Fostering Service Statement of Purpose

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council provides a range of foster care placements for children in the care of the Local Authority. Foster carers may be registered for one particular type of placement or a variety of placements. The following types of placements are offered:

Short term or temporary

These placements range from an overnight stay to several months' duration. In some cases, placements can last for more than a year before a child's plan is finalised, particularly if there are complex court proceedings.

The main purpose of these placements is to provide the child with temporary substitute care where children are unable to remain in the care of their parents and the focus is on supporting the children to return home to birth family or to move on to long term foster care or adoption. Where appropriate, short-term foster carers can be reassessed and approved as long-term foster carers. The tasks of the foster carers vary in accordance with the child's plan. Children may be placed in an emergency or in a planned way.

Long term or permanent

These placements are for the duration of the child's childhood through to adulthood. The carer's task is to offer permanent substitute care to the child, usually with regular ongoing family time with birth family. These placements are always planned and involve children being carefully matched to the skills and family environment of the long-term foster carer and being placed following a period of introductions. Where children have been placed in a short-term arrangement, and this is subsequently assessed as the most appropriate long-term placement, a thorough matching process will take place to ensure that the child's long term needs can be met.

Bridging or task centred care

These placements are usually for young people who are placed as an adolescent and the main task of the carers is to prepare the young person for independence or eventual return to birth family. In some instances, these placements may be for younger children and could involve joining siblings together and the task of the carer may be to help prepare the child(ren) to move into a long-term placement.

Parent and child

A limited number of placements are available for parent and baby placements. The duration of the placement is usually for a matter of months and the task of the foster carer is to support and advise the parent and contribute to any parenting skills assessment that is being undertaken. It may be that the child is placed with the carer under Fostering Regulations and the parent not placed, or both parent and child may be fostered by the fostering family. These placements are usually for parents under the age of 18, however, on occasion this is also available to older parents.

Short break and respite for looked after children

The aim of short break and respite care placements for children who are already looked after is to support the child and the main carer to promote placement stability. Occasionally respite placements are arranged due to the main carer being unavailable for a short period of time.

Short break and respite for children not looked after children

These placements are mainly used by those children who require, for whatever reason, a series of short breaks away from the family home. The main task of the carer is to provide the child with continuity of care away from home.

Emergency carers

These placements are available to children who require immediate placement outside of normal office hours. The children usually stay in these placements only for a matter of days until a more suitable placement is found.

Connected persons as foster carers

The Local Authority has a responsibility to consider whether anyone within the child's network of family and friends can safely care for the child when a decision has been made that the child cannot, for whatever reason, remain in the care of their parents. In these situations, the children are placed with the connected person after the person has been fully assessed and approved as a foster carer.

If the placement has been made in an emergency under Regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations (2010), the connected person is given a temporary approval status and a suitability to foster assessment needs to be completed within 16 weeks of the child being placed.

'Staying Put' carers

Children who have been looked after by their foster carers on a permanent basis often wish to remain within the family after reaching the age of 18 years. Where this is felt to be in the young person's best interests, and with the agreement of the foster carer, the young person continues to live with the family under a 'Staying Put' arrangement, which can last until a young person reaches 21, or up until the age of 25 if the young person remains in education or training. As the young people are over the age of 18 years, Staying Put is no longer a fostering arrangement.  Foster carers may continue to be approved carers if they are available for other foster placements and, as such, will continue to receive supervision and support via the Fostering Service. Where this is not the case, support and supervision will be offered by the Accommodation and Placement Support Team, who are within the Children's Care and Complex Needs Service Area.

Supported Lodgings hosts

Supported Lodgings is a form of supported accommodation which offers looked after young people and care leavers aged between 16-21 years (25 if in full time education) the opportunity to live within a family setting. Supported Lodgings are provided by households who offer a room and support to develop the young person's independence skills. The scheme is suitable for those young people who have been assessed via their Pathway Plan as needing support towards moving to independence and who are willing to engage with the expectations of living in a family home and with the support in place to enable them to live independently, engage in education or employment and work towards economic stability in adulthood. 

The responsibility for the recruitment and assessment of prospective Supported Lodgings providers lies with the Family Placement Recruitment and Assessment Team. Following approval, supported lodgings providers will be supported to transfer to receive their support and supervision from the Accommodation and Placement Support Officers in the Accommodation and Placement Support Team.  

The following services are provided to:

Registered Foster Carers and Prospective Foster Carers

• advice and information (written or verbal) to those interested in becoming foster carers or supported lodgings providers
• initial visits to people expressing an interest in becoming foster carers or supported lodgings providers
• preparation training for applicants
• assessment and approval of suitability to foster and supported lodgings
• supervision for approved foster carers
• support for foster carers and their families via support groups and social activities
• groups for sons and daughters of foster carers
• post-approval training for foster carers
• allowances or financial support
• equipment
• independent annual foster care reviews
• Emergency Duty Team out-of-hours service
• emergency duty support within office hours via the Fostering Duty Service
• CAMHS consultation service for carers
• advice and mediation service - spot purchase for carers subject to an allegation
• membership of Fostering Network
• respite provision
• consultation with carers over development of the service
• grants for home extension/adaptations in specific cases
• virtual school
• Looked After Children's Nurse

Social work staff who need a placement for a child looked after by the council

• a placement officer and duty social worker are available from 8:30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and until 4:30pm on Friday
• identification and provision of a range of foster care placements for looked after children
• advice and consultation regarding viability of connected carer placements
• liaison with other agencies to identify suitable placements when none are available from Stockton Fostering Service
• provision of carers for use by the Emergency Duty Team for placements at evening, weekends and Bank Holidays
• out of hours contact with service managers by the Emergency Duty Team
• advice and consultation to social workers regarding general placement issues