Appendix B: International perspective
B.1 Europe
The International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO), SOS-Kinderdorf and Fédération Internationale des Communautés Educatives (FICE) have developed the Quality 4 Children Standards for Out of Home Child Care in Europe.71 These standards provide guidance on the overarching goals that Out of Home Care should achieve. For example: 'The leaving-care process is thoroughly planned and implemented.' Targeted at 32 countries, these standards are not specific in relation to some of the child well-being indicators, such as education, health and safety. While the standards were launched at the European Parliament and were supported by the European Union, this was an non-government led initiative and the standards have no formal status within the European Union.
IFCO, SOS-Kinderdorf & FICE (2006) Quality 4 Children Standards for Out of Home Child Care in Europe
Standard Area 1 - Decision-making and admission process
Standard 1: The child and his/her family of origin receive support during the decision-making process.
Standard 2: The child is empowered to participate in the decision-making process.
Standard 3: A professional decision-making process ensures the best possible care for the child.
Standard 4: Siblings are cared for together.
Standard 5: The transition to the new home is well prepared and sensitively implemented.
Standard 6: The Out of Home Care process is guided by an individual care plan.
Standard Area 2 - Care-taking process
Standard 7: The child's placement matches his/her needs, life situation and original social environment.
Standard 8: The child maintains contact with his/her family of origin.
Standard 9: Caregivers are qualified and have adequate working conditions.
Standard 10: The caregiver's relationship with the child is based on understanding and respect.
Standard 11: The child is empowered to actively participate in making decisions that directly affect his/her life.
Standard 12: The child is cared for in appropriate living conditions.
Standard 13: Children with special needs receive appropriate care.
Standard 14: The child/young adult is continuously prepared for independent living.
Standard Area 3 - Leaving-care process
Standard 15: The leaving-care process is thoroughly planned and implemented.
Standard 16: Communication in the leaving-care process is conducted in a useful and appropriate manner.
Standard 17: The child/young adult is empowered to participate in the leaving care process.
Standard 18: Follow-up, continuous support and contact possibilities are ensured.
B.2 Ireland
Ireland introduced National Standards for Children in Foster Care in 2003 to provide constructive guidelines for health boards72 and foster carers alike, as well as to provide a basis for those in foster care and their families to judge the quality of the services they are receiving. Complementary National Standards for Special Care Units and Children's Residential Centres have also been implemented. New standards that integrate foster care and residential care for children and young people are being planned.
National Standards for Foster Care, Department of Health and Children (2003)
Summary of National Standards for Foster Care73
SECTION ONE - THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
1. Positive sense of identity
Children and young people are provided with foster care services that promote a positive sense of identity for them.
2. Family and friends
Children and young people in foster care are encouraged and facilitated to maintain and develop family relationships and friendships.
3. Children's rights
Children and young people are treated with dignity, their privacy is respected, they make choices based on information provided to them in an age-appropriate manner, and have their views, including complaints, heard when decisions are made which affect them or the care they receive.
4. Valuing diversity
Children and young people are provided with foster care services that take account of their age, stage of development, individual assessed needs, illness or disability, gender, family background, culture and ethnicity (including membership of the Traveller community), religion and sexual identity.
5. The child and family social worker
There is a designated social worker for each child and young person in foster care.
6. Assessment of children and young people
An assessment of the child's or young person's needs is made prior to any placement or, in the case of emergencies, as soon as possible thereafter.
7. Care planning and review
Each child and young person in foster care has a written care plan. The child or young person and his or her family participate in the preparation of the care plan.
8. Matching carers with children and young people
Children and young people are placed with carers who are chosen for their capacity to meet the assessed needs of the children or young people.
9. A safe and positive environment
Foster carers' homes provide a safe, healthy and nurturing environment for the children or young people.
10. Safeguarding and child protection
Children and young people in foster care are protected from abuse and neglect.
11. Health and development
The health and developmental needs of children and young people in foster care are assessed and met. They are given information, guidance and support to make appropriate choices in relation to their health and development.
12. Education
The educational needs of children and young people in foster care are given high priority and they are encouraged to attain their full potential. Education is understood to include the development of social and life skills.
13. Preparation for leaving care and adult life
Children and young people in foster care are helped to develop the skills, knowledge and competence necessary for adult living. They are given support and guidance to help them attain independence on leaving care.
SECTION TWO - THE FOSTER CARERS
14. Assessment and approval of foster carers
14a. Assessment and approval of non-relative foster carers
Foster care applicants participate in a comprehensive assessment of their ability to carry out the fostering task and are formally approved by the health board prior to any child or young person being placed with them.
14b. Assessment and approval of relative foster carers
Relatives who apply, or are requested to apply, to care for a child or young person under Section 36 (1) (d) of the Child Care Act 1991 [Ireland] participate in a comprehensive assessment of their ability to care for the child or young person and are formally approved by the health board.
15. Supervision and support
Approved foster carers are supervised by a professionally qualified social worker. This person, known as the link worker, ensures that foster carers have access to the information, advice and professional support necessary to enable them to provide high-quality care.
16. Training
Foster carers participate in the training necessary to equip them with the skills and knowledge required to provide high-quality care.
17. Reviews of foster carers
Foster carers participate in regular reviews of their continuing capacity to provide high-quality care and to assist with the identification of gaps in the fostering service.
SECTION THREE - THE HEALTH BOARDS
18. Effective policies
Health boards have up-to-date, effective policies and plans in place to promote the provision of high-quality foster care for children and young people who require it.
19. Management and monitoring of foster care services
Health boards have effective structures in place for the management and monitoring of foster care services.
20. Training and qualifications
Health boards ensure that the staff employed to work with children and young people, their families and foster carers are professionally qualified and suitably trained.
21. Recruitment and retention of an appropriate range of foster carers
Health boards are actively involved in recruiting and retaining an appropriate range of foster carers to meet the diverse needs of the children and young people in their care.
22. Special foster care
Health boards provide for a special foster care service for children and young people with serious behavioural difficulties.
23. The foster care committee
Health boards have foster care committees to make recommendations regarding foster care applications and to approve long-term placements. The committees contribute to the development of health boards' policies, procedures and practice.
24. Placement of children through non-statutory agencies
Health boards placing children or young people with a foster carer through a non-statutory agency are responsible for satisfying themselves that the statutory requirements are met and that the children or young people receive a high-quality service.
25. Representations and complaints
Health boards have policies and procedures designed to ensure that children and young people, their families, foster carers and others with a bona fide interest in their welfare can make effective representations, including complaints, about any aspect of the fostering service, whether provided directly by a health board or by a non-statutory agency.
Standards covering Children's Residential Centres and Special Care Units are also in place. These are consistent with the standards outlined above.
Areas addressed by standards
The areas covered by the standards include:
- learning and achieving
- health
- emotional development
- safety.
B.3 United Kingdom
Ten different sets of standards for Out of Home Care have been identified in the United Kingdom. While seven of these are described as 'national', with the exception of the Fostering Network's 1999 UK National Standards for Foster Care, these relate to England, Scotland or Wales, rather than the United Kingdom as a whole. The majority are statutory standards against which 'registered' providers (including local authorities) are inspected by the regulatory body in the particular country concerned. There are also specialist standards in England for foster care training, support and development and non-government organisation led best-practice standards on leaving care.
There are three other important features of Out of Home Care provision in the United Kingdom. Firstly, as with the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children, there are broadly similar strategic policy initiatives in place in England and Wales (Every Child Matters) and Scotland (Getting it Right for Every Child). Secondly, as the 'corporate parenting' framework of Looking After Children (LAC) materials was an English initiative, this framework was, not surprisingly, more widely and comprehensively adopted in the United Kingdom than in other jurisdictions. In England, this has been superseded by the electronic Integrated Children's System. Thirdly, as part of their National Indicator Set (NIS), England has developed a significant number of universal health and well-being national indicators for children and young people as part of their performance framework for local authorities and local authority partnerships.
B.4 Canada
Out of Home Care provision in Canada is particularly diverse and Canada has no national foster care or residential care standards. However, as in Australia, almost all jurisdictions have provincial and territorial standards in place. A particular feature of Out of Home Care in Canada, and indeed North America more generally, is the existence of a number of external accreditation bodies, e.g. the Canadian Accreditation Council, Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and Commission on Accreditation. Mandatory accreditation has been required in Quebec for a number of years and some other provinces and territories may also go down this path in the future.
- Kinderdorf and FICE (2006), Quality 4 Children Standards for Out-of-Home Child Care in Europe, Austria : IFCO, SOS.
- Since the standards were developed, child welfare services in Ireland have been reorganised and now come under the auspices of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Inspections of foster care and residential care are undertaken by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
- Government of Ireland (2003), National Standards for Foster Care, Department of Health and Children, Dublin . www.hse.ie/(link is external)(Opens in a new tab/window) eng/.../The_National_Standards_for_Foster_Care,_2003.pdf - accessed December 2009.