General discussion bullet pointed below:
- If there are gaps there needs to be a risk assessment
- There needs to be clear recording re the gaps and why they are there
- Police clearance from abroad - something different to their character and who they are as a person
- Discussion if someone has lived abroad many years ago but lived in the uk as long in their adult life - and the difficulties and challenges to obtain info
- How far do people go back - some from when adult - 18yrs - some last 10 yrs
- Discussion re carers living in italy but lived in uk for 10 yrs - would still go back to time in italy and try and obtain
- Tombstone refs - where someone only says they are known and was here from A to B and no other info
- Referees - if don't want info to be shared - if a professional reference, no choice, personal references are harder
- Challenges in obtaining info discussed as well as what share and not share - don't know what you don't know
- ADM signs off all the checks and refs in one agency, opened discussion re part of stage 1 process and not required by the adm - is this case work, a process by the agency - however, if there are concerns re a check - then the adm might have sight to offer oversight
- QA - assessor and manager - their role and process re this
- Ensure oversight added to system re decision making etc
Further checks - financial sustainability etc discussion - discussed things that could be gaps:
- Financial info
- Medical history
- Employment history
- Contact with children - (incl their own)
- Ex-partners
- Where they lived throughout their lives
When exhausted the above - risk assessments to present - shows what additional work was undertaken, gives explanation for gaps and their relevance and how can verify / evidence etc
- Concerns when people have moved a lot and the amount of LA checking etc
- Company credit checks used by some agencies - carers sign to say it is ok to pursue - this includes experian
- CCJ and insolvency checks
- Landlord checks
- List of occupants - as the credit check comes back with previous people at the known address - so discussion re who else resides or has done at the property alongside them
- Last 3 months of bank statements
- Taxi driver - no income evidenced on his bank statements - tax avoidance ?● Finance statements - give more of an accurate account of spending - income and outgoings - as lots missed in financial chronologies - things not thought of in outgoings etc
- More realistic spendings - priorities - and how this might continue or change when caring for children
- Gaps in parenting
- Letter to benefits agencies - request that the forward to ex partner - where benefits did send on and ex partner got in touch and was concerned about the person intending to foster (the applicant said the ex could not be traced) - complicated but raised lots of differences in the assessment
- Personal references - where there are concerns - agency undertake more refs to almost prove the other wrong - this came up in a SCR - need more curiosity of the worrying ref and discussion etc
- Quality of refs - how long known applicants might not mean they know them well
- Ex-partners - adult children, experiences of separation etc
- How far go - if school abroad or their own children went to school abroad etc
- Reserve the right to undertake any checks that satisfies agency children will be as safe as possible
- Cannot apologise - need to be transparent - give people an opportunity to progress or withdraw
- Scope of references - discussion re revisiting - some agencies revisit previous ref on first review - to say - how do you think they are doing now they have been fostering for a while
- Schools - and carers own children moving around - going to different schools that their child was placed - shows patterns - sometimes this was to avoid exclusion so a parent moved them etc
- Applicants / carers giving consent - need to know what they are signing - what you will as standard undertake, and what and why you might undertake additional checks - eg absence of info in chronologies may require further checks etc
Members feel practice guidance would be helpful to consider what else we could do in the absence of obtaining certain checks or where there are gaps in chronologies, how we can satisfy selves, panel, adm etc - we have done all we can etc - to be considered 2024
