreciate their willingness to give consent for this. We have marked their extracts in the text and provided details of the original work. We would also like to thank Ann Wheal 1, whose book "The Foster Carer's Handbook" (Russell House Publishing) provided inspiration as well as the specific material we have used with her permission in the text. Whilst we have checked the contents for accuracy; policies, procedures, legislation and guidance all change and so we will update the Handbook whenever possible to ensure that it is up to date. 1 Ann Wheal Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Division of Social Work, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton. SO17 1BJ [email protected] 5 6 contents Topic Page Acknowledgements 5 Introduction 25 How to find your way around this Handbook 25 Section One: What is Fostering? 26 Areas of Competence for Foster Carers 27 Caring for children and young people 27 Providing a safe and caring environment 27 Working as part of a team 27 Own development 27 The Foster Carer Agreement 28 What the Council expects of Foster Carers 28 What Foster Carers can expect from Cardiff Council 31 Fostering Regulations 32 Section Two : Fostering for Cardiff 33 Introduction 33 Different Types of Fostering 34 Short Term Fostering 34 Long Term Fostering 34 Respite Care 34 Remand Carers 34 Fostering Schemes 34 Teen Scheme 35 Support Care 35 Other Forms of Fostering 35 Friends and Family 35 Private Fostering 35 7 Topic Page Independent Fostering Providers 36 Adoption 36 Being a Foster Carer 36 Preparation and Assessment 36 Police and Health Checks 36 Information about You 37 Approval 37 Fostering Panel 38 Foster Carer Agreement/Contract 39 How many children can you Foster? 39 Annual Reviews 39 Evaluation Forms for Carers 40 Significant Changes 40 Conflicts of Interest 40 Moving 40 Termination of Approval 41 Support for Foster Carers 41 Active Card 41 Children’s Health 41 Computers for carers (C4C) scheme 41 Counselling Service 42 LAC Education Team 42 Educational Psychologists 42 Equipment 42 Events 42 Formal Support Groups 42 Fostering Advisory and Consultative Board (FACBO) 43 Fostering Network 43 Informal support groups / coffee mornings 44 Mentoring Scheme 44 Respite 44 Supervision 44 Support from an external source 44 Training 44 Training and Development (T&D) workshops 45 Making Comments and Suggestions to Help 46 Improve our Service 8 Topic Page Complaints 46 Complaints and Allegations against Foster Carers 46 What happens if a child makes accusations of abuse against Foster 46 Carers? 46 Complaints by children and young people in placement 48 Tros Gynnal Children’s Advocacy Team (CAT) 49 The Children’s Commissioner for Wales 49 If the complaint is about you 50 Reporting the investigation of the Complaint to the 51 Fostering Panel Training on the Complaints Procedure 51 Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW) 51 How to Make a Complaint 52 Complaints in relation to the Foster Carer Agreement 52 Children Act Procedure: complaints on behalf of a child placed with 52 the Carer 52 Cardiff Council’s Corporate Complaints Procedure: 54 Complaints by a Carer 54 Annual Report to the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for 55 Wales (CSSIW) Miscellaneous 55 References for Foster Carers 55 Section Three : Cardiff Ch ildren’s 56 Services Who is Who and Who Does What? 56 The Fostering Service 58 The role of the Fostering Social Worker 58 Additional Support for Remand Carers from the Youth Offending 59 Service The Children’s Social Work Teams 59 The Child Health and Disability Team 60 The Residential Service 60 Family Support and Intervention Service (FISS) 60 9 Topic Page LAC & Leaving Care Service 14+ Team 61 Emergency Duty Team - Out of Hours 61 Youth Offending Service (YOS) 62 Section Four : Planning for Placements 63 Before a Child is Placed with You 63 Emergency Placements 63 Respite Placements 64 What information will I have? 64 Health Assessment 65 Initial equipment and clothing 65 What a child might bring with them 65 Bedrooms 66 Can Foster Carers refuse to take a child? 66 Planning the Placement with You 66 Settling in 67 Your own family 68 Names: what should we call each other? 68 Confidentiality 69 Sharing Information within Your Own Family 69 Questions Children and Young People will Ask You 70 Delegated Authority 72 Granting Delegated Authority 72 Areas to be considered when delegating authority to Foster Carers 73 Withdrawal of Delegated Authority 80 Delegated Authority Summary (Aide Memoir) 81 Section Five: Living Together 82 Child Development 82 Attachment 82 10 Topic Page Managing Behaviour 83 Promoting positive behaviour 83 How do children learn how to behave? 83 House “rules” 84 Sanctions 85 Ideas for being effective and fair 85 Corporal Punishment 85 Using Sanctions 85 Suggested Sanctions 85 Restitution 86 Reparation 86 Loss of privileges 87 Time out 87 Time In 87 Loss of pocket money 88 Using Restraint 88 Age related tactics 88 Babies: Prevention 88 Toddlers: Distraction 89 Nursery and Young School Age Children 89 Teenagers 89 Talking about behaviour 90 Difficult Behaviour You May Need to Manage 90 Aggression and bad language 90 Anger 90 Attention seeking 91 Clinging 91 Depression 91 Food Problems 92 Frozen Watchfulness 92 Hostility to Parents 92 Hyperactive Children 93 Immaturity 93 Indiscriminate Affection 93 Jealousy 93 Lying 93 Refusal to speak/saying “no” all the time 94 Stealing 94 Wetting/Soiling 94 Whining 95 Winding you up 95 11 Topic Page Children Missing from Placements 95 If A Child Goes Missing 95 What should a Foster Carer do when a child is absent without authority? 96 How to respond when the Child Returns 97 Your Feelings 98 Payments 98 Health 99 The LAC Nurse and the Children First Health 99 Team The Role of the Foster Carer 99 Health Records 100 GP Registration 100 Health Assessments 100 Consent to Medical Treatment 101 Who can sign consent on behalf of the Council 101 Giving Medication to a child in Foster Care 102 Access to Specialist Services 103 First Aid 103 Minor cuts, scratches and grazes 103 Severe bleeding 103 Objects in wounds 104 Severe burns 104 Minor burns 104 Clothing on fire 104 Fractures 105 Specific Health Issues 106 Accidents 106 AIDS and HIV 106 Allergic Illnesses 107 Asthma 107 Hayfever 108 12 Topic Page Eczema 108 Aspirin 108 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 108 Bedtime/Sleep 109 Body Piercing 110 Burns 110 Chicken Pox 110 Contraception 111 Death of a Child Placed with You 111 Children with a life threatening illness 112 Depression 112 Development 113 Diet 113 Drugs and Substance Misuse 113 What should I look for? 114 What drugs might young people take? 115 Injecting drugs 115 How can I help prevent drug abuse? 116 Where can I get advice? 116 What should I do if I find illegal substances in my house? 117 Solvent Abuse 117 What might young people sniff? 117 Why do young people sniff solvents? 117 What should I look for? 118 How can I help? 118 13 Topic Page Ears 119 Eating Disorders 119 Eyes 120 Feet 121 Fever 121 German Measles 121 Hepatitis A (Yellow Jaundice) 122 Hepatitis B 122 Hepatitis C 123 Hospitalisation 123 Immunisations (Prophylactic and Preventative 123 Treatment) Childhood Immunisation Schedule 124 Masturbation 125 Meningitis 125 What are the signs and symptoms? 125 If the child is ill or obviously getting worse, do not wait for a rash. It may be late to appear or not at all. Mental Health 126 Mumps 127 Nits/Headlice 127 Periods 128 14 Topic Page Pregnancy 129 Puberty 129 Private Parts 129 Changes in their bodies 130 Wet dreams 130 Self Care 130 Self Injury 130 Serious Accident and Illness 131 Sexual Health 131 Sexual Identity and Gender Identity 134 Sun: Safety in the Sunshine 135 Teeth 136 Toileting Issues 136 Wetting - Daytime 136 Bedwetting 136 Constipation and Soiling 136 Food 137 Food and Mealtimes 137 Healthy Eating 138 Food Safety and Hygiene 138 Health and Safety 138 Our expectations 138 Alcohol 138 Smoking 138 Fire Risks 139 Garden: reducing risks 139 Using computers and the internet 141 Hazards 143 15 Topic Page Keeping Children Safe 144 Cars 144 Bikes 145 Bedroom 145 Kitchen 145 Pets 145 Safety and Accident Prevention 146 Burns and Scalds 146 Falls 147 Safety 147 Cuts 147 Poisons 147 Drowning 147 Electricity 147 Away from home 148 Our Expectations of you in respect of day to day safety 148 Caring for Babies 149 Sleeping Position 149 Temperature 150 Recommended Developmental Reviews 150 Milestones: Infants aged 0-1 years, 1-2 years 150 Children with Disabilities 150 In General 150 Equipment 151 Adaptations 151 Lifting and Handling 152 Education and Children with Special Needs 152 Speech and Language

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