3.4.11 Family Finding (Long Term Foster Care) |
Procedure for Family Finding
The term 'long term fostering' will be used in relation to care planning for permanence.
It is intended that a long term fostering placement will last throughout childhood and into adulthood.
The recommendation for long term fostering will be made at a Permanence Planning Meeting, (PPM) and must be confirmed at the child's statutory review.
Following PPM a Referral should be made to the Placements and Procurement Service, identifying the need for a long term fostering placement.
The Fostering Service has a dedicated senior social worker who will take the lead role of Family Finder for the child, working closely with the Placements and Procurements Officers (PPO’s) and child’s Social Worker. Once the referral has been received, the Family Finding Co-coordinator will begin to look for potential families, initially from within Lewisham’s in-house foster carers. If there are no suitable in-house carers a search will go out to independent fostering agencies as set out in the Placement and Procurement Process.
The Family Finding Co-coordinator will scrutinise any potential carer’s Form F, last Annual Review and any other related documentation and will contact the carers Supervising Social Worker to discuss any issues arising from this.
When a possible family is identified general information about the child will be provided to the carers Supervising Social Worker by the Family Finding Co-ordinator. The family finding co-coordinator and the child’s social worker will then arrange to meet any potential long term carers together, to answer any questions and to provide further information about the child's needs.
Should a decision be reached to proceed with the placement, the recommendation for a placement move will then need to be referred to the Care Planning Panel before introductions can be planned.
Once the child has been placed the Long-term Family Finding Co-coordinator will continue to monitor the placement to ensure that the child and the carers are formally matched at the Fostering Panel.
End