The Department for Children, Schools and Families has launched new guidelines to help protect vulnerable children in foster care. The guidelines have been produced after close consultation with two leading children’s charities, the Fostering Network and the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).
While all prospective foster carers in England and Wales are CRB checked, there has been confusion among foster carers and providers around the circumstances when a CRB check can or should be carried out. Uncertainty has arisen in relation to others involved in the care of children, particularly when the individual concerned is not a member of the immediate fostering household for example a babysitter, tutor or an extended family member.
We are all anxious to ensure that children in foster care are as safe as possible and, following close government consultation with the Fostering Network, BAAF and the CRB, the position is changing. New regulations will now make it possible for fostering services to request CRB checks on all regular visitors who may have unsupervised access to a child in foster care.
Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, said: “We believe that fostered children should lead a ‘normal’ life where possible and we should limit unnecessary intrusions, however children in care are often more at risk of abuse because of their high level of vulnerability. These new government guidelines will help to protect looked-after children by providing local authorities and independent providers with clarification on eligibility for disclosure checks and clearly outline the government's expectation of when these checks should be requested.”
David Holmes, chief executive of BAAF, said: “Everyone involved in this work was keen to make sure children in foster care are protected, without being treated very differently to other children. This was a great piece of practical, partnership work to address an identified problem. These guidelines provide clarity on when CRB checks should be carried out and this has got to be the best interests of everyone concerned.”
BAAF has been supporting, advising and campaigning to improve the lives of children in care since 1980.
The Fostering Network is the UK’s leading charity for all those involved in fostering, and exists to ensure that fostered children receive the highest standards of care.