Implications and recommendations

Despite previous research exploring multi-professional working, this research was the first to exclusively explore and report foster carers’ experiences of multi-professional team working. It is important that these findings are disseminated across practice as the findings reported from this research have implications for all professionals who work

91 with LAC and the systems around them. Important implications and recommendations for practice are outlined below.

5.7.1 Foster carers to be fully included in multi-professional teams

Foster carers should play an important role in multi-professional teams and their involvement should be encouraged by all professionals working alongside LAC. The following recommendations are suggested to achieve this:

- Feedback forms / questionnaires requesting foster carers’ views and concerns to be sent to foster carers prior to multi-professional meetings to ensure they are encouraged to contribute their knowledge to the multi-professional team.

- Enquiries about the placement and day to day well being of the child in care to be directed towards the foster carer where appropriate.

- All professionals working with LAC to be made aware of the roles and responsibilities of foster carers and the duality of their role.

- Flexibility in methods of communication to be encouraged where possible to enable foster carers to integrate into the multi-professional team.

- Media campaigns and foster carer recruitment advertisements to be revised to ensure the role of a foster carer is accurately reflected as both a parental and professional role.

These recommendations are in line with NICE guidelines, that state “carers of looked

after children and young people are part of the team working with the child or young person that works collaboratively, sharing information effectively and appropriately”

(NICE/SCIE, 2010).

5.7.2 Leadership and clarity in the multi-professional team

Leadership and clarity are important factors within all multi-professional teams. The following steps should be taken to ensure clear leadership, clarity of meeting purpose and an understanding of each professional’s roles and responsibilities is achieved:

92 - The purpose of the team coming together for a multi-professional meeting should be clearly stated by the lead professional at the start of the meeting and reflected in the team discussions and conclusions.

- Each member should be clear of their own and other team member’s roles and responsibilities within the multi-professional team. The dissemination of a document with the names, job titles, agency or service they represent, and roles and responsibilities of each member may be beneficial to help ensure this clarity. - Meeting minutes should be distributed to all members of the team within an

agreed timescale prior to subsequent meetings.

NICE guidelines state that “care planning, led by social workers, reduces the need for

emergency placements by supporting the quality of the relationship between the child or young person and their carer, and increasing attachment. This also helps promote a stable education”. In addition, recommendation 7 of the guidelines highlights the

importance of everyone understanding their roles within the multi-professional team.

5.7.3 Relationships with social workers

The relationship between foster carer(s) and social workers is influential in determining the foster carers’ experience of multi-professional team working. The importance of this relationship should be understood and managed by all professionals. The following recommendations have been devised in line with this:

- Meetings to be arranged between the foster carers, child’s social worker and supervising social worker at the beginning of all new placements and at intervals thereafter, to ensure each professional in the primary group is aware of the child’s care plan and their role within this.

- Regular contact to be promoted between the foster carer(s) and the social workers involved with the child in care. Flexibility of communication methods to be established to help achieve this.

- Local authorities and private fostering agencies to review how foster carers access support and explore the effectiveness of current support arrangements; to establish whether the current combination of the supervising social workers, role to supervise and support is effective.

93 These recommendations are in line with NICE guidelines “carers who feel supported by

their social worker and have ready access to support services are better able to use their skills to encourage healthy relationships and provide a more secure base, and so reduce the risk of placement breakdown” (NICE/SCIE, 2010).

5.7.4 Withholding information

The withholding of important information about a child in care leads to an increased risk of placement breakdown; a detrimental outcome for all involved. It is recommended that:

- All relevant information known about a child in care should be shared with potential foster carers prior to placing a child in their care.

- Additional training to be provided to foster carers to ensure they feel equipped to deal with a range of challenging behaviours. This training could empower foster carers to feel confident in accepting more complex placements.

- All professionals, especially social workers, to be made aware of the links between withholding information from foster carers and placement breakdown reported across the research literature in this area.

NICE guidelines promote the importance of the continued sharing of information across multi-professional teams “to provide effective care, professionals need to collaborate

closely and share information” (NICE/SCIE, 2010).