Delegated Authority to Foster Carers

1. Introduction

Delegated authority is the process that enables foster carers to make common sense, everyday decisions about the children and young people they care for, such as allowing them to go to friends’ houses for sleepovers, signing consent forms for school trips and even arranging haircuts.

Holders of parental responsibility can delegate authority to foster carers to undertake such tasks and decisions. Foster carers never have parental responsibility for a fostered child, so they can only take decisions about the fostered child where that authority has been delegated to them by the local authority and/or the parents.

Delegated Authority aims to normalise the experience of children/young people growing up in care and reduce their sense of difference. When used effectively it should minimise delay in decision making and maximise the child/young person's opportunity to enjoy childhood and family life. Social Workers must liaise closely with parents, children/young people, carers (whether foster carers or prospective adopters) and other professionals in Placement Planning, giving careful consideration to the balance and distribution of parenting responsibilities and delegation of authority. Children and young people need to know who can make decisions on their behalf; parents need to understand the decision-making processes; carers need clarity on what they can agree to; and social workers need to give consistent advice and delegation.

2. Key Objectives

1. To ensure children/young people in care have a normal experience of family life, which maximises their life chances and outcomes;
2. To ensure each child/young person has an agreed Placement Plan (within 5 working days) at the outset; giving the birth parents, child/young person, carer and local authority a clear understanding of their respective roles;
3. To ensure the views, wishes and feelings of the child/young person are taken into account when discussing and agreeing delegation of authority. Consideration is given to whether the child/young person is of sufficient age and understanding to take some decisions themselves;
4. To ensure the child/young person's parents are included and supported in discussions on delegated authority as far as possible and appropriate, to enable them to continue to play a part in their child/young person's life;
5. To ensure carers are involved in planning and decision-making and are given authority to make everyday decisions about the child/young person placed with them, having due regard to the Care Plan, the legal framework and their own wishes, views, ability and skills;
6. To ensure the level of delegated authority is compatible with the Care Plan; e.g. where a child/young person is in a home which is intended to be permanent, the Placement Plan is likely to reflect greater levels of delegated responsibility to the carers than for a child/young person expected to return home;
7. To ensure decisions on delegated authority are based on good quality assessments of need and risk for the individual child/young person and carer;
8. To ensure carers are trained and supported to undertake appropriate risk assessments in areas in which they are authorised to make decisions;
9. To enhance placement stability by ensuring that decision making around common issues that arise in looking after a child/young person, does not become confused and result in a missed opportunity for a child/young person (e.g. haircuts, sleepovers, staying out late, school trips, and family holidays).

3. Principles

1. Children/young people in care are as far as possible allowed the same opportunities to take part in normal everyday activities as would reasonably be granted by their parents to their own birth children/young people;
2. Parents are clear about what has been agreed in relation to delegated authority. The local authority can only restrict a parent's exercise of their Parental Responsibility if there is a care order in place and if it is necessary to do so to safeguard or promote the child/young person’s welfare;
3. Carers have the maximum appropriate flexibility in taking decisions relating to the children/young people in their care, within the framework of the agreed Care Plan and Placement Plan, and properly respecting the views and wishes of the birth parents. Authority for day-to-day decision making about a looked after child is delegated to the child/young person's carer(s), unless there is a valid reason not to do so;
4. Decision making is timely for children/young people;
5. There is commitment to working together, particularly between the child/young person, parents, foster carer and social worker. Carers are seen as integral to planning and decision making; treated as full members of the team implementing the Care Plan. i.e. fully informed in discussions about the Care Plan, they have all the information they need to care effectively and safely, and they are fully informed and involved in discussions about delegated authority;
6. Decisions are made in line with the child/young person's Permanence Plan, the legal framework and Hertfordshire Social Work Procedures.

4. Legal Framework and Definitions

4.1 Who Can Delegate Authority

If the local authority has an Emergency Protection Order or Care Order, the carer may assume that any officer of the Local Authority has the authority to delegate responsibility. However, if the Local Authority does not have such an order, it is the parent or someone else with PR who has to agree to delegate any authority to the carer.

There are some things that a young person who is 16 or over, or under 16 but mature, can consent to in their own right, for example:

• A young person aged 16 (or a young person under that age who is considered by medical staff to have sufficient understanding of the implications of treatment) can consent to their own medical treatment;
• From the age of 16 a young person can consent to their own Care Plan when they are looked after by the local authority and there is no court order in place.

4.2 Situations Where Authority Cannot Be Delegated

There are a number of situations in which consent of those with Parental Responsibility for the child/young person is essential and therefore cannot be delegated to another person. For example, consent to removal from the jurisdiction (UK) must be given by all people who have Parental Responsibility, unless the child is in the care of the local authority (under a Care Order, Interim Care Order or Emergency Protection Order), in which case it can be specifically authorised by the local authority for up to one month. This means that a passport, for example, must still be applied for by the local authority. A local authority cannot decide that a child should be known by a different surname or be brought up in a religion other than the one they would have been brought up in had they not become looked after.

5. Delegated Authority in Practice

5.1 Placement Planning and Reviewing

Please see: Planning Placements Procedure.

5.2 Types of Decision

Consideration should be given to the type of decision each situation requires.

See also: Decision support tool within the Fostering Network Handbook on Delegated Authority.

5.3 Key Consents and Areas of Decision Making

Areas of delegated authority that should be considered for each child or young person in care are summarised in the table below.

The overriding principles are that:

• All decisions must be made in line with the Care Planning Process;
• In the case of an emergency or where an unexpected opportunity arises the Carer should act as a reasonable prudent parent would.

*Subject to the Gillick Competence and Fraser Guidelines: which are used in medical law to decide whether a child/young person (16 years or younger) is able to consent to his or her own medical treatment, without the need for parental permission or knowledge.

For further information in relation to guidance on key consents and areas of decision making, (as per table above) please see the Fostering Network Handbook on Delegated Authority.

Foster carers cannot legally give consent in relation to Religion, Taking the Child Abroad, Passports and Tattoos.

5.4 Conflict Resolution

The child’s social worker, the foster carer and the supervising social worker are the key professionals working with the child. The status and functioning of this ‘core team’ relationship and its role in problem solving and conflict resolution is key to the successful support of each fostering household. It is so important that it requires attention in its own right. Time is short, but good communication between these professionals is essential outside the formal reviews, particularly if there are tensions or problems. Video calls should now be an accepted part of collaborative working.

Further Information

Leisure Activities Procedure

Overnight Stays Away from the Placement or Other Staying Contact or Care Arrangements Procedure

Holidays and School Trips In and Outside the UK Procedure

Holidays with Parents, Other Family and Friends (Including 16 Plus Travel) Procedure

Safer Caring in Foster Care Procedure

GPs, Dentists and Opticians Procedure

Consent to Medical Examination and Treatment Procedure

Health Care Assessments, Health Checks and Health Care Plans Procedure