Undertaking checks and references in fostering and adoption assessments
For social workers undertaking fostering, kinship and adoption assessments, a whole host of checks and references covering many aspects of carers’ lives are needed. These can throw up a huge variety of queries, as our Advice Line colleagues know well! From questions about the status of foster carers’ partners, to questions around who can be a personal referee - our experienced staff are kept very busy. No matter what rare and complex issue you may have, our team will probably have come across it before.
Recently, we have seen an increase in queries about undertaking overseas checks for prospective adopters or carers who have lived abroad, but for a relatively short time. This is probably due to many people now having been lucky enough to have had a gap year, been on an exchange programme, or travelled abroad for some months during their lives. As my colleagues advise, assessors are very unlikely to be able to gain any usable data from the short-term temporary jobs and youth hostels many people will have worked for and stayed in when travelling. For a recent case where a prospective carer had travelled in the US for six months, we advised that an FBI criminal record check would not be feasible, that agency policy should take this into account and to focus instead on other references covering this time.
Issues arising from personal references or former partner checks are another common enquiry. Sometimes applicants are reluctant for former partners to be contacted, or assessors are working out how to balance the need to protect the confidentiality of a referee, while as far as possible giving prospective carers the opportunity to respond to the issues raised.
We also receive frequent questions about home safety checks. Advice Line colleagues can provide detail about a number of topics, including (but not limited to):
- safe gaps between stair bannisters (or having no bannisters at all)
- what to do about guns or ceremonial swords being kept in a home
- bunk beds, cots and other sleeping arrangements
- the unexpected dangers of button batteries in children’s toys
Questions also reveal current fashions – queries about the safety of hot tubs and plunge pools greatly increased during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when they became more popular.
Undertaking checks and references in fostering and adoption assessments is one of the most popular reference books for our Advice Line team when answering the questions they receive about this subject. If you frequently have queries about this topic, we recommend investing in this book to ensure you have instant access to the advice, and also reassurance that the right checks have been carried out. For specifically pet- and animal-based questions, Dogs and pets in fostering and adoption is invaluable.
As we see from safeguarding reviews and news reports, children can come to harm in many ways. It is vitally important that assessing workers undertake the necessary references and checks, to reduce risk as much as possible. We encourage all practitioners to contact us or use our resources to help them in this task.
Jo Francis, Publishing Manager, CoramBAAF.