Fostering Training (Form F)

Assessing foster carers and the Form F

Foster Carers take on a highly valuable role in society and the recruitment of new talent is ongoing. In essence, new applicants are volunteers, often with little or no actual experience of fostering, yet what we expect of them is enormous.  Assessing the suitability of applicants tends to rely on exploring their own experiences of being parented alongside hypothetical scenarios they may encounter, should they be approved.

The current format for foster carer reports is the Form F which has evolved over the years to ensure it is a narrative of the applicant’s life and experiences as well as an analysis of their strengths and areas for development.  Getting the balance right as the assessor is a skill in itself as is ensuring applicants are truly prepared for the task ahead of them.

Assessing foster carers needs to be a wraparound process that identifies and manages any risks; prepares and develops applicants and highlights what skills and experience make the applicant suitable to care for a child or young person.

This three-day workshop is designed for social workers new to fostering assessments as well as those looking to hone their skills in assessing and developing foster care applicants as well as producing high-quality Form Fs.  The focus on learning will be experiential and so will include developing and testing assessment skills as well as structuring reports. The course follows CoramBAAF guidelines.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the workshop participants will have had the opportunity to:

• Think about the role of an assessing social worker in fostering
• Explore ways of gathering relevant information
• Enhance their analytical skills and utilise these in reports
• Consider what a good Form F looks like
• Explore ways to prepare applicants for the reality of fostering
• Build confidence in their abilities to work with fostering applicants and fostering panels

Course Details

The days will begin at 9.30am and will end by 2.30pm.

The course will be provided over Zoom, attendees will need to have access to a device capable of accessing the Zoom video conferencing software and a reliable internet connection. You can test your connection by following this link

An electronic certificate of attendance will be provided to all attendees by email after attendance at the course. This course equates to 10.5 learning hours. Electronic handouts will be emailed to all attendees prior to the course taking place.