A Guide to Foster Care Supervision

• What is Foster Care supervision?
• Who is it for?
• What happens in supervision?
• Who should be there?
• Supervision and the Foster Care Review
• Supervision, Training and Development

What is Foster Care supervision?

Supervision for Tameside's Foster Carers is a formal arrangement for meetings between carers and their allocated Social Worker from the fostering service. It is part of our commitment to create a full and meaningful partnership between Foster Carers and the Department, and helping us to meet the Government National Standards in Foster Care.

Supervision should be seen as a supportive and two way process to:

• Help carers cope with the stresses their work may entail;
• Support carers and their families by providing advice and consultation from Supervisors and other specialist sources;
• Ensure carers understand how they contribute to Services for Children and Young People
• Give them appropriate monitoring and feedback on their work;
• Ensure carers have opportunities to develop through appropriate training;
• Monitor their work in line with Services for Children and Young People policies and procedures.

Who is it for?

Supervision meetings are for all Foster Carers approved and contracted by Tameside Services for Children and Young People.
 

What happens in supervision?

Supervision meetings are a formal part of your working relationship with your allocated Fostering Social Worker (supervisor). They should happen at least once every six weeks and may often be in your own home.
There should be an agenda for these meetings and there will be a written record of what was said and any agreed actions.

Your Fostering Social Worker will explain the arrangements and together you will draw up a supervision contract, which states:

• How often you meet
• How long the meetings will be held
• Where the meetings will be held
• The agenda for the meetings. This will include placement issues, training and developments, care standards and impact on your family.

Who should be there?

Where partners are jointly approved as Foster Carers, the meeting should include both partners wherever possible.

Regular contact should be made with Foster Carers' birth children, or anyone else resident in the household, and Foster Care supervision contracts should address their support needs and how frequently they will be seen.
 

Supervision and the Foster Care Review

The formal supervision meetings will be an important part of collating material for your annual review as a Foster Carer, we call this material Evidence of Competence.

Supervision will enable you to begin to evidence the work that you are involved in and illustrate the skills and tasks you have conveyed throughout the year.
 

Supervision, Training and Development

Supervision should create a safe space to enable Foster Carers to develop and enhance their skills and the work they do. Supervisors should assist in offering new ways of working, up to date material, videos, and techniques in working with a child or young person. They should also monitor Foster Carers' personal development and document further training needs by way of a training profile.

You should expect to receive high quality regular supervision from a Fostering Social Worker who is trained appropriately.

If you are not happy in any way with the arrangement or content of supervision, speak to your supervisor or a manager from the Fostering Service.