Document Quality Control
Document title	Fostering Service – Statement of Purpose
Document owner/author	Sarah Smith, Fostering Support Service Leader
Date of approval	June 2026
Approval given by (SMT/DMT/CPOG/Named Individual	Head of Children We Care For
Review frequency	Annually
Date to be next reviewed by	June 2027
Version control	Version 3	June 2025, June 2026, June 2027

 

This Statement of Purpose fulfils the requirement of the Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards 2011 (Standard 16) and The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 (Regulation 3).

 

Scope

This Statement of Purpose is for children and young people, foster carers, prospective foster carers, parents, staff, partner agencies and placing authorities, and explains the aims, objectives, services and facilities of Portsmouth’s fostering service.

The Statement of Purpose is provided to Ofsted, published on the council’s fostering website, reviewed annually, and made available on request to children, foster carers, prospective foster carers, parents and partner agencies.

 

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Our Pledge
3. Aims and Objectives
4. Principles and Values
5. Services provided for Children and Young people
6. Services to Foster Carers
7. Structure and Staffing
8. Monitoring, Evaluation and Management of the Service
9. Complaints
10. Information on how to contact the Regulator
11. Fostering & Kinship Service Staff Structure

 

1. Introduction

This Statement of Purpose has been produced in accordance with the Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards 2011 and the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011.

It sets out Portsmouth’s vision, aims, objectives, principles and values for fostering, and explains the services and support provided by the fostering service. It also describes how the service monitors quality and performance to ensure children and foster carers receive the support they need.

This Statement of Purpose is kept under review and updated as required, with a formal review taking place at least annually.

 

2. Our Children in Care Pledge

The quality of care we provide is shaped by what children tell us about their lives, their experiences of care, and the relationships that matter most to them.

In Portsmouth, the Children in Care Council has developed a Pledge, in partnership with wider partners, which sets out what children and young people should expect from the people who care for and support them. The Pledge is an important part of how we work with children and young people and provides a benchmark for practice across the service.

We want children, young people, families and colleagues to use the Pledge to help us reflect on our practice and to hold us to account where we fall short of the promises it makes.

 

3. Aims and Objectives

The Fostering Service aims to provide safe, stable, and nurturing family-based care for children who cannot live with their birth families.

Our objectives are to:

• Ensure children experience stability, belonging, and positive relationships
• Provide a diverse range of fostering placements that meet children’s individual needs
• Support foster carers through high-quality supervision, training, and development
• Promote the voice of the child in all aspects of care and service development
• Work in partnership with families, professionals, and agencies to achieve the best outcomes for children

We work to recruit, assess, train, manage and support a sufficient and diverse range of foster carers so that children we care for can live in homes that best meet their needs, experiences and identity. We do this in line with the Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards 2011, the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the principles of the Foster Carers’ Charter.

In practice, this means we aim to provide children with warm, safe and caring homes; keep them close to the people and places that are important to them where it is safe to do so; promote family and friendship relationships; support children’s health, education, identity and interests; minimise unnecessary moves; and help children achieve permanence and successful transitions into adulthood.

 

4. Principles and Values

Children come first in all that we do. This principle underpins our decision-making, planning, communication and practice. Our primary responsibility is to help children experience safe, stable and nurturing family life, recover from trauma, and maintain relationships with the people who are important to them.

We are committed to providing trauma-informed, high-quality care through a range of well-supported and carefully matched fostering families, so that children who cannot live with their birth families receive the care and support they need.

To achieve this, we work to the following principles and values:

• Children should only come into care when this is necessary and when all realistic options for them to remain safely within their family network have been explored and assessed.
• Children’s relationships, attachments, identity and sense of belonging are central to their wellbeing and development, and foster carers will be supported to understand and promote these.
• Foster carers are valued as key members of the team around the child and are treated with respect, involved in planning for children, and supported through supervision, training and development.
• Many children will have experienced trauma, separation and loss, and we will ensure that carers and staff have access to the learning, support and therapeutic understanding needed to respond well to children’s needs.
• Children with disabilities are children first, and we will work to ensure they receive care and support that meets their individual needs.
• Children and young people will be listened to, involved in decisions about their lives, and supported to maintain relationships with family and friends where this is safe and appropriate.
• Young people will be supported to prepare for adulthood and, wherever possible and appropriate, to remain with their foster carers beyond the age of 18 through Staying Put arrangements.

 

5. Services Provided for Children

The Fostering Service provides or contributes to the following services and support for children and young people:

 

Foster care arrangements

• Family and friends care.
• Mockingbird constellations, providing peer support through a community of foster carers
• Long-term fostering
• planned respite care
• emergency and short-stay care
• parent and child placements
• Staying Put arrangements
• Family Link care for children with disabilities.

 

Health support

Children and young people are supported to access:

• the children we care for medical adviser and nursing service
• CAMHS START

 

Education support

Children and young people are supported through:

• the Virtual School
• the Special Educational Needs Department.

 

Accommodation and transition support

Where needed, children and young people may also be supported through:

• Staying Close
• direct nominations for local housing for foster carers, special guardians and care experienced young adults
• supported lodgings
• the young person’s pathway
• external providers within the city.

 

6. Services to Foster Carers

 Recruitment

Portsmouth City Council works closely with the South East Fostering Recruitment Hub (to become Home & Future by 01/10/26), which brings together several local authorities across the South East with a shared aim of recruiting and supporting more foster carers. Portsmouth also promotes fostering locally through Foster Portsmouth, which provides information about fostering and how to contact the service.

We welcome applications from people aged 21 and over who have the time, space and commitment to offer a warm, nurturing home to children and young people with a range of needs.

Our recruitment and assessment work is shaped by Portsmouth’s Fostering Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which is based on inclusion, equality, openness, and a clear understanding of the needs of the children we care for.

Foster carers are recruited through a range of methods, including local and regional campaigns, community engagement, information events, social media, publicity materials and recommendations from existing foster carers and Portsmouth City Council staff. Existing carers play an important role in helping others understand fostering and are active ambassadors for the service.

We target recruitment activity at different times to respond to the identified needs of children and young people, including the need for carers able to care for teenagers, siblings, children with complex needs, and children seeking safety and asylum.

People who are interested in fostering can contact the Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team by telephone, email, social media or through the Foster Portsmouth website. They are offered an opportunity to have an informal conversation with the recruitment team and, Where helpful, with experienced foster carers.

Following an initial enquiry, prospective carers are offered further information and, where appropriate, a home visit to discuss fostering in more detail. Applicants who progress are allocated a social worker and invited to take part in preparation and assessment sessions. Preparation training is based on the nationally recognised Skills to Foster course.

 

Assessment of Foster Carers

We aim to develop positive working relationships with people who wish to foster from the earliest point of contact, so that they receive clear information, appropriate support and a fair, thorough assessment process.

Prospective foster carers are assessed by qualified social workers using the nationally recognised Coram BAAF Form F assessment. The assessment considers the applicant’s background, relationships, family life, support networks, parenting capacity, experience, skills and potential to care for children safely and effectively.

All children need to live in safe, loving and suitable homes. As part of the assessment process, social workers are required to verify the information provided by applicants. This includes a range of statutory and personal checks and references, such as enhanced DBS checks, health and GP information, education checks, local authority checks for areas in which applicants currently live or have previously lived, and references from personal referees, former partners and adult children where applicable.

This forms Part 1 of the fostering assessment. Applicants must successfully complete Part 1 before progressing to Part 2, which explores in more detail their personal history, family relationships, lifestyle, experience, skills and capacity to foster.

The assessment process is designed to identify each applicant’s strengths, experience and potential, and to consider the type of fostering that best fits their circumstances, interests and skills, alongside the needs of the children requiring care.

We aim to complete assessments of new foster carers within six months. Foster carers transferring from another agency should usually expect their assessment to be completed within a maximum of four months.

 

Approval

The views, experiences and comments of prospective foster carers are an important part of the assessment process. The assessing social worker analyses the information gathered during the assessment and makes recommendations about the applicant’s suitability to foster, including the number of children, age range, type of care and level of need they may be best placed to support.

Prospective foster carers are given the opportunity to read the full assessment report, suggest amendments, add their own comments and sign the completed document. The assessment process is intended to be open, transparent and collaborative, while ensuring that the final assessment is thorough and robust.

 

Fostering Panel and Agency Decision Maker

The completed assessment is presented to the Fostering Panel, which considers the information and makes a recommendation. The final decision about approval is then made by the Portsmouth Agency Decision Maker (ADM), who is a member of the senior management team within the Children, Families and Education Service.

The Fostering Panel is chaired independently and includes a range of members with relevant professional and personal experience of fostering and children in care. Panel membership is arranged in accordance with the National Minimum Standards and associated regulations, and the Panel has access to legal, medical and educational advice where required.

Prospective foster carers are invited to attend the Panel meeting. Panel members may ask questions about the assessment, and applicants are given the opportunity to respond and share their views. The assessing social worker attends the Panel to support them through the process.

If a prospective foster carer is not recommended for approval, they are given information about their right to request that the decision is reconsidered, including through the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM).

 

Birth Family time and return home

A child’s birth family will always be important to them. When children come into care, Portsmouth City Council works with their family to support them to return home where this is safe and in their best interests. At the same time, wider family and friends are explored as potential carers where appropriate. Foster carers play an important role in helping children maintain relationships with the people who matter to them.

The Kinship Team is responsible for assessing wider family members and friends who may be able to care for a child as connected persons foster carers. Where recommended, these assessments are presented to the Fostering Panel and Agency Decision Maker for approval. Approved family and friends foster carers receive the same core fostering support as other foster carers, including an allocated supervising social worker and access to learning and development.

The Kinship Team also assesses and supports family members and friends who may care for a child under a Special Guardianship Order, subject to the court’s approval. In addition, the team undertakes work in relation to private fostering arrangements made informally within families, and step-parent adoption enquiries where these fall within the service remit.

Supervision, Support and Development for Foster Carers

Portsmouth recognises that foster carers need regular supervision, support and guidance in order to provide children with safe, stable and nurturing family homes. Foster carers are central to meeting the needs of children we care for, and the service is committed to ensuring that they feel valued, supported and equipped for their role.

Each foster carer is allocated a Supervising Social Worker (SSW), who visits regularly to provide supervision and support, monitor standards of care, help the carer contribute to the child’s care plan, and identify any additional help or training that may be needed. Supervising social workers also liaise closely with the child’s social worker and are available for advice and consultation. Strong relationships between carers and supervising social workers are an important part of promoting placement stability and safe care.

The Fostering Support Team provides support to all types of foster carers, including supported lodgings and Staying Put carers. Foster carers are supported to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities, including face-to-face training, online learning and workshops. A foster carer’s learning journey begins during assessment with the Skills to Foster course and continues through the Training, Support and Development Standards (TSD Standards), core training, specialist training and wider learning opportunities. Foster carers are encouraged and supported to complete the TSD Standards within the required timescales and to continue developing their skills in line with the needs of the children they care for.

Portsmouth provides a range of wider support to foster carers to help them provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for children and young people. This includes peer support, therapeutic advice, practical support and access to specialist services where needed.

Portsmouth offers the Mockingbird Model of Care, which brings together a small network of foster carers within a supportive constellation led by a hub home carer. Portsmouth currently has four Mockingbird constellations and aims to continue developing this model. Mockingbird strengthens peer support, promotes placement stability and helps improve outcomes for children.

Foster carers are also supported through a range of peer and participation opportunities, including the Carers Connect Group, support groups, foster carer lunches, newsletters and the foster carer mentoring scheme. Portsmouth commissions independent advice and mediation for foster carers who are subject to a serious complaint or allegation. Foster carers may also access the local authority’s confidential Employee Assistance Programme. Respite care can be arranged where needed to support carers and children and to help promote placement stability.

The fostering service provides an out-of-hours support arrangement so that carers can access advice and emotional support when needed. This runs alongside Hampshire’s out-of-hours emergency service. Foster carers can also access consultation and support from CAMHS STaRT, the Virtual School and children we care for nurses. These services provide advice relating to emotional wellbeing, education and health.

Foster carers receive a fostering allowance in line with Government national minimum fostering allowance rates, together with a skills fee linked to their approved skill level. Portsmouth’s Carers’ Allowance and Skills Fee Policy is reviewed annually and shared with carers. Carers are paid weekly and may apply to progress to a higher skill level as they develop their knowledge and experience. Foster carers are also provided with a Foster Care Agreement, which should be read alongside the Foster Carers’ Charter.

Portsmouth actively encourages Staying Put where this is appropriate and agreed by the young person and carer. The service includes support for carers moving into Staying Put and Supported Lodgings arrangements, helping them to continue supporting young people as they prepare for adulthood and greater independence.

 

7. Structure and Staffing

Portsmouth City Council’s Fostering & Kinship Service sits within the Children, Families and Education Directorate. The service is led by the Head of Children We Care For, with day-to-day operational management provided through service leaders and team leaders.

The service is made up of four main teams: Home Finding, Fostering Support, Kinship, and Fostering Recruitment. These teams work together to recruit, assess, approve, support and review foster carers, identify the right homes for children, and provide ongoing support to carers and children.

The service includes qualified social workers, supervising social workers, social care and support staff, reviewing functions, and business support staff. Staff are recruited, supervised, inducted and appraised in accordance with Portsmouth City Council’s corporate standards and the requirements of the Fostering Services Regulations and National Minimum Standards.

All staff are expected to have the skills, experience and qualifications needed for their role, and to undertake continuing professional development so that they can provide high-quality support to children, foster carers and families.

The procedures and processes which guide the service in recruiting, approving, training, supporting and reviewing foster carers are set out in Portsmouth’s fostering policies and procedures, Children We Care For procedures, panel policy and terms of reference, relevant strategies, and the Fostering Services Regulations and National Minimum Standards.

 

8. Monitoring, Evaluation and Management of the Service

The Fostering Service gathers a range of performance and quality assurance information to monitor how effectively the service is operating and to identify areas for improvement. This includes statistical information, feedback from children and foster carers, audit activity, and learning from service reviews.

This information is reflected in the annual fostering service report, the fostering panel chair’s annual report and relevant Ofsted data returns and datasets.

Oversight of fostering quality and performance sits within Portsmouth’s wider Children’s Social Care governance arrangements. This includes the Performance Overview Board for Children’s Social Care, alongside wider quality assurance and reporting processes across Children, Families and Education.

The service also uses this information to review progress against priorities, strengthen practice, and support ongoing service development.

 

9. Complaints

Wherever possible, complaints are dealt with informally. Where appropriate and in the first instance, any complaint by or against a foster carer will be dealt with on a solution focused basis. There is a written procedure about managing concerns, complaints and allegations against foster carers which is given to all foster carers. The Council has both corporate and Children Services complaints procedures that operate if no resolution can be achieved at the problem-solving stage.

Where a complaint against a foster carer constitutes a safeguarding allegation, this is dealt with as safeguarding enquiry under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 and is investigated under safeguarding procedures.

 

10. My Care Booklet

All children are provided with a child-friendly guide, known in Portsmouth as the “My Care” booklet, when they enter care. This booklet has been co-produced with children and young people and sets out, in an accessible way, what children can expect from their care, the support available to them, and how their views will be heard.

The “My Care” booklet includes information about children’s rights, how to access advocacy services, and how to raise worries or make a complaint. It is shared with children as part of their welcome into care and is supported by discussions with carers and professionals to ensure it is understood and meaningful for each child.

 

11. Contacting the Regulator

Ofsted is responsible for inspecting the Fostering Service.  They will also receive and investigate any complaints about the Fostering Service. Significant incidents are also reported to them. The contact details are Ofsted Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD.