|
For anyone thinking about fostering or for newly approved foster carers, the thought of attending meetings can sometimes be met with some trepidation. In this email, we look at one of the review meetings which foster carers are asked to attend - called a Looked after Review or LAC review.
To find out more about fostering with Nottinghamshire County Council, visit our website to watch videos, read about who can foster, and learn more about the whole fostering assessment and approval process.
Every child who is taken into care has a Looked After Review and their first one will be 20 working days from when they come into care.
A second review meeting should take place within three months, then going forward, reviews are held every six months. If the child’s placement changes between these periods, a further Looked After Review will be held.
This meeting is chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer, known as the IRO, who looks at the child’s care plan, which will have been written before the child came in to care and is based on an assessment of their needs. The review monitors the progress of the care plan and the IRO can make recommendations to amend this plan should circumstances change. It is the IRO’s responsibility to make sure that decisions taken are in the best interest of the child, follow their care plan and respect their rights.
The child will attend the meeting if this is thought to be appropriate. The IRO will always speak to the child before the meeting to obtain their views and the child will be encouraged to fill in their 'Listen To Me' booklet which will feed into the review and form part of the child’s life history while they are in care. The child’s social worker, education, health and parents also attend and contribute to the review.
As a foster carer you are supported at this meeting by your supervising social worker who helps to prepare you with what to expect and which paperwork you are required to take. Foster carers play a key role in every review because of their knowledge of the child and the progress and development they have made since they were first placed with them (or since the previous review). Foster carers are invited to share their experiences of caring for the child.
After the meeting, a report will be produced and any actions that the IRO wishes to implement will be clearly outlined.
|
Drop-in sessions
No need to book, just come along to one of our drop-in events to meet a member of our team and find out more about fostering.
Our Fostering in Notts Facebook page is regularly updated with our upcoming events, news and real stories from our foster carers. Like our page to stay up to date!
|
If you would like to discover how you could foster in Nottinghamshire, please fill in our online form to request an info pack or a call back from the fostering team.
There is no commitment from submitting a form, you can decide when you feel ready to take the next step towards fostering.
|
|
