What Paperwork Will I Need to Do as a Foster Carer?
Wondering about the paperwork involved in fostering? Discover what forms and records you'll need to complete—and how Fosterplus supports you every step of the way.
When you become a foster parent, there is some paperwork involved. Although this may sound daunting at first, every piece of paperwork you complete and record you keep on your fostering journey has a clear purpose.
Whether completing forms during your assessment or updating daily logs when a child is living with you, this paperwork ensures every child lives in a safe and stable home that meets their individual needs. And at Fosterplus, we're here to guide and support you every step of the way.
Why foster parent paperwork is important
When you join Fosterplus, you don't foster alone – you become a valued member of our professional team, working together to help children make sense of their experiences and build brighter futures.
Every member of our team, including foster parents, keeps records and completes paperwork. However, this is just a small part of what we do to make a difference in the lives of children and young people who've had a difficult start to life.
But why is paperwork and record-keeping so important? Here are just some of the reasons why:
- They streamline the matching process: During your assessment, the forms you complete help us get to know you. This means that when a child is referred to us, we can quickly determine whether you and your family would be the right fit for that child.
- They help us meet each child's needs: Accurate records build a clearer picture of a child's background and experiences, which enables us to create a care plan tailored to their needs.
- They boost your professional growth: Your training records help us understand what training you've completed, and whether you'd benefit from additional training in particular areas to improve your confidence, knowledge, and skills.
- They support your well-being: Paperwork helps us understand how you're doing, so we can take steps to support your physical, emotional, and mental health.
- They provide clarity during allegations: If a child makes an allegation, your records can help us investigate, providing context about what happened so we can support everyone involved.
- They tell a child's story: One day, a child may want to look back at this chapter in their lives, and your records will help them understand their story.
Types of foster parent paperwork
You’ll encounter paperwork at every stage of your fostering journey. But don't worry, when you foster with us, we'll be by your side, offering our support and guidance. You'll also receive training on how to keep accurate records, and if needed, we can provide paperwork in different formats, making it accessible to all.
Let's take a closer look at some of the paperwork you'll complete before and after you become an approved foster parent.
Application form
After enquiring about fostering and having a home visit, if you want to take the next steps, the first paperwork you'll complete is our application form. You can submit this online, or alternatively, we can send you a printed copy via post.
This is a quick and simple form where you'll include things like your personal details, household information, and work history. If you need any help completing your application form, our fostering advisors are just a call away.
Form F Assessment
Once we've accepted your application, we’ll assign an assessing social worker to complete your Form F assessment. They’ll visit you on a few occasions and ask you to fill in paperwork to help them build a report that they'll later present to the fostering panel.
The Form F assessment is all about getting to know you better, and will cover all areas of your life, including:
- Your childhood experiences
- Any significant past and present relationships
- Your employment history and work experience
- Your physical and mental well-being
- Your financial situation
- Your support network
- Your reasons for wanting to foster
- Your fostering preferences, such as the type of fostering you want to provide and the age of children you foster.
Your assessing social worker will support you throughout your Form F assessment, providing their advice and guidance on completing paperwork and preparing you for your fostering panel meeting.
Welcome book
As part of your Form F assessment, your assessing social worker will help you create a child-friendly welcome book that we'll give to children who will be moving into your home.
When children move into a new foster home, it can be a very frightening and unsettling time for them. Welcome books can help put them at ease because they'll have some idea of what to expect.
They usually include photos and a little introduction to each family member (including any furry friends) as well as details about where you live, what their bedroom will be like and any other information that will support the transition into their new home.
Background checks
As part of your fostering assessment, we'll run a few background checks, some of which will be repeated over time. They all involve a bit of paperwork, but your assessing social worker will be by your side to help you. Here are some examples so you know what to expect:
- Local Authority checks: We’ll contact local authorities in the areas you’ve lived in over the past 10 years to see whether you’ve had any involvement with social services. We repeat these checks every three years. You'll fill in a consent form and provide some basic details.
- Medical assessments: Before you become a foster parent, your GP will evaluate your physical and mental health to ensure you're fit to foster. As part of this, you'll complete some forms about your health and lifestyle.
- Home safety checks: We'll visit your home during your assessment and then every 18 months once approved, to check it's safe for children. As part of these checks, we'll ask you to share your home and car insurance documents.
- DBS/PVG checks: If you live in England, everyone in your household aged 18 and over will need a DBS check. If you live in Scotland, everyone in your household aged 16 and over will have a PVG check. We'll help you fill in the forms and will repeat these checks every three years.
- Pet assessment: We'll ask you a few questions, and you'll fill in some forms about your pets to make sure they're safe to be around children.
- References: We’ll ask you to share the contact details of a few people in your life who know you well. These references help us gain a balanced view of who you are.
- Financial assessment: You'll need to share some basic financial information, such as your income, outgoings and recent bank statements. These will help us understand how you'll manage financially if there's a gap between children living in your care.
Family safer caring plan
During your assessment, your social worker will help you create a safer caring plan. This plan aims to understand the values and boundaries within your home, covering details like screen time, daily routines and school transport. It will also include safety measures, such as your fire escape plan. We'll review and update this every time a child moves into your care.
Support network checks
If anyone in your support network will be spending unsupervised time with children in your care, we'll complete a DBS (PVG in Scotland) and LA checks for them. You'll also complete a document with your social worker if they will be caring for children overnight.
Post-approval paperwork
Foster care agreement
Once you’ve had your fostering panel meeting and been approved by the Agency Decision Maker, you’ll sign a foster care agreement, which covers the terms and conditions of your approval, your responsibilities, policies, training, and more. You’ll also sign a few other bits of paperwork before you welcome your first child.
Placement planning
When you’re matched with a child, you’ll have a placement planning meeting within 72 hours of them moving into your home.
Everyone involved in the child’s care will attend this meeting to discuss and create the child’s placement plan. The meeting will cover things like why the child is in care, who has delegated authority over decisions, and how we can best support you in meeting their needs. There will be some paperwork involved, but we'll guide you through it all.
Daily logs
Once you welcome a child into your home, you’ll start recording daily logs on the CHARMS database.
These logs help everyone involved in the child’s care understand how they’re doing and whether you or they might need any extra support.
Your supervising social worker will also refer to them during supervision, offering their advice and guidance to help you with any problems you’ve faced.
Daily logs usually include notes on the child’s:
- Mood and behaviour: How were they today? Did you notice any triggers? Has their mood or behaviour recently changed?
- Achievements: Did they do something you or they were proud of?
- Education: Did the child go to school? How did it go? Did the staff raise any concerns?
- Eating habits: What was their appetite like today? What did they eat? Did they refuse food?
- Sleep routine: How did they sleep? Did they have any nightmares? Were they settled or unsettled?
- Health: Were they unwell? Did they take medication? Did they have any accidents?
- Conversations: Did they disclose anything to you?
- Family time: How did family time go? How were they before and after? Have you got any concerns?
You can also use your daily logs to request support and reflect on how you’ve managed different situations. They are a great way to stay connected and to make sure everyone knows how you, your family, and the child in your care are getting on.
Monthly progress report
Every month, you'll create a progress report, summarising the details you shared in your daily logs for the month. In your monthly update, you may include events that took place, health appointments attended, school updates and family time.
Training records
At Fosterplus, your training records are usually updated by the person leading each course. However, you'll need to check your training record regularly to make sure details are accurate, up to date, and include the name of the training course, the date you attended, and where the training took place.
During the training, you'll take notes, but it's also worthwhile to write a reflection about what you learned so you can refer back to it later and inform your social worker during supervision meetings.
Annual reviews
Each year, you’ll have a foster carer review. Your supervising social worker will prepare a foster care report that will go into detail about your progress as a foster parent.
As part of this review, you’ll fill out a carer comments form, which will ask you to reflect on your fostering journey since your last review. You'll write notes on the support and training you’ve received from Fosterplus, as well as commenting on how you feel fostering is impacting you, your family, and the children you care for. Children in your care will also complete their own version of this form to help us see things from their perspective.
Alongside your carer comments form, you'll complete a health questionnaire, which will ask you to provide updates on your health and well-being.
Your annual review helps us understand how everyone is doing in the foster home, as well as ensuring that the children you care for feel safe, stable and loved.
Ad hoc paperwork
You'll complete some paperwork on an as-and-when basis. For example, we might ask for feedback on a child's care plan or request information about their health or education. Sometimes, you may also need to provide paperwork for court proceedings.
Don't worry – we won't expect you to fill in this paperwork alone; we'll explain everything to you in detail, offering our guidance throughout.
We’re here to support you
We hope you’ve found this guide useful and that it has helped ease any concerns you may have had about foster parent admin.
Remember – paperwork is just a small part of your role as a foster parent, and you'll never have to tackle it alone. We’ll be by your side throughout your fostering journey, ready to answer your questions and provide the guidance you need.
Want to learn more about fostering? Call us on 0800 369 8512, submit an online enquiry form or grab a cuppa and join us at one of our virtual fostering information events.
