Safer Caring

The short answer to your question is yes, you are allowed to ask your fostering service to move the child immediately. A foster carer cannot be forced to have a child in placement, in their own home, for any longer than they wish. However as you know, placement stability is incredibly important for children and young people, and affects their relationships and sense of security.

The Fostering Network published Safer Caring: A New Approach to challenge the ‘risk averse’ culture that had developed within children’s social care across the UK. This groundbreaking book introduced a new way of thinking about principles for safeguarding children and young people in foster care at the same time as offering guidance to protect foster carers and their families from complaints and allegations. Safer Caring: A New Approach is a vital resource for everyone involved in the care of fostered children and young people.

About criminal record checks

• Disclosure Barring Service for DBS checks (formerly known as CRB checks) in England and Wales.

UK governments are committed to making foster care a better experience for all children and young people. Their aim is to reduce bureaucracy and to normalise the experiences of fostered children and young people by enabling foster carers to make day-to-day decisions within a nurturing family environment..

Foster carers constantly have to balance risks in the everyday decisions they take for themselves, their own children and fostered children. The difference with a fostered child is that foster carers are caring for them on behalf of the state, and so are accountable for the day-to-day decisions they take. They will be asked by their fostering service to do some things differently than they might with their own children, to keep everyone safe.