Many people, including foster carers, have video or audio surveillance at their home. It is often used to help protect properties from crime and to help people feel safer. It's important for anyone who has surveillance cameras and microphones at their home to use them in the right way and for the right reasons. This is especially important when there are children and young people living in the home.
CCTV, or other types of surveillance, is often used to help people feel safer. For example, many people have security cameras outside their homes to help protect their property from crime. Everyone who has this kind of security measure in place should be following basic guidance (for example, from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the UK Government) to make sure their cameras and microphones are used in the right way, to protect the privacy of others. For foster carers and fostering services, it’s also very important to think carefully about how any cameras and microphones at home could affect children and young people living there.
What is CCTV?
CCTV (which stands for ‘closed-circuit television’) is a term generally used to describe video surveillance. According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a ‘domestic’ (home-based) CCTV system includes any video surveillance equipment at the home - including doorbell cameras, ‘dashcams’ or pet cameras. It can also include any other equipment that is part of recording and storing video and/or audio (sound). This means that someone may have CCTV at their home, even if they don’t have a full surveillance system.
Using CCTV at a foster home
What is the guidance around using CCTV at a foster home?
There is currently no law, and nothing in the fostering regulations, guidance or national minimum standards that specifically refers to the use of CCTV at a foster carer’s home. Rather, foster carers and fostering services should follow the basic principles around using surveillance technology in the right way and consider the impact that cameras and microphones may have on everyone in the fostering household, including children and young people. Many fostering services will also want to develop their own policy about the use of CCTV at a foster home, to give foster carers more specific guidance about what is and is not appropriate.
Jump to: Developing a policy about the use of CCTV at a foster home (information for fostering services)
What are the basic principles around using CCTV at a foster home?
The guiding principle for the use of CCTV (and everything that the term covers, including video doorbells) is that it ‘is necessary and not disproportionate’. This means that:
a) anyone who uses CCTV must have a clear purpose for needing CCTV and
b) the use of cameras and/or microphones must be in proportion (balanced) with the situation.
So, it's important for foster carers to think carefully about whether cameras or microphones are necessary and proportionate in the foster home, and whether there could be any equally effective alternatives. (For example, would better lighting or an alarm system would be as effective as cameras and microphones to protect the house?)
In addition, foster carers should tell their fostering service if they have CCTV, or anything that could be thought of as CCTV, in their home, and if this is ever changed (for example, if cameras or microphones are added or removed). It is also very important for foster carers to read and follow their fostering service’s policy on CCTV (as well as the general guidance around using CCTV) if they have, or are thinking about installing, a surveillance system.
This means it is important for fostering services to have a policy around using CCTV in the foster home, to give guidance to foster carers about what is and is not appropriate. If a fostering service does not have a policy around CCTV, foster carers should ask for a written statement of their expectations.
Jump to: Developing a policy about the use of CCTV at a foster home (information for fostering services)
What else should foster carers consider?
Everyone living in the foster home, including children and young people, should know if cameras and microphones are in place, where they are, and the reasons why. It should also be clear who has responsibility for the equipment, and what happens to the video and/or audio that is recorded, including how long this footage will be kept for, where it is stored and who can access it. Remember, CCTV covers any equipment that can record video and/or sound, so things like Ring doorbells, Amazon Alexa and Echo Show are included.
If any cameras and microphones at the foster home are connected to the internet, or upload data to the Cloud or any other third-party site, it's also very important to make sure that they have robust security measures in place (for example, strong passwords and/or two-factor authentication) to prevent them from being hacked .
Foster carers should tell their fostering service if they are going to install, or change, a home-based CCTV system, so that their service is aware of the nature and purpose of any recordings, how long they will be kept for, and who is responsible for them. Foster carers should also expect fostering services to ask them about any cameras and microphones in the foster home at regular intervals.
In all cases, foster carers and their fostering service should have open and honest conversations about any cameras or microphones installed at the foster home, and the reasons for them, so that everyone can be kept safe.
Can CCTV be used to monitor children's behaviour?
Our advice to all foster carers and fostering services is that CCTV, or other forms of video or audio surveillance, is not necessary or appropriate for monitoring or managing children’s behaviour. This means that this type of technology is not suitable for use inside most foster homes. If a child or young person’s behaviour or welfare needs to be monitored by video surveillance, it might be worth considering whether their needs are best met by foster care.
The exception to this principle is the use of baby monitors, with or without cameras, when these are specifically used to help to keep a sleeping baby safe. There may also be circumstances where a baby monitor is used to look after an older child who may have difficulties with sleep or has a health condition that needs monitoring. In these cases, foster carers should seek consent from the child being monitored, if they are able to give it. In every case, foster carers should make sure that their fostering service knows about all cameras and microphones in their home, where they are and what they are used for, so that everyone can be kept safe.
If foster carers believe there are other exceptional circumstances that mean using CCTV is appropriate inside the foster home, it is vital that they speak to their fostering service about this before taking any action to install cameras or microphones. Foster carers in this situation should make a written request to their fostering service explaining the situation and the reasons for the request. Fostering services should discuss the request thoroughly with the foster carers, making sure to explore alternatives.
Developing a policy about the use of CCTV at a foster home
It’s important for fostering services to develop their own policies about the use of CCTV to give foster carers more specific guidance about what is and is not appropriate. This may include restrictions on where cameras and microphones can be installed, who can be filmed, what footage can be captured, and who has access to that footage. For example, most fostering services will state that CCTV cannot be used for any purpose other than protecting the property from crime, and that there can be no cameras or microphones in children’s bedrooms or in any bathrooms. This means that CCTV cannot be used for supervising and monitoring children who live in the foster home.
Alongside a robust and regularly reviewed policy, the existing or planned use of CCTV in a foster home should also form part of an ongoing discussion between fostering services and their carers, and should be discussed prior to a foster carer’s approval, and as part of a foster carer’s annual review.
Fostering service members of The Fostering Network in England can access support around best practice by contacting their local Practice Support Consultant.
What else should fostering services consider?
Fostering services should be aware that foster carers may have cameras and microphones at their home that are not part of a full surveillance system, so may not be thought of as CCTV (for example, video doorbells or motion-activated internal security cameras). It is therefore important for fostering services to be clear about what is meant by CCTV, and to take care to look for and ask about cameras and microphones that may be used for purposes other than home security (for example, Echo Show). It is also important for fostering services to confirm with foster carers that any devices that are connected to the internet, or transfer data to the Cloud or other third-party sites, have robust security measures in place to prevent them from being hacked.
It is also important for fostering services to keep in mind that the use of cameras and microphones is likely to become more common, and to keep up to date with the changes in technology that may affect the way that this equipment is used and presented in the home.
Published: September 2022
