Do you know why we have to have good record keeping?
Fostering any young person comes with lots of responsibilities. An important and expected part of the role is record keeping. There are many reasons for ensuring Foster Parents record events for the young person they are caring for.
National Minimum Standards. This is a framework that all Fostering organisations and Foster Carers should use to provide a high level of care and fulfill their role as foster Carer.
Standard 26.6:‘Information about the child is recorded clearly and in a way which will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future. Children are actively encouraged to read their files, other than necessarily confidential or third party information, and to correct errors and add personal statements.’
Standard 26.7: ‘The foster carer understands the important supporting role they play in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history. The child, subject to age and understanding, is encouraged to keep appropriate memorabilia (including photographs) of their time in the placement. The fostering service makes this role clear to their foster carers and ensures they can record, and help children make a record of (subject to age and understanding), significant life events.’
At Hope Fostering, we expect all Foster Parents to write their foster parent Logs to the child. It is important that young people can understand the information that is being written about them. Good practice could be to write the recordings alongside the young person (if age appropriate). These records could be the only memories a child/young person has of a certain period of time, therefore all information should be factual and not opinion based. Good reporting and recording makes for better understanding leading to accurate support.
Written by A.E – Current SSW at HFS.