Fostering & Adoption Social Worker

Introduction
Fostering and adoption social workers assess whether families are suitable for fostering or adopting children. They find long or short-term fostering placements for children who come into care and find permanent new families for children who can't go home for whatever reason. Their work involves recruiting, assessing and giving ongoing support to foster carers and adopters of children.

Work Environment
Fostering and adoption social workers spend much of their time visiting families in their homes.

Daily Activities
The primary role of fostering and adoption social workers is to recruit, assess and support prospective foster carers and adoptive parents and investigate their suitability to look after and bring up children. This means finding out what appropriate personal skills and qualities they have, whether the home is suitable for children and if there is enough space, as well as discussing general health and hygiene issues. It is also necessary to find out what equipment might be required by potential fosterers, such as cots, car seats, pushchairs or extra furniture.

Fostering and adoption social workers spend a lot of time interviewing prospective carers, finding out about the family history, where and how they were educated, what their own parents were like and what skills and experience they already have in caring for children. They also talk to all members of the family to find out about family relationships, as well as their views and opinions. The fostering and adoption social worker has to find out as much as is possible to ensure that any child placed in a family will be safe and secure with a distinct chance of happiness.

These assessments might take a long time, each visit lasting between an hour and an hour and a half once a fortnight over a period of 4-6 months. In the time in between, the fostering and adoption social worker has to undertake full statutory checks of the family's history with authorities such as the police, probation, education, NSPCC and the Department of Health.

Fostering and adoption social workers can be involved in offering support to the families such as a training programme in preparation for fostering or adoption. They also offer post adoptive or post fostering counselling, training and support as appropriate.  Fostering and adoption social workers also spend time in the office recording case work or writing assessment reports. They liaise with the child's social worker and other professionals involved in the care of the child. They may also be asked to take part in a duty rota, where they are office-based and respond to general enquiries, as well as any emergencies, such as finding placements for children who need urgently to come into care.

Skills & Interests
Fostering and adoption social workers need to be:

  • able to get on with people of all ages, especially children,
  • diplomatic and sensitive,
  • able to understand people and have empathy with them,
  • good communicators,
  • objective and knowledgeable about child protection,
  • able to encourage people and build their self-confidence.

Entry Requirements
The professional qualifying training for social workers is a degree in social work approved by the Care Council for Wales (CCW).  The degree is a three year programme and entrance is via approved universities, who determine their own conditions for entry.  The previous professional qualification, the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW), is still recognised as a valid social work qualification.

Those wishing to pursue a degree in social work will need GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and Mathematics at grade C or above. Although universities will set their own conditions of entrance, possible useful A-level (or equivalent) subjects would be law, sociology or psychology. Vocational GCSEs and A-level subjects may also be useful.  More information about the new qualification is available on the Care Council for Wales website.

Future Prospects & Opportunities
With different training, fostering and adoption social workers may be able to move into other specialist areas of social work such as mental health, or child protection. Experienced social workers can progress to senior practitioner, team manager or care manager.

Further Information & Services
Care Council for Wales www.ccwales.org.uk
Skills for Care www.skillsforcare.org.uk
British Association of Social Workers www.basw.co.uk
Community Service Volunteers www.csv.org.uk/socialhealthcare

The Open University has produced an interactive resource exploring a day in the life of a social worker: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/body-mind/social-care/social-work/try-day-the-life-social-worker 

You may find further information about this area of work through Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/) or in your local library, careers office or school careers library.

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