Your own support with Child Care, using babysitters and Child Care

When using baby-sitters, you should use the same person/people, either a relative, close friend or another Foster Carer who have been DBS checked, so that the children know who is going to be looking after them. Baby-sitters need to be responsible adults over the age of 18 years.

Where day care is needed, it is best for children if they receive it informally from people who have a relationship with them and who have an understanding of the fostering task. This will usually be a member of the Foster Carer’s own network.

Ofsted has informed agencies that for day care arrangements for children 0-8 payment can only be made with registered childcare providers, which does not include approved Foster Carers. However, carers are able to make reciprocal arrangements with other Foster Carers or use other members of their own networks, as long as no payment is made.

In some situations, some fostered children will access paid childcare for example through a child minder or day nursery. This must be part of the plan for the child and set out in the Childs Placement Plan. These arrangements are agreed by the children’s team only and are made to support the outcomes of the Childs Care Plan.

In addition to this, there are other circumstances where Day Care is appropriately sought such as:

• Attendance at meetings; e.g. court, planning meetings, training events
• Support to the placement if a child is out of school or there are additional pressures due to behaviour or health

All Foster Carers should

• Work with their Fostering Social Worker to help them to identify the Day Care supports within their own local network
• Foster Carers will be encouraged to form local networks with other foster carers to build reciprocal support networks

In circumstances where a Foster Carer has been unable to identify anyone from their own network and may need to access a registered childcare provider, this must be discussed with their fostering social worker ahead of time who will try to assist in finding a solution.

Any funding would need to be agreed by the relevant fostering team manager prior to the arrangement taking place.