This is the first operational edition the Independent Asian Fostering Bureau manual of web-enabled procedures manual.

This edition of the procedures manual is compliant with the new regulatory framework relating to Looked After Children and the National Minimum Standards relating to Fostering, which became effective on 1 April 2011.

This manual uses material from the Independent Asian Fostering Bureau manual and material that has been produced by Tri.x.

All former procedures both in paper and electronic forms are superseded by this manual and should no longer be used.

This manual contains all our key policies and procedures.

The procedures are sub divided into several Section e.g. Section 1, Fostering Service.

When you have read this guide, start by familiarising yourself with the Contents List and the Procedures listed under each Section.

All efforts are taken to ensure that the procedures are up to date; if you discover any errors including typing or spelling mistakes, please notify us via the ‘alerts & suggestions’ button on the left hand side of the screen.

If you are unable to find a Procedure you require, use the Search button on the left hand side of the screen or consult your Manager.
If at any time you have any comments, additions or amendments to the manual, please contact Khushbir Sekhon khush@iafb-uk.com.

KHUSH

NEETA

SAM

DANIELLE

JOHTY

1.1 This Statement of Purpose is provided in accordance with the fostering Regulations 2011 and Standard 19 of NMS 2011.The Statement defines the objectives of the fostering service, and covers issues set out in both the Regulations and the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services.

1.2 This Statement of Purpose set out below is formally approved by the Independent Asian Fostering Bureau ‘Registered Person’, who has the responsibility of ensuring that the Statement is reviewed, updated and modified where necessary at least annually, and, in line with NMS,ensuring that the agency’s policies, procedures and written guidance to all staff and foster careers accurately reflect this statement of purpose. The registered person is responsible for providing OFSTED with a current copy of the Statement of Purpose, and the “Childrens’ Guide’

1.3 Standard 16 of the NMS also cover the provision of a written guide to the fostering services for children, referred to as the “children’s guide”. It is intended that this guide is made available to all looked after children who are fostered by the Independent Asian Fostering Bureau, and where appropriate it will be produced in different formats to meet the needs of different groups of children. The guide, among other matters, clearly indicates to the children concerned how they can access an independent advocate, and make direct representations and complaints.

1.4 The guide is written for children/young people and a copy will be made available directly to children of sufficient age and understanding. It is also available to the child’s/young person’s foster carer(s), and may be printed in different languages and formats. However, where the child is not able to read and understand the guide, the child’s social worker should ensure that he or she is advised of the contents, and especially the possibility and means of making representations and complaints.
Statement of Purpose

Status and Constitution

Independent Asian Fostering Bureau is a specialist fostering agency registered as a private company in April 1998, and limited by guarantee. The first placements took place in June 2000, (a) of the Care Standards Act 2000. The agency was registered with the National Care Standards Commission in August 2003. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting independent fostering agencies’ functioning and the standards of services provided. The agency is currently a member of Fostering Network and BAAF.

The agency’s registered office is situated in Ilford, Essex. Contact details are as follows:

Suite A, Gable House, 1 Balfour Road, Ilford, IG1 4HP
Telephone: 0208 553 2989
Fax: 0208 553 3201
Mobiles: 07957 308088/89

Management Structure

Independent Asian Bureau is a private company managed by a full-time, permanently employed fostering manager, and a ‘registered person’ or ‘responsible individual’ as required by the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 as director. One other person acts as auditor for the agency. The manager and registered person (or provider) have discrete responsibilities for areas of work and practice, and a collective responsibility for the agency’s overall management, operation and strategic development.

The fostering manager is a qualified, experienced social worker, who manages the fostering agency on a day to day basis, acting as the ‘registered manager’ as required by regulation (FSR reg.7). Further information about staff responsibilities and qualifications is given below.

Director
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Registered Manager
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Manager
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London S/W Midland S/W
P/T

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Administrator
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Finance

IAFB has a MOAT support team that can be called on for advice and support

IAFB also have access to a bank of language interpreters and translators and outreach workers.

Services Provided

The agency provides foster care placements with approved foster careers for children and young people who are looked after by local authorities. It specializes in recruiting Asian foster careers to provide foster care for Asian children. ‘Asian’ is a general term, which is used to describe people from many different countries and cultures, most commonly people from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The term fails to acknowledge the great cultural difference and diversity, which exists among all people of Asian origin, and thus does not recognise people’s true identity.

It is vital that young Asian people living in Britain are enabled to develop a strong sense of their own cultural and personal identity. This may be especially difficult for those children who for some reason must live apart from their own families. Fostering these children in a family of similar religious and cultural background is therefore of the utmost importance. The agency’s specialist service achieves this through providing foster careers from various Asian religions and cultures with English and an Asian mother tongue, who are trained and supported by social workers with appropriate linguistic and cultural skills and background to provide consistent high quality care.

Independent Asian Fostering (IAFB) operates and provides placements, on a nationwide basis, to local authority commissioners and social services departments. Services provided are monitored through the local authority commissioners in accordance with contract, and, where operative, the provisions of agreements such as the Pan London Agreement of the London Boroughs. It supports foster careers and placements of children through the provision of a supervising social worker, and can call upon other specialist staff and services in health and education fields, as appropriate.

The agency provides local authorities with short-term (up to two years duration) foster care placements, where foster care is provided to looked after children while plans for them are formulated or a specific piece of work is carried out; long-term/permanent foster care placements until a child reaches adulthood; and it also provides parent and child placements for up to two years (occasionally longer) where the purpose is to support the parent, protect the baby child, and assess parenting skills. The IAFB also provides emergency placements for up to 28 days (at short notice), planned respite care which may last for up to 28 days as one-off or a planned series of placements (not exceeding 110 nights a year) and mother and baby placement. Additionally, foster care placements which offer preparation for independence (where care and support is given to a young person in preparing to live independently) or bridging placements for adoption or other permanency planning can be arranged by the Bureau.

Mission Statement

The Independent Asian Fostering Bureau has adopted this mission statement:

“We recognise as a specialist agency providing children’s services for the Asian community we are more readily able to understand and address the issues concerned. ‘Specialism’ is not ‘Separatism’ and by celebrating and acknowledging our different cultures we can become a less fearful, richer and healthier society”.

Aims & Objectives

The principal aims of the agency are to:
o offer safe, nurturing foster care placements which will enhance the well being and welfare of Asian children looked after by local authorities who contract approved foster placements/services from the agency, and
o provide a fostering agency sensitive, responsive and relevant to children’s, careers’, parents’, and local authorities’ needs and requirements.
o maintain effective recruitment strategies to recruit careers from the Asian community in the UK, thus promoting an appropriate and wider choice of placement for Asian children who are looked after, and ensuring with such placements that diversity is valued and equality is promoted.
o ensure that children are appropriately matched and placed with approved careers from their own community who are able to offer a high standard of safe, consistent and effective care.
o ensure continuous improvement and innovation in everything that it does
o maintain a service which meets and surpasses National Minimum Standards
o provide comprehensive support for foster careers and children
o promote co-operation between the agency and all parties involved in foster care both local and nationally

In pursuing these aims the agency expects all its careers to understand the dimensions of a child’s developmental needs, to provide optimum care along the various dimensions of parenting capacity, and, acknowledging the child’s environment, to work in partnership with the child, the child’s family and professionals to secure the objectives of the child care plan. The agency’s objectives through its placements are to:
o meet the day to day needs of children placed with its careers, and to keep them safe from harm from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and neglect.
o ensure that children/young people form attachments with careers providing safe and effective care through an appropriate and suitable style of parenting.
o encourage and support foster careers in their role of valuing diversity and promoting equality
o contribute positively to planning for individual children and young people, thereby improving their life chances and opportunities.
o work with children and young people, their careers, and relevant voluntary and statutory agencies to address the problems resulting in the child or young person being looked after in foster care.
o ensure that the needs of disabled children are identified and properly met
o encourage the participation of the child’s parents and/or others with parental responsibility in all aspects of planning and decision making for the child.
o offer support and guidance to children and young people in education or work.
o encourage, and provide the means for a healthy lifestyle.
o raise awareness of health care matters in the child or young person.
o give support and guidance to young people through the difficulties and experiences of their adolescence
o provide support and guidance for children and young people in living away from their home.
o support and guide young people in preparation for permanency, independent or semi-independent living.
o encourage children and young people, according to their age and understanding, to participate in planning/decision-making affecting their lives.
o listen to what children and young people say, and in so doing help them achieve successful outcomes.
o Provide supervision, guidance, emergency support, respite care and all other means of support needed by IAFB foster careers

Principles & Standards of Care

Independent Asian Fostering Bureau acknowledges and subscribes to a number of important principles, values, and defined standards of care in carrying out its functions as an independent fostering agency. Some of the most important are set out below. The first part of this section relates to universal principles relevant to the agency’s work, the second part details certain UK legislative requirements, and the third part describes in greater detail how the agency works in relation to some key principles, values, and requirements.

(1) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Certain principles and rights of children are recognised as having universal relevance and validity. For example, in relation to non-discrimination, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child-ratified by the UK in 1991-holds that that (states) should respect and ensure the rights of children “without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, religion, language, religion political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth, or other status”(Article 2). It also states that the welfare of the child should be a primary consideration when decisions are being made about the child (Article 3). Article 8 has particular relevance to looked after children and foster care as it confirms the right of every child to have a family or an alternative home, and Article 12 underlines the importance of listening to the child: ‘Children should be consulted on all matters of concern to them, and their views given due weight in accordance with their maturity’.
IAFB supports these important principles/rights in practice and policy.

(2) The Children Act 1989

The principal legislation relating to children in public care is the Children Act 1989. The whole thrust of the act requires professionals and careers to offer child-centred practice and care to children for whom they are responsible. As in the assessment of children’s needs, day-to-day care and care planning for the child in foster care call for a child centred approach by both professionals and careers. Independent Asian Fostering Bureau wish to ensure that this child centered focus is maintained throughout the placement, and that, while the impact of other matters or circumstances arising during placement will be properly assessed and taken account of, the child centered approach is not lost in dealing with such issues.

A number of important principles underpin the Children Act 1989, its application, and consequent childcare practice. These can be briefly outlined here: the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration; the child’s welfare must be safeguarded and promoted; wherever possible children should be brought up within their own family; if they cannot live with their own family there should be high quality substitute care; the concept of parental responsibility; partnership with parents and children; children’s feelings should be ascertained and taken account of; courts should be responsive to children’s needs; but there should be minimal court intervention; there should be co-operation between authorities/agencies.

Whilst certain of these general principles often or specifically relate to court proceedings and practice, some principles have more general application and are discussed further below. They are important in helping to ensure that foster care is a positive experience for the child, and IAFB seeks to uphold these principles in the delivery of its service, and the application of these principles in practice.

(i) Working in Partnership/Involving the Child

Each child in placement with Independent Asian Fostering Bureau foster careers is considered as an individual with a unique set of skills, attributes, abilities and needs. In seeking to promote the child’s welfare, careers and staff will seek, take account of, and record his or her wishes and feelings; and try to involve the child (where of sufficient age and understanding) in decision-making about him or her (Children Act 1989, section 22(4)). Age, gender and culturally appropriate ways of ascertaining the child’s wishes and feelings will be used and developed wherever possible. The rights of the child, as indicated in the UN Convention above, will in all cases be respected and promoted, and where the child is dissatisfied with the care given, the complaints and representations procedures, as indicated in the Children’s Guide, can be used.

As part of working in partnership, every effort will be made to work with parents, those with parental responsibility, and significant others, to identify and meet the needs of the child. Working in partnership and ensuring the full participation of parents and those with parental responsibility requires that they are kept informed and consulted by the local authority and fostering agency, that they understand the situation, and the particular role and responsibilities of IAFB and careers, and also that they have input to relevant reviews and meetings concerning the child’s care and welfare. In these reviews and meetings, and more generally, their views and wishes will be acknowledged, taken into account and, where appropriate, acted upon.

Partnership also embraces those local authority representatives responsible for the child and the child’s welfare, and IAFB seeks to work closely and co-operatively with local authority social workers, managers and other representatives.

(ii) Contact

The United Nations Convention 9(3) calls for direct contact on a regular basis, except if contrary to the child’s best interests, but there is also a general duty upon the child’s local authority in the Children Act 1989 (schedule 2, para.7) to promote contact between children who are looked after and their parents, relatives, and friends. Standard 10 of the NMSfFS details the requirements with which the agency will comply.

IAFB fully endorses the values underlying this duty. Its staff and careers encourage and facilitate such contact where it is deemed to be in the child’s interest. The value of contact for the child is an important aspect of the preparation training of the agency’s foster careers. Contact arrangements are normally identified and formally agreed at the Placement Agreement Meeting held before or at the time that the child is placed, but the level, frequency and parties to contact will also be monitored and reviewed regularly.

3) Regulations and Standards in Fostering

New legislation and practice guidance/standards have been introduced by the government, namely:

National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services 2011
Fostering Services Regulations 2011

In 1999 the UK National Standards for Foster Care 1999 & Code of Practice were also introduced, and all fostering agencies are urged by central government to follow the latter, too, although these have no formal legal status.

In carrying out its functions as a fostering services provider, Independent Asian Fostering Bureau intends to ensure that the agency’s practice and standards conform to the standards and legislative requirements detailed within the documents published by the government. Reference to some of the specific National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services are to be found under certain other headings in this Statement of Purpose. All staff have access to copies of the standards, and all will receive appropriate training in those aspects relevant to their specific duties.

Certain principles which relate to child care practice generally, and are important in the agency’s provision of foster care are set out below. Such principles underpin a number of IAFB’s agency policies and procedures.

(4) Equal Opportunities Policy, Anti-Discriminatory Practice, Valuing Diversity

The agency will operate an equal opportunities policy, which covers staff recruitment, training and career development, as well as the recruitment of foster careers, their assessment, approval, and training and use. As a specialist fostering agency seeking to address the particular needs of children and careers from the Asian community, Independent Asian Fostering Bureau will pay particular attention to how valuing diversity and promoting equality can be fostered and sustained in the placement offered by its careers.

(5) Confidentiality/Disclosure of Information

Independent Asian Fostering Bureau staff, careers (and fostering panel members) are expected to respect confidentiality in their work for the agency. The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, and although aimed at public authorities and the courts, the convention requires respect for private and family life, the home and correspondence, so that inappropriate disclosure of information without consent may give rise to an issue under Article 8. There is, too, a common law duty of confidentiality, so that information will not normally be shared without the consent of the person concerned except, for example, to safeguard a child or children. Where relevant, agency employees, careers and others must also conform to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.

(6) Protection of Children

The safety and well being of the children placed in its foster care homes is of paramount importance to Independent Asian Foster Bureau, and a number of measures are in place to prevent abuse and neglect of children placed. Rigorous checks on the background of careers and their family members, as well as staff, safe caring guidelines, and clear guidelines on unacceptable punishment and child protection procedures help to ensure that risk to children is minimised. The Children’s Guide underscores this aspect and ensures that children have knowledge of help and advocacy should they feel the need.

Further information on this aspect of child care can be found in the sections on staff and foster carer recruitment, selection/approval.

(7) Complaints/Representations/Advocacy

The agency has a formal complaints procedure, which is made available to children, their families, and all foster careers. Information about the role of the National Care Standards Commission and how to access the commission’s advocacy service is given to all children in the ‘Children’s Guide’.

Independent Asian Foster Bureau Staff

IAFB aims to recruit and retain professional and ancillary staff of the highest quality for the work of the agency. Recruitment will be founded in the agency’s equal opportunities policy (available to all staff) and recognised good practice. The agency seeks a balance of gender, and will reflect the Asian community in its establishment. All staff having direct contact with children must undergo checks with the Criminal Records Bureau to ensure that they are suitable to work with children.

The permanent staff establishment (in September 2011) consists of the Fostering Manager, (a CQSW qualified social worker with significant experience in child care and fostering fields, NVQ Level 4 in Management, BSc (Hon) MA) and registered provider/director .One qualified, experienced manager and a social worker are employed, there is also one administrative worker and a finance adminstrator.. Projected (agency) growth is likely to entail an increase in the numbers of professional staff used by the agency by summer 2012.

Both professional and administrative staff receive regular, formal supervision from their line manager, and their professional/work competence will be appraised annually. Training and staff development profiles are to be used to ensure that training and staff development are identified, encouraged and facilitated for all members of staff.

IAFB Foster Careers

The number of foster careers approved by the agency can change according to the success of recruitment and the approval of those applicants, as well as retirement and/or resignation (for a number of reasons), but in October 2011 Independent Asian Foster Bureau has 5 foster careers with placements, 6 awaiting placements and 4 others currently in the training and assessment process.

Numbers of Children Placed with the Agency

The number of children placed with IAFB independent fostering agency from 1998 to October 2011 was 2009 was 71. Of these 32 were boys, and 39 were girls and 5 were mothers; 39 girls and 32 boys are under 18 years. Currently we have eleven children in placement.Children are placed with the Independent Asian Fostering Bureau foster careers living in Leicester, Norbury, Redbridge, Walthamstow, Walsall, and the children are placed by Greenwich, Redbridge, Birmingham,, Wolverhampton and Cambridge placing authorities.

Numbers of Complaints Received by the Agency/Outcomes

The number of complaints considered by the agency in 2011 was three. The agency has a formal complaints procedure available to all services user with informal and formal stages of resolution and outcome. Representations may also be made directly to the National Care Standards Commission by both children and adults, and the agency also has a whistle blowing policy for staff and foster careers.

Recruitment of Foster Careers

Independent Asian Foster Bureau foster careers are recruited mainly through advertising in Asian press and media, and, in some cases, through direct enquiry/recommendation from existing careers. A recent campaign was made through advertising in an Asian radio station. The agency’s policy in recruitment of foster careers targets a range of applicants, who can best meet the diverse needs of Asian children referred to the agency by local authorities. Analysis of referrals from contracting authorities and commissioners informs the agency’s priorities in recruitment direction and/or audience. However, recruitment and consideration of all applicants to foster for the agency is carried out in accordance with the agency’s equal opportunities/valuing diversity policy.

All applicants are assessed according to standard agency assessment procedures, using the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) form F as a basis for the collection, collation, analysis, and presentation of data, and the demonstration of competences required to foster. In order to be assessed foster care applicants have to demonstrate that they meet the fostering agency’s basic criteria. These are:

A cultural and religious background relevant to Asian children including those of dual heritage; be bilingual i.e. be able to converse in English and their mother tongue; have experience of caring for children; committed to providing a high standard of care; contract to attend training as required, take part in careers’ mutual support group network; participate in the reviewing and planning of each placement; provide a child centered home environment where children have their own room (approved by the health and safety officer).

Assessments of all applicants are made of the qualities, competences and aptitudes for fostering of applicants in relation to those qualities identified in the Minimum National Standards for Fostering Services The assessment process and timescales involved are based on a ‘contract’ or agreement drawn up between the assessing social worker and the applicant(s) at the outset of the assessment. Feedback about work quality is sought from applicants who have been assessed. The whole assessment process is monitored and overseen by the agency’s fostering manager and approval sought through the fostering panel (see below).

Approval of Foster Careers

A rigorous assessment process of applicants to foster is carried out by qualified social workers, who are experienced in child care and fostering. During the assessment references are taken up and referees are interviewed. Checks on applicants are carried out with the Criminal Records Bureau, the local authority of the area where the applicant lives, employers and other appropriate bodies and agencies. The applicant to foster for the agency undergoes a medical examination to ensure physical and mental fitness for the task, and the agency is advised by a qualified medical adviser.

At the completion of the assessment the social worker compiles a report using the BAAF form F model, and makes a clear recommendation with regard to the general suitability of an applicant to foster for the agency, and for example, the numbers of children and type of placement appropriate to the child care experience, skills and circumstances of the applicant. The report and other relevant documents are then considered by the agency’s fostering panel, which is described further below. Both social worker and the applicant(s) attend the panel when the application is being considered. Some applicants for a number of reasons may be ‘counselled out’ as unsuitable to foster before the assessment is considered by the agency fostering panel.

Following recent changes in legislation, the agency’s own panel, constituted and acting according to the legislative requirements for fostering panels, and duly registered, may itself approve applicants to foster without the need to have the child’s local authority fostering panel approve the foster careers, as formerly was the case.

The fostering panel is comprised of both agency representatives and other persons, having experience, knowledge and skills in child care and fostering, who are independent of the agency. The panel is chaired by an independent professional, and it acts according to the relevant regulations, and the agency’s panel protocol/confidentiality bond and panel operational procedures to ensure fairness, consistency, and rigour in its decision making. The agency seeks to ensure that membership of the panel also reflects the communities from which the children placed through the agency are drawn. After consideration, the panel itself recommends to the agency whether or not an applicant is suitable, and any conditions that should be attached to the approval if given.

Training of IAFB Foster Careers

All foster careers are expected to undertake ‘core skills’ training provided or arranged by the agency, such as Child Protection, Framework for Assessment of Children in Need & Their Families, the use of ‘Good Parenting/Good Outcomes’ materials. Appropriate preparation training for small groups of applicants is given during the assessment period by qualified trainers, using the Fostering Network ‘Choosing to Foster’ model and, following approval, each carer has a training profile drawn up; this profile is reviewed annually. The agency makes arrangements for foster careers to undergo training in the development of new skills and knowledge, and provides courses and seminars to update foster careers where important changes to legislation are introduced or where there are significant developments in the fostering field or role.

All agency training for foster careers fits within a framework of equal opportunities, and anti-discriminatory practice as required by NMSFS 23.3. The agency will provide practical and other assistance to facilitate attendance on training courses by careers, and seeks to organise the times, venues, etc. to maximise attendance by its careers.

Encouragement is given to those foster careers who wish to seek a formal qualification in the fostering field, for example, by pursuing NVQ level 3 courses, and consideration can be given to financial and other support to facilitate this development.

IAFB Support for Foster Careers

Following approval, each foster carer signs a formal agreement with the Bureau. This agreement outlines the expectations for each party, and the main features of the relationship. Careers are given written policies, procedures and advice relating to their role as an IAFB foster carer. The foster carer’s handbook via the website of IAFB gives detailed advice and direction on a number of important aspects of caring, such as payments and allowances, child care reviews, child protection procedures, restraint policy, missing children etc.

Each foster carer is also directly supported by a supervising professional from the agency. The social worker advises and offers supports to the foster carer and monitors the standards of care given to the child or young person. The social worker visits the careers at least 3 weekly) to offer support and monitor how a placement is progressing. The social worker reports any concerns or difficulties in the home or with the placement to the manager or liaises with the placing authority about any issues needing attention or discussion. Additionally, staff are in regular contact with foster careers by telephone to ascertain whether there are problems or a need for assistance of any kind.

In addition to the supervising social worker allocated to each carer, the agency offers 24 hours a day telephone contact, support, and assistance to careers with urgent need of advice and/or support. A formal support group of foster careers will be established when numbers make this appropriate and viable, and will be organised by a senior member of staff. At present there is a foster care support group held every quarter.

Foster careers offering placements to children with disabilities will be offered practical and specialist support, including appropriate equipment, etc., and access to expert advice and services as appropriate.

In recognition of the sometimes onerous nature of fostering particular children, foster careers are offered respite care for each child in placement per year. Foster careers are also enrolled as members of Fostering Network, a national voluntary organisation active in the field of fostering, which provides a range of services, advice and assistance to foster careers, who may feel that they need advice or other help from outside the IAFB itself.

Independent Asian Fostering Bureau Foster Carer Reviews

IAFB foster careers are reviewed annually. The review is carried out in a meeting with the foster carer, the supervising social worker and his/her line manager. A draft report is prepared for the meeting according to a standard agency format. The report covers, among other matters, a review of all placements made in the last year (informed wherever possible by written reports/feedback requested from the children placed and their local authority social workers and commissioners, etc), complaints and allegations made against the carer (if any), changes of circumstances and persons in the household, training received/offered and needed, the carer’s own views, and the views and recommendation of the social worker and manager, including review of approval and any conditions though necessary.
This first annual review and the final report are considered by the agency’s fostering panel, who may vary conditions/approval as required. Careers may attend reviews at panel if they wish.

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A CRISIS OF CARE
Asian Kids Foster Risk
by Sofia Mitra -Thankur

MORE and more Asian kids need foster care but the lack of Asian parents willing to look after them could soon develop into a crisis. The warning comes as one agency this week expands its operations from London to the Midlands in a bid to secure more Asian foster parents…

♥  Emergency
♥  Short term
♥  Longer term
♥  Respite
♥  Siblings
♥  Parent and Child

♥  Emergency

This takes place when children need a place to stay for overnight or a few days, however there are times when these placements may be extended – while the local authority makes future plans.

♥  Short term

Many children enter the care system on a short term basis. This can be up to eighteen months, depending on various issues.

The foster carers will care for a children while plans are being explored for the childs future.

♥  Longer term

These placements are for children who permanenty live away from home and their birth parents. Often all avenues have been explored including adoption – so they will remain in long term care until they are eighteen.

♥  Respite

Carers may provide respite to a parent or another carer child depending on the given situation. This is normally planned and could be for a week-end or longer break.

♥  Siblings

We are aware that children often come into care with their siblings it is our policy not to separate them where possible. We therefore look for carers who can provide care for more than one child.

♥  Parent and Child

We cater for Parent and Child placements. These placements are usually time limited as often an assessment is carried out via the Local Authority. Parents often need support in caring for their child and the guidance and support of a foster carer can be vital in helping them move on.

IAFB has been fostering children since 2003. We recruit and train Asian carers from Asian backgrounds. Currently we have a number of carers in the Midlands and London area.

Please do not hesitate to contact our office and speak to one of our experienced social workers.