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Contents

1. The Role of the Supervising Social Worker
2. Supervising Visits
3. Content of Supervision Sessions

1. The Role of the Supervising Social Worker

All approved foster carers will have an allocated, suitably qualified Supervising Social Worker.  The allocated Supervising Social Worker is responsible for supervising and supporting carers, ensuring that they have the necessary guidance, support and direction to maintain a quality service, including safe caring practices.  This will include an understanding that they must work within the National Minimum Standards for Fostering and the agency's policies, procedures and guidance.

In particular their role is:

• To provide professional supervision of foster carers to ensure that practice is safe and meets the needs of fostered children;
• To support foster carers and help them to develop the skills and knowledge needed to foster including understanding, managing and dealing with young people's behaviour, encouraging children to take responsibility for their behaviour and helping them to learn how to resolve conflict;
• To encourage carers to care for children in a manner that minimises the need for Police involvement, in dealing with challenging behaviour to avoid the criminalisation of children;
• To encourage learning and personal development of foster carers including attendance at relevant training;
• To support foster carers in meeting the needs of sons and daughters who foster;
• To provide foster carers with breaks from caring as appropriate, which meets the needs of placed children;
• To ensure that meetings have a clear, recorded purpose;
• To ensure there is a good system of communication between the foster carer and the Fostering Service.;
• To ensure handbooks and other information are provided as appropriate and as requested by the foster carers.

2. Supervising Visits

See Supervision of Foster Carers Procedure.

The supervising social worker will be responsible for agreeing a supervision contract with the foster carer.

• The supervising social worker will make regular visits in line with the supervision contract. Usually this will be six weekly and it will be not less than twelve weekly.
• Visits will be more frequent for newly approved foster carers, in the early stages of any placement or when particular difficulties are being experienced.
• There will be at least one unannounced visit per year.
• All adults and children in the foster household should be seen at least once per year.
• Where foster carers ask for an urgent visit from their Supervising Social Worker, due to a crisis, they should aim to do this where practicable, within 48 hours.
• Foster carers will also have contact with your Supervising Social Workers in office visits, via the telephone, at Children Looked After Reviews and Annual Foster Home meetings and at Support Group Meetings.

3. Content of Supervision Sessions

An agenda should be agreed at the beginning of each session. It is expected that both parties prepare in advance for the meeting.

At each supervision meeting there should be a check that anything agreed at the previous meeting has been acted upon.

Supervision should cover the issues set out in the competencies needed for foster care:

a.	Caring for children: Check that foster carers have enough information to care effectively for children. Look at how foster carers are promoting healthy emotional, physical and sexual development as well as health and educational achievement. Look at contact plans and working closely with children's families. Discuss the management of children's behaviour and ensure that foster carers have appropriate strategies to do this, without using physical or other inappropriate punishment. Check that foster carers have a knowledge of normal child development and are able to communicate with children appropriately. Look at how foster carers are using their allowance to care for children, and ensure that children have appropriate pocket money, equipment and clothing.
b.	Providing a Safe and Caring Environment Ensure that statutory checks remain up to date for all household members. Ensure that the home remains safe in all aspects. Agree strategies and plans for working with fostered children about remaining safe from harm and abuse. Ensure that all members of the fostering household understand what is meant by 'safe caring' and practice accordingly. Regularly check written foster carer records and sign them off.
c.	Working as Part of a Team Provide feedback from other professionals and discuss issues of working together. Look at how best to communicate issue generally and specifically in order to achieve positive outcomes. Consider issues of confidentiality and what this means in practice. Address issues of promoting equality and diversity generally and in specific cases. Identify any support that foster carers might need in order to provide a good standard of care.
d.	Own Development Provide constructive feedback about foster carers' performance. If there has been any criticism of how foster carers have been carrying out their role this should be shared and discussed. Allow for reflection on feelings and experiences. Look at meeting the specific needs of children who foster. Discussion about support networks and how to utilise these effectively. Discussion of training opportunities and planning for carers to attend training. Acknowledgement of stressful issues and consideration about how to manage these.

End