One Minute Guide to Unannounced visit
The legal context
There is a requirement that the Fostering Service must undertake at least one unannounced visit to the foster home each year. This will be completed by your Supervising Social Worker, or another member of the Fostering Service.
The Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards 2011 (NMS) recommends an annual inspection of the foster home:
‘The foster home is inspected annually, without appointment, by the fostering service, to make sure that it continues to meet the needs of foster children’ NMS 10.5
‘Each approved foster carer is supervised by a named, appropriately qualified social worker who has meetings with the foster carer, including at least one unannounced visit a year’ NMS 21.8
The purpose of the unannounced visit is to see how the house and household is when a visit is not expected. This applies both to the physical environment and the household dynamics. Health and safety issues will be considered alongside what those at the home are doing. The visit will be formally recorded, and the outcome or any recommendations shared and discussed with you by the worker completing the visit.
If the children are not at home when an unannounced visit is completed, the visit will be repeated at another time.
What will we want to know or see
As part of the visit, we will want to know who is present in the home and if the foster carer is not present, who is looking after the child/children, making sure that these childcare arrangements are safe. If the foster carer is not present, the unannounced visit will not go ahead.
During an unannounced visit, you should expect that all relevant areas of the home will be observed, this includes the garden and the child (children’s bedrooms). This will be a general check of the condition of the room and will not usually include looking into cupboards, fridges or storage.
It is not expected that foster carer’s bedroom, the foster carer’s children’s bedrooms or those of other household members will be seen during the unannounced visit.
The visit will consider the general condition of the house including health and safety and cleanliness. Items like the availability of bedding, storage and toys for fostered children be considered.
Where fostered children are present the social worker will want to speak with them.
The unannounced visit will consider the dynamics in the household including what fostered children are doing and the interactions between them and the foster carers.
Any concerns that the social worker observes will be mentioned verbally to the foster carers during the visit. A form recording the unannounced visit will be completed at the time of the visit. A copy of this will be provided to the carer within 5 working days. Any disagreements regarding the contents of the form should be noted.
What if there are any concerns?
Should there be any concerns resulting from the unannounced visit, these should be raised with you during the visit or if this is not possible due to the presence of children as soon as possible after the visit by phone.
Recommendations will be discussed and recorded in order rectify and work through any concerns.
As mentioned above, it is recommended that there is at least one unannounced visit per year, if concerns have been raised about your practice as foster carers or about the home, you may find that a worker attends your home more regularly.
Furthermore, if there have been specific concerns raised it might be right for a worker to inspect specific things.
For instance, if there have been complaints about lack of food available to a child or a poor diet, your Supervising Social Worker or Fostering Worker might want to check your food cupboards or fridge.