Family Placement Service Exemptions and Extensions/ Variations to Foster Care Approval

The Children and Young Persons Act 2001 states that a person(s) may not foster more than three children at any one time (three being the usual fostering limit) except where all of the children are siblings, or (if not all are siblings of each other), this would require an exemption to the usual fostering limit.

In all other circumstances, foster carers may only exceed this number if an exemption has been agreed, by the Agency Decision Maker (ADM).

Applications for an exemption will usually be made because of the following exceptional circumstances:

• The child concerned was previously placed with the foster carers and his or her placement elsewhere has had an unplanned ending or disruption;
• The foster carers have special skills to meet the child's needs, which are not available elsewhere;
• The placement of the child, who will take the fostering household over the limit must be assessed as the most appropriate way of meeting the child's needs;
• The placement is required to keep siblings together.

Applications can only be made with the agreement of the foster carers concerned. When considering an exemption the following factors should be regarded:

• The number, ages and circumstances of the children concerned;
• The arrangements proposed for the care and accommodation of the children concerned;
• The relationship between the foster carers and the children concerned;
• The period of time over which the placement is likely to last;
• The likely effect on the children concerned and any other children living in the household;
• The foster carers' capacity to provide sufficient care for all the children in the placement;
• The need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the fostered children / young people and any other children / young people who live in the foster home.

The need for an exemption will be identified at the point when the fostering Supervising Social Worker is seeking to identify a suitable foster placement for a child or young person.

The Social Worker(s) to any other children already living in the foster placement should also be consulted in order to seek their views on any impact (positive or negative) from a further foster placement commencing.

Where a foster carer is identified as the most appropriate option to meet the children's needs, and this is agreed by the Supervising Social Worker for the carers and the foster carer, the Supervising Social Worker should consult with the manager and where agreed prepare an application for an exemption, which includes a risk assessment (See Appendix 1). 

The written application will be prepared by the Supervising Social Worker for the foster carers in conjunction with the relevant child's Social Worker. This should be presented to the Fostering Team Leader for quality assurance and authorisation and then shared with the Agency Decision Maker.

The decision whether or not to grant an exemption will be recorded in writing, together with the reasons.  Any exemption will be specific to a child or children and can be subject to conditions. 

The foster carer will be notified in writing of the decision. The outcome must be recorded on the carers file and cited in the chronology, by the supervising social worker.

Upon the granting of an exemption, a time limit will be specified, an exemption can only extend beyond that date if the Agency Decision Maker authorises it.

The decision will need to be reported to the next available Fostering Panel for ratification, with an addendum or review. A review would only be required if the information we currently hold is more than 6 months old.

If the Agency Decision Maker does not agree to the Variation of approval an urgent planning meeting (within 72 hours) needs to be convened to plan to move the child.

The Senior Manager, Out of Hours, can agree for a child(ren) to be placed in a foster home above the usual limit in an emergency i.e. without the agreement of the Agency Decision Maker. 

This agreement will only last until the next working day. However, if the placement extends, an exemption and risk assessment form will need to be completed. (See Appendix 1).

An application for exemption beyond the next working day must then be made to the Agency Decision Maker.

An interim decision by the Agency Decision Maker may be necessary pending full consideration of the exemption.

As with planned exemptions, any such emergency exemption needs to be presented to the next available Fostering Panel, with an addendum.

Any emergency or interim decisions to grant an exemption must be confirmed in writing and copies of the decision, together with the reasons, must be placed on the child's file and the foster carer's case record. A copy must also be sent to the foster carer.

If the Agency Decision Maker does not agree to the Variation of approval an urgent planning meeting (within 24 hours) needs to be convened to plan to move the child.

A risk assessment must be completed by the supervising social worker in all cases there is a need for a variation or exemption to the foster carer's current approval.

Please see Appendix 1 for the template.

The risk assessment will need to address the following:

• Risk factors;
• Impact on the child/young person (including any other household members);
• Protective factors;
• Analysis and recommendation;
• Support plan (which will need to inform the Placement Plan);
• The child/young person(s) Safer Care Agreement will also need to be updated as part of the panel review.

The Family Placements Manager will be responsible for the ongoing monitoring of the exemption; in addition the Fostering panel may request a new review to be completed within a specified timescale.

The child's Social Worker is responsible for recording the commencement of the exemption on Protocol and updating the care episode, when the exemption is no longer required. 

The placement must also be compatible with the foster carer's terms of approval. If the placement would not be compatible, then an extension/variation to the foster carer's terms of approval will be required. (This will usually be in addition to an extension to the usual number of children, as detailed above).

The Supervising Social Worker must agree the foster placement is suitable with the Family Placement Team Manager before requesting sign off from the Agency Decision Maker.

All extensions must be reported to the Fostering Panel and thereafter the Agency Decision Maker.

The only exception to this is where an emergency extension or variation to approval is required to enable a foster placement to take place before the case has been presented to the Fostering Panel. In these circumstances, the Agency Decision Maker can agree an emergency extension of the foster carer's approval, to allow the foster placement to go ahead. Any such decision can last for up to 6 working days, after 6 days the child's Social Worker and the Supervising Social Worker should assess if continuation of the exemption is required and the reasons why. This information should be passed to the Agency Decision Maker for further consideration and the Agency Decision Makers decision communicated to the Social Worker and the Supervising Social Worker. The Supervising Social Worker will inform the foster carer and the Social Worker should enter the outcome on Protocol.      

 
Regardless of the foster carer's terms of approval, if more than three children are placed with a foster carer and the children are not all siblings of each other, this requires an exemption to the usual fostering limit. Manx Care cannot grant an exemption to a foster carer living outside of the jurisdiction.  

When considering whether to grant an exemption, the following must be considered:

1. The number of children whom the person proposes to foster;
2. The arrangements which the person proposes for the care and accommodation of the fostered children;
3. The intended and likely relationship between the person and the fostered children;
4. The period of time for which he proposes to foster the child(ren); and
5. Whether the welfare of the fostered child (and any other child who are or will be living in the home) will be safeguarded and promoted.

The exemption must be notified in writing, naming each of the children who may be fostered and any conditions to which the exemption is subject. Exemptions may be varied or cancelled by the Agency Decision Maker who has granted the exemption.

If the Agency Decision Maker does not agree to the Variation of approval an urgent planning meeting (within 24 hours) needs to be convened to plan to move the child.

There is no requirement to set any terms of approval (however this is good practice and must be considered), certainly if the foster carer is not suitable to foster beyond a certain limit.

Foster carer assessments are designed to identify if the carers are suitable to foster children with varying need and how many children they would be able to provide a safe home for. The panel "must consider and take into account all the information provided," if that information suggests to the panel that foster carers are suitable for a particular number of children, or child of a particular age range, then Panel's function is to make a recommendation accordingly.

Where the fostering panel makes a recommendation about a person's suitability to foster, it must also "recommend any terms on which the approval is to be given", this might be in terms of the number of children and their ages.

Terms of approval may be set for more than three children, for example if the Family Placement Service is satisfied that a foster carer/couple genuinely has the capacity (accommodation and capability) to care for four or more children.

The Agency Decision Maker should take account of the fostering panel's recommendation and any recommended terms for the approval.

The Agency Decision Maker would not be compliant with this regulation if they disregarded panel recommendations regarding terms of approval as a matter of routine, without being able to justify that in each individual case and setting out the reasons.

If the placement of a further child or children with a foster carer would mean making a placement outside a foster carer's terms of approval then:

In order to change a foster carer's approval, the requirement is to carry out a review of the foster carer's approval, and for the Agency Decision Maker to issue a qualifying determination setting out the proposed change - with or without a recommendation from panel (it is good practice to seek a panel recommendation, but not a legal requirement unless this is the first annual review). The decision to change the terms of approval would then be implemented at the end of 28 days from the date of the qualifying determination.

A foster placement may be made in an emergency with any carer outside their terms of approval for a maximum of six working days, after six working days the placement must be terminated unless the terms of approval have been changed.

If the Agency Decision Maker does not agree to the Variation of approval an urgent planning meeting (within 24 hours) needs to be convened to plan to move the child.

In cases where the only change is to the terms of approval, as well as a determination notifying the foster carer of the proposed change, the Family Placement Service must also:

• Provide a statement setting out whether the Family Placement Service considers that the foster carer or members of the foster carer household (including any children placed there) may have additional support needs as a result of the proposed revision and, if so, how those needs will be met, and
• Request the foster carer's agreement in writing to the proposed revision of terms.

If the foster carer agrees to the change it is then possible to 'waive' the 28 days' waiting period and implement the decision immediately, in which case the decision is not a qualifying determination.

This written agreement must be freely given by the foster carer. If the foster carer does not agree to the change to the terms of their approval, the decision cannot be implemented until 28 days from the date of the qualifying determination. The foster carer may make representations to the Family Placement Service, for a review of the qualifying determination, within the 28 day period.

If the Agency Decision Maker does not agree to the Variation of approval an urgent planning meeting (within 24 hours) needs to be convened to plan to move the child.

This is available to staff on Protocol Hub.

Click here to view Appendix 1: Foster Carer Exemptions, Extensions and Variations Form.