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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Definitions
3. Procedures
4. Outcomes
5. Support

1. Introduction

Local Authorities must thoroughly investigate any concern regarding a child in order to ensure the child is safe and protected from harm.  One of the key areas of stress for many foster carers is managing an allegation or complaint and the investigation that follows.  Carers often report feeling unsupported through the period of investigation.  This being the case it is imperative that all allegations, complaints and concerns regarding Looked After Children are managed and investigated in a way that both safeguards children and is fair to foster carers and their families. 

A study by the Fostering Network (2006) showed over a third of foster carers experience at least one allegation during their fostering career.  In 33% of cases children were removed from their household.  61% of foster carers say they were not offered any independent support by their fostering service.

This procedural guidance is set out to detail local arrangements in relation to allegations, serious concerns and complaints to ensure that investigations are managed well. 

This should be read in conjunction with the following procedures:

• RBKC Complaints Procedure and RBKC Foster Carers Complaints Procedure November 2005;
• London Child Protection Procedures: Section 15: Allegations Against Staff;
• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010;
• Procedures for Investigating Allegations against all Carers approved under Fostering Services National Minimum Standards, Fostering Services Regulations 2011.

In addition, in relation to the Fostering Service, it is an expectation of the Fostering National Minimum Standards 2011 that:

• A senior manager within the Fostering Service is identified to be the Designated Person who liaises with the LADO in all cases to which this procedure applies and manages the allegations process;
• All staff within the Fostering Service are aware of the requirements of this procedure, including the role of the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

2. Definitions

Allegations, serious concerns and complaints can be raised or made by anyone, for example an education or health professional, a member of the public, a child, or another member of the family. 

Allegations

Under the London Child Protection Procedures any allegations made about a foster carer comes under Section: 15 Allegations against staff.  Foster carers are defined in staff in the procedure; staff refers to both employment or voluntary activity working with children. 

The procedures are applied to any allegation or concern where any person who works with children:

• Behave in a way that has harmed a child or may have harmed a child;
• Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;
• Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they are unsuitable to work with children. 

Complaints

These do not trigger the London Child Protection Procedures but will need to be investigated under the Care Standards regulations.  Examples of complaints might include:

• Inappropriate verbal chastisement;
• A child being restrained or inappropriately handled, resulting in no injury or a very minor injury;
• Incidents indicating inadequate supervision such as inadvertently allowing a child access to alcohol, prescribed medication, or unsuitable viewing of "adult" sexual material; 
• Incidents indicating a lack of due care such as inadvertently wrongly administering prescribed medication;
• Foster carers not working to agreed LAC plans e.g. contact arrangements;
• Non-compliance with special diet restrictions put onto the carer not of a medical nature;
• A view about a carer's approach to the care of a fostered child or the way in which they respond to a child's needs or behaviour, for example a parent complains that a child's cultural identity is being ignored; 
• A single incident where a carer has not supported statutory requirements or fostering standards, such as forgetting to take a child to a LAC medical.

Children, young people their parents or others with Parental Responsibility or with a legitimate interest in the child may raise a complaint.  This may be directly with a social worker or other professional involved or through the Customer Care and Complaints Team.  

3. Procedures

If an allegation or complaint is made or serious concerns emerge against a foster carer the supervising social worker and locality social worker need to agree with their first-line managers whether the allegation, complaint or serious concern is one that warrants use of the London Child Protection Procedures. In deciding which procedure the allegations falls within it is recommended that the child's social worker consult with their Family Support and Child Protection Adviser (FSCPA). 

Allegations warranting child protection procedures

If an allegation triggers child protection procedures then the children's social worker must take immediate action.   Both the social work team and the fostering service need to inform their respective team and service managers of the allegation.  

Any allegation or concern about a foster carer needs to be reported immediately to the local authority designated officer (LADO).  Within RBKC the child protection advisor will usually inform the LADO within the first working day of an allegation being made.  The LADO will advise the child protection advisors and social worker if the parents of the children involved will be informed of the allegation, about how much information should be disclosed to the accused person, and oversee that the allegation is dealt with in a fair and timely manner.  The LADO is also responsible for monitoring and recording the progress of each case and record any reasons why timescales haven't been met. If a foster carer or investigating officer feels that a reported allegation or concern is not being dealt with appropriately they should report the matter to the LADO. 

If the carer lives in another local authority then a referral must be made to that authority and dealt with under its local child protection procedures and they will investigate the allegation.

Once the appropriate team has received the referral they should refer on to the police within 24 hours.  When the police receive the referral they will undertake initial police checks on the family.  The social worker team and the police will have a strategy discussion to agree the next steps.  If it seems possible that a crime has been committed the police will be involved and take the lead in the investigation.  The police may agree to attend the Strategy Meeting. The police may also decide if the allegation of harm doesn't meet their threshold and decide that the social work team should continue the investigation themselves in a single agency investigation. 

Where there is thought to be a risk to the life of a child or likelihood of serious immediate harm an agency will act quickly to secure the safety of the child, this could be immediate removal of a child from a carers' home.   

From the date of referral (the date the social worker receives the allegation of abuse) they have a maximum of 2 working days to convene a strategy meeting.  Someone without direct line management responsibility should chair the strategy meeting (usually a FSCPA).  If there are any delays this must be clearly recorded in the minutes of the meeting. 

Foster carers (as applies to all who have allegations made against them) are not invited to the strategy meeting and they should not be informed of the allegation until the strategy meeting agrees the best process and timescales for investigation. 

The child's social worker is responsible for organising the strategy meeting and considering who else should be invited.  Consideration should be given to whether it is appropriate to involve the local authority solicitor and other professionals involved with the child/ren that may be able to contribute to the discussion; this could be a teacher, school nurse or health professional or other persons with professional knowledge of the child/ren. 

The fostering team manager should notify Ofsted and the locality social worker should invite them to any strategy discussion/meetings.  The strategy meeting chair should ensure that discussions, decisions and agreed actions are fully recorded.  If possible a dedicated minute taker should be available. 

The strategy meeting must consider:

• Decide whether there should be a Section s47 Enquiry and /or police investigation;
• The significance of any previous allegations made against the carers or their family;
• The close inter-relationship between foster carers and SSD and the need to ensure the investigating social worker's independence;
• Whether the child/ren remain in placement (removal of child/ren should not be an automatic course of action - the decision making should be in the context of the best interests of the child) and what information is to be given;
• Other children currently living in the carer's household, and those previously placed with the carers (including the need for strategy discussions/meetings with regard to any of these children) and what information to be given;
• The status of the carers, as co-workers and individuals who have a right to be heard;
• Who will inform the carers of the allegations and when;
• Who will inform parent/s of the enquiry and when;
• The support to be provided to the child/ren in the placement, including the carer's children;
• The support to be provided for the carers from the supervising social worker;
• Account being taken of the racial, cultural, religious and linguistic needs of the child;
• The need for any paediatric or specialist assessment;
• Any disability needs or assistance with speech and language needs or need for an interpreter;
• Medical consents;
• Interviewing of the children and video evidence; 
• Agree future dates for strategy meetings/discussions.

Foster carers personal lives

Allegations against foster carers should also consider whether the concern justifies approaching the foster carers employer for further information and whether the employer should be invited to the strategy meeting.  The strategy meeting will also consider other members of the household. 

Complaints

Complaints in the first instance should try and be resolved with the foster carer and the person raising the problem (Informal stage).  If for example a child's social worker raises a complaint that the foster carer is not feeding the child enough healthy food then it would be the responsibility of that worker to try and address the issue with the carer. 

If the complainant is not satisfied with the response and he/she wishes to take the matter further then the complaint would escalate to Stage 1 where the next line manager looks into the matter and drafts a further response to the complainant.  A reply should be made within 15 working days.

If the complainant is still dissatisfied with the response, the Head of the Section should investigate and respond within 15 working days, this is Stage 2. 

Where the complaint is complex or no resolution is being found the Council may decide to ask someone independent of the Council to investigate.  In these circumstances the investigating officer will write a report of their findings to present to the Director. 

Stage 3 The Director or Executive Director would review and respond to dissatisfaction with the response at Stage 2 within 15 working days. 

Responses made under Stage 3 should advise the complainant that if they still wish to take the matter further they could take up their complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman by writing to:

The Local Government Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

The Ombudsman will usually only investigate cases involving mal administration. 

If it is a child who is making the complaint extra care and support should be given to the child by the social worker or an advocate.  The worker should ensure that appropriate help is given so the child can articulate the complaint and the process is fair. 

Communication

A clear and comprehensive summary of the case records should be kept on the foster carer file in the confidential area.  The records should include details any decisions and action that was taken and how the allegations was followed up and resolved.  The foster carer should also have a copy of these records. 

Any investigation should be conducted in a thorough and meticulous way.      The method of information gathering should always be discussed with the foster carer, and where possible agreed upon with the carer in question.  Every effort should be made to gather all the available evidence in order to arrive at a balanced judgment.

Throughout an investigation clear communication should be maintained with the foster carer.  This may be achieved through regular meetings, or by telephone and written contact.  The purpose of this regular contact is to detail specifics of the concern, share any new information and update all parties on key developments in the investigation.  The strategy meeting should agree who will maintain this contact with the foster carer. 

4. Outcomes

Allegations, complaints and serious concerns can result in four different outcomes:

1. Unfounded/ Not upheld - During the process of investigation the evidence or facts do not support the allegation, serious concerns or complaint and are therefore considered unfounded or not upheld. 
   
   If the allegation is demonstrably false it is likely no further action maybe taken but there maybe additional work needed to be done with the person making the allegation to why they made it.  The police may take action if the allegation was deliberately invented and was a waste of services time;
2. Not proven/unsubstantiated - The evidence of the allegation or concern/complaint may not be proven or supported by actual physical evidence but it can also not be disproved.  An example of this may be that a child has said something happened and the foster carer said it didn't but the investigators are not able to accurately support either view so they need to take a view that they are unable to prove or substantiate the allegation, serious concern or complaint. 
   
   It maybe that no further action is required or there maybe a need for further investigation.  It is also possible that there is a need for more support from a supervising social worker or other professional partner;
3. Founded/substantiated - There is evidence to demonstrate that the allegation, serious concern or complaint is founded.  This evidence could be from medical records or witness statements.  If an allegation against a carer is proven it will not necessarily mean that the children will be removed or the carer will be deregistered from fostering, it will depend on the seriousness of the incident. 
   
   If the allegation is substantiated the foster carer maybe deregistered through the Fostering Panel route.
   
   If the allegation is substantiated and the foster carer is deregistered or the foster carer resigns, the local authority should discuss with the LADO if a referral should be made to the Independent Safeguarding Authority and Vetting and Barring Scheme.  Consideration will then be given as to whether the individual should be barred from working with children; 
4. Criminal prosecution - The police will be involved in a child protection investigation where a criminal offence may have been committed.  The police will investigate and build up evidence which the Crown Prosecution Service will use to decide whether there are grounds to prosecute.  If the criminal prosecution finds that the carer is not guilty this does not mean that the allegation will be dismissed.  The balance of evidence or proof is different. The threshold for a criminal conviction is  beyond reasonable doubt but the local authority will still need to be able to re-assure itself that that there is not sufficient cause for concern about a foster carer's practice for instance for them to remain registered.  

Further consideration of outcomes

Regardless of the outcome it will still be necessary for the Department to consider if any further action needs to be taken and whether the foster carer should remain registered.  If a carer remains registered, training or additional coaching and advice may be offered to assist in developing good practice and preventing future issues arising. At a more extreme level even if the outcome for a particular allegation, serious concern or complaint is unfounded or not upheld, if there is sufficient concern regarding past allegations, serious concerns or complaints then consideration needs to be given to the continuing approval of the foster carer.  Ultimately this will be resolved through an Annual Review presented to the Fostering Panel and the Director who acts as Decision Maker on fostering approvals.  

It is also possible that if there are series of allegations, serious concerns or complaints that then a different outcome could be reached for each.  The details of any allegation should be recorded and made clear on both the child's file and the foster carer's file. 

The fostering service and locality social work team must consider whether any additional support should be offered to the carer and her/his family at the end of an investigation.  The supervising social worker should offer the carers the opportunity to discuss the process, including the impact it has had on the family and any future implications it may have. 

A review of the foster carer should be held as soon as possible following the child protection or serious concerns investigation and some complaints.  This should include the usual Annual Review Formats and contributions from relevant parties.  The Annual Review Report should be written by the supervising social worker with any necessary references to the investigation being made.  A recommendation for the review meeting should be formulated by the supervising social worker.

The review will be held to consider the foster carer's previous fostering history since approval including that since the previous review.  The reviewing officer will then write a summary report with a conclusion and recommendation for the Fostering Panel to consider.

Any serious concerns or allegation should be considered by the Fostering Panel at the earliest opportunity. The Foster Care Review process guaranteeing a measure of independence in decision making.

A separate record of allegations, serious concerns and complaints is maintained on foster carer's files and their Chronology updated with relevant entries and references by the supervising social worker, a copy of which should be given to the carer.

Ofsted are notified of allegations and the most concerning serious concerns and complaints and their outcomes.  A log of allegations, serious concerns and complaints including those made against the local authority is maintained by the Fostering Team manager and inspected by Ofsted on at least an annual basis.  Foster carers will be told as soon as possible as part of the verbal and written correspondence with them when Ofsted have been notified.  

In very serious cases foster carers may be referred to the  Independent Safeguarding Authority's Children's Barred List. This is used to register people unsuitable to work with children and which is consulted as part of the Criminal Records Bureau check required of all foster carers.

5. Support

Given the Fostering Service's responsibilities in any investigation of allegations, serious concerns and complaints the availability of additional support and advice for foster carers is essential.  The following services may be of use,

1. Fosterline.  This service run by Fostering Network provides confidential information and advice for foster carers available by phone, email or post. Fosterline workers are qualified to answer questions about all aspects of allegations of abuse against carers as well as many other subjects, it is funded by the government. 
   
   Telephone: 08000407675
   
   e-mail: fosterline@fostering.net;
   
   Foster carers can also access stress counselling and a medical advice line through Fosterline as part of their membership of Fostering Network;
2. Supervising social worker. Supervising social workers may continue in their role if an allegation is made but can be part of the investigating team.  Their role also includes keeping the carer updated about the progress of the investigation and informed about procedures.  They are not able to take on an advocacy role for the foster carer but need to share their views and opinions in a non-judgemental and professional way. Sometimes there will be restrictions on what and when they can tell the foster carer information.  If the current supervising social worker is not able to continue their role with the carer due to the investigation, the fostering team will allocate another supervising social worker to fulfil this role. They must inform foster carers on how they will be supported and paid whilst they are under investigation;
3. Independent support workers.  Due to the fact that the support role of the supervising social worker may feel or become more circumscribed during investigations an independent support worker will also be offered to foster carers through the investigation process.  These may be from an independent pool of social workers contracted by Kensington and Chelsea or from another source e.g. persons recommended by Fostering Network.  The independent support worker will be knowledgeable about the law and regulations and child protection procedures.
   
   The independent workers' role is to provide the carer with emotional support, help explain the process of investigation, to help them claim benefits if the child is removed and they lose income, and to help the carer take on any recommendations the investigation may find.  They may advise the carer and accompany them to meetings.  They may also help carers respond to reports and letters to make sure they are treated fairly.  A carer can vent frustrations and anxieties to the support worker and it will remain separate from the investigation and the fostering service.  Things said to the support worker are confidential unless the carer reports that anyone or anything has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed or there are implications for the continuing approval of the foster carer.
   
   The support worker will be available to meet with the foster carer at times that they agree together, e.g. this may be after six o'clock if the foster carer works and this is the most convenient time.  The number of hours the support worker may be funded for will need to be negotiated in individual cases;
4. Carer's own support network.  Family, friends, religious and/or other community groups can be helpful to talk to about the stresses and rewards of fostering. Community groups may also offer information about good counseling services or financial matters;
5. Other foster carers. It maybe helpful for a carer to talk to another foster carer who has had an allegation made against them; to learn from them what helped during the process;
6. Legal Advice - Foster carers may wish to seek legal advice during an allegation, serious concern or complaint.  Individual membership of Fostering Network enables foster carers to access Fostering Network's legal protection insurance scheme.  All Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea foster carers have their membership to Fostering Network paid for by the Royal Borough and so you can access legal advice through their services free of charge. This includes legal representation when a criminal investigation begins or if a foster carer wishes to appeal against a referral to the  Independent Safeguarding Authority's Barred List.  Legal advice on all fostering matters can be obtained through Fosterline.
   
   Fostering Network recommend that foster carers do not allow themselves to be interviewed by the police during an allegations investigation unless they are accompanied by a legal adviser regardless of whether they are under caution or not. 
   
   Legal advice can also be obtained from the CAB or independent solicitors or law firms.  However the fostering service is unable to provide assistance with legal advice, recommending particular individuals or firms or in financing legal costs.

End