Devon County Council believes that a quality foster care service provides the best hope of overcoming disadvantage and exclusion for the majority of children and young people who need public care.  

There is a commitment to increase the number of foster placements available, and thereby increase the choice of placement available to each young person.  

Foster care is provided by carers who are essentially volunteers, but who nevertheless are governed by regulations designed to protect children and promote quality care.  

Devon is committed to ongoing improvement of its foster care service, in all aspects.

Equal opportunities and anti-discrimination

Devon County Council has an equal opportunities policy, and strives to meet its aims in this regard.  The policy is available to all staff and carers.

Devon County Council follows the policy set out in the Children’s Services Plan, to develop services on the basis of equal opportunity and anti-discriminatory practices, without prejudice to race, culture, gender, religion or disability.  

It is recognised that one effect of discrimination is that children and young people can feel disempowered and deprived of opportunities and services.  

It is further recognised that in a predominantly white area such as Devon, there can be a tendency to deny the existence of racial discrimination, or to see it as a low priority.  The fostering service is taking active steps to challenge this, and has issued to all carers a guide called “Why does race matter in Devon?”.  

This practice guide is also available to staff, and seeks to give a starting point to improving the knowledge base of carers and staff in working with children and families from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

All fostering staff and carers should have access to training in anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice.  It is an expectation that fostering staff and carers will challenge discrimination, from whatever source, in the fostering setting.  Any discriminatory acts should be brought to the attention of the Children’s Services Directorate Management Board, which will then arrange any necessary investigation or action.

The fostering service seeks to encourage, in foster homes, an environment which promotes understanding, trust and cooperation.  This requires that all members of the household are treated with dignity and respect.   Carers are asked to communicate in ways which are anti-discriminatory and anti-racist, and to encourage children and young people to do likewise.  

Harassment and bullying

Harassment and bullying is not permitted or condoned by Devon County Council.  

Children and young people have a right to complain about harassment and bullying, and to expect every complaint to be fully investigated.  Similarly, carers have a right to expect support and training in dealing with challenging or aggressive behaviour.

Health and Safety

Health and Safety checks are undertaken for all prospective carers, and repeated at annual review for approved carers.  These highlight potential hazards both inside and outside the foster home, and workers will then agree with carers how such hazards are to be managed.

Carers  are required to complete monitoring forms for accidents and illnesses relating to children looked after (however minor), including any treatment or medication administered.  These will supplement the accident and incident reporting already in place under Children and Young People’s Services guidelines.

Safe Care

All Devon foster carers have access to information and training about safe care practices.  These are intended to safeguard both the looked after child, and also the fostering family.  

Current practice is being revised, and it is planned that each foster home will have an individual safe care policy.  This document will be used at placement planning meetings and reviews to ensure that shared responsibility is taken for care practices within the household (for example where the male carer is the only driver in the family).

Confidentiality

The fostering service, and the Children and Young People’s Services Directorate as a whole, is committed to respecting the right to confidentiality of each child or young person in foster care, wherever this is possible.  

Carers are helped to understand the balance between protecting a young person’s right to confidentiality with the need to ensure his or her safety.

There is an expectation that carers and workers will work within the policies and guidance of Devon’s Child Protection Committee and Child Protection Handbook.  This will include:

• Worrying information will be discussed with a social worker/manager to agree appropriate action
• Information will be shared on a strictly need to know basis, and will be governed by the principle of safeguarding and promoting the child or young person’s heath and welfare
• The child or young person should always be kept informed about what information will be given, to whom and for what purpose.

Access to records

Section 7 of the Data Protection Act provides a right for members of the public to obtain copies of information that Devon County Council may hold about them, subject to certain exemptions.  

The council has a process for dealing with such requests, and further information is available from our Data Protection pages on the council’s website.

Support to carers

Carers are offered a range of services to support them in their fostering task.  Each carer can access support through:

• named Supervising Social Workers.
• annual review, which takes into account their training and development needs.
• access to fostering duty workers each weekday afternoon.
• daily access to Placement Co-ordinators and Fostering Clerks to address minor matters during the working week.
• access to Fostering Practice Managers to assist in resolving more complex matters, or in the absence of their usual link worker.
• dedicated support from Fostering Support Workers, when needed to help manage the day-to-day behaviour management issues posed by looked after children.
• a comprehensive, high quality training programme.
• a regular newsletter which updates carers on local and national fostering issues.
• information via the Fostering website.
• representations on the Foster Care Strategy Group, which addresses carer issues and assists in the development of policy and practice.