The Practice Notes series is designed for social workers and other practitioners, and give recommendations for good practice in specific areas.

Members can download any of the following PDFs for their personal use.

Non-members can purchase Practice Notes in the Bookshop.

Please note that some of the earlier Practice Notes may not be current but could still be of use for reference purposes.

2024

Matching children from England with adopters approved in Scotland

Placing children with relatives overseas

2023

Unlawful placements in kinship care

2021

Practice Note 76 - Guidelines for the testing of looked after children and young people at risk of blood-borne infections

Practice Note 75 - Financial Support for Special Guardians (England)

2020

Practice Note 74 - Supporting Special Guardians to make Family Arrangements in the Event of a Health Emergency or Accident

Practice Note 73 - Disabled Foster Carers

Practice Note 72 - Planning the Assessment of a Foster Carer's New Partner

Practice Note 71 - Writing a Fostering Panel Annual Report

2019

Practice Note 70 - The Fostering Decision-Maker (England)

2018

Practice Note 69 - Assessing and supporting transgender foster carers and adopters

Practice Note 68 - Reducing the risks of environmental tobacco smoke for looked after children and their carers

2017

Practice Note 67 - Local authorities’ duty of fairness towards a parent seeking to revoke a placement order

Practice Note 66 - The health of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and other separated children

Practice Note 65 - Decisions about the assessment of couples and other partnerships in foster care (England)

Practice Note 64 - Best practice in meetings between prospective adopters and children prior to matching

2015

Practice Note 59 - The provision of information to Fostering for Adoption carers 

2014

Practice Note 56 - Paperless fostering and adoption panels 

2009

Practice Note 54 - Assessing second-time adopters