Person(s) Disqualified from Fostering

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.

1. A person shall not foster a child privately if he is disqualified by regulations under subsection (1) from doing so, unless he has disclosed to the Department the fact that he is so disqualified and has obtained its written consent;
2. A person shall not foster a child privately if:
   1. He lives in the same household as a person who is disqualified from registration by virtue of regulations under this section; or
   2. He lives in a household at which any such person is employed, unless he has disclosed to the Department (Manx Care) the fact that, that person is so disqualified and has obtained written consent.

All persons concerned with providing services to or managing the Family Placement Service must notify Manx Care immediately of any changes to the information that has been supplied, during the registration process, including any convictions/cautions in respect of certain offences or any orders made which might disqualify them from fostering children under the Disqualification for Caring for Children Regulations 2002.

A person aged over 18 years is disqualified from acting as a foster carer for Manx Care (unless a relative of the child or already acting as a foster carer) if s/he or any adult member of the household has been cautioned for or convicted of an offence against a child, which involves violence or bodily injury (other than common assault or battery), cruelty to a child under 16, indecency, abduction, the supply of Class A drugs or the importation/possession of indecent photographs of a child under 16.

A sexual offence against a child, unless the offence was contrary to sections 9 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity with a child) where the offender was less than 20 years of age when the offence was committed and the child was aged 13 or over.

If the applicant or a household member has a conviction within the last two years, for a serious offence or has a history of offending, a discussion will take place between the Fostering Team Manger and the Agency Decision Maker to determine if it is appropriate to continue with the assessment.

The Team Manager will be required to formally respond to the applicants, detailing the decision making process.

Where the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks reveal that an applicant for approval as a foster carer is a disqualified person, the applicants must be advised that their application cannot proceed. This must be confirmed in writing to them, together with the reasons, and retained with their application form. The file should also be closed electronically.

Where the Fostering Team Manager has determined that the application should not be permitted to proceed, due to the nature of the caution or conviction, this information cannot be disclosed to a joint applicant (or another member of the applicant's wider household) without the consent of the relevant person. Without such consent, any other interested party can only be informed that the reason for disqualification relates to information obtained from the checks, but no details can be given.

Information relevant to the application that has been obtained from the DBS may only be retained on the applicant's file, whilst the information is considered for a decision and/or for the decision making in respect of an appeal; and should then be destroyed when a decision is made on the application. The Fostering Team Manager should note on the file that the DBS information has been destroyed and that the information led to a particular view, without citing the information itself.

Where the applicant is a relative or friend of the child seeking approval as a Family and Friends Foster Carer for a specific child and the person would otherwise be regarded as disqualified, at the initial viability stage the Child's Social Worker could, if appropriate, seek consent to continue with the assessment from the Fostering Team Manager, in conjunction with the Agency Decision Maker, who after considering all of the information presented could give consent for the assessment to continue in relation to the particular child. 

An example of this is where the applicant has been convicted of an offence of unlawful sexual intercourse where the victim was 15 years 10 months and the perpetrator was 18 years old; the offence was historical having been committed 10 years ago and the applicant has not committed any further with offences.

Where an applicant has a conviction for any of the offences listed in (Section 6), the Family Placement Team Manager, Agency Decision Maker would require information on the following factors to be available, in order to consider whether to recommend that the application / assessment should proceed.

This needs to be in writing and would require the following information:

1. Age when offence committed;
2. Age now;
3. Circumstances of the offence;
4. Any supporting / corroborative information e.g. police report, probation etc;
5. Outcome of court case, i.e. custodial sentence (length), fine etc;
6. Whether the offence(s) was disclosed on application form, and if not disclosed any explanation offered;
7. Applicants' attitude to offence;
8. Current circumstances;
9. Any post-conviction work undertaken with the offender to address their offending.

In these circumstances, the assessing Supervising Social Worker responsible for carrying out the checks on the prospective foster carer should prepare a report on the application setting out:

1. The reasons for the application;
2. The circumstances surrounding the conviction or caution which would result in the person being disqualified unless consent is given;
3. An assessment of whether the foster placement would meet the child's needs despite the conviction/caution; and
4. A recommendation as to whether the application should proceed.

The assessing Supervising Social Worker will arrange with the Fostering Panel Administrator a date for the Panel to consider the report and a copy of the report should be sent to the Panel Administrator 10 working days before the relevant Panel meeting.

The Panel minutes will be sent to the Agency Decision Maker, who will consider the recommendation of the Fostering Panel on any such applications.

The decision of the Agency Decision Maker will be recorded in writing and a copy placed on the case record of the applicant. A copy of the decision will also be sent to the person concerned.

If the Agency Decision Maker gives a qualifying determination not to approve the applicant as a foster carer, the applicant will be advised that should they wish to challenge the decision, they can make written representations to the Agency Decision Maker within 28 days of the date of the written notice of the decision.

Any representations regarding the decision of the Agency Decision Maker will be considered if, within the representations there is information that was not available to the Fostering Panel. If there is additional information for the panel to be aware of, the application will return to Fostering Panel for consideration. 

Where the Agency Decision Maker has determined that the application should not be permitted to proceed due to the nature of the caution or conviction, this information cannot be disclosed to a joint applicant (or another member of the applicant's wider household) without the consent of the relevant person. Without such consent, any other interested party can only be informed that the reason for disqualification relates to information obtained from the checks, but no details can be given.

Information relevant to the application that has been obtained from the DBS may only be retained on the applicant's file whilst the information is considered for a decision and/or for the decision making in respect of an appeal; and should then be destroyed when a decision is made on the application. The Fostering Team Leader should note on the file that the DBS information has been destroyed and that the information led to a particular view, without citing the information itself.    

Where information is provided or updating Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks reveal that an approved foster carer has been cautioned or convicted of a criminal offence, as a result of which he or she will become a disqualified person unless consent is given, an urgent review of the foster carer's approval should be held. Please see Foster Carer Reviews and Terminations Procedure.

Where such information is received, the Social Worker for any child currently in the foster placement must be informed and plans for the termination of the placement will also need to be considered, if appropriate.

A written report detailing the circumstances leading to the conviction/caution, together with background information from the foster carer's case record must be presented to the Fostering Panel as soon as possible. The report should contain a recommendation on whether consent should be granted to allow the foster carer to continue to be approved as a foster carer, and for the child or children currently in the foster placement. 

Where the report recommends the termination of approval of the foster carer, the report should be presented to the earliest possible Fostering Panel. The report should be sent to the Panel Administrator at least 10 working days before the scheduled Panel meeting.

The Agency Decision Maker will consider the recommendation of the Fostering Panel on any such applications. 

The decision of the Agency Decision Maker will be recorded in writing and a copy placed on the case record of the foster carer. 

Written notice of the decision, together with reasons, must then be sent to the foster carer, in line with Fostering Panel procedure.

If the Agency Decision Maker gives a qualifying determination not to permit the foster carer to continue in the role, the foster carer will be advised that should they wish to challenge the decision, they may make written representations to the Agency Decision Maker within 28 days of the date of the written notice of the decision.

Any representations regarding the decision of the Agency Decision Maker will be considered, if within the representations there is information that was not previously available to the Fostering Panel. If there is additional information for the panel to be aware of, the report will return to Fostering Panel for consideration.

Where the Agency Decision Maker has determined that the foster carer should not be permitted to continue in their role, the details of the caution or conviction can only be disclosed to any other party with the consent of the relevant person. Without such consent, any other interested party can only be informed that the reason for disqualification relates to information obtained from the checks, but no details can be given.

Information obtained from the DBS check may only be retained on the foster carers file whilst the information is considered for a decision; when a decision is made it must then be destroyed. The Family Placement Team Manager should note on the file that the DBS information has been destroyed and that the information led to a particular view, without citing the information itself.

Serious offence would include, but not exhaustive of:

1. Exceptions to the specified offences within the regulations i.e. teenage offenders;
2. All those specified offences where the victims were adults;
3. Murder, manslaughter, rape, armed robbery, blackmail/extortion;
4. Violent offences including GBH, ABH, wounding, assault;
5. Aggravated burglary;
6. Drug dealing/supply, possession of illegal drugs;
7. Prostitution, living off immoral earnings;
8. Racism, fraud/dishonesty;
9. Drink driving; serious motoring offences.