Foster Carers Holiday Homes

The holiday experience is an important part of family life and, for some Looked After Children, this experience is particularly important.

The combination of children/young people in new and unfamiliar surroundings and exposure to risks that may be unique to the holiday experience means that additional care needs to be taken at these times.

It is important that the high standards of risk assessment that are applied to your own homes are also applied to any holiday accommodation where Looked After Children and young people may be cared for.

This applies to all alternative accommodation to your family home which is used repeatedly or for more than 4 or more weeks continuously.

Holiday accommodation which is used on a 'one-off' basis is not covered by this.

The usual practice with regard to holiday planning should continue to ensure that the needs of the individual child/young person are being met at all times. This will include discussion with the child/young person's Social Worker, as well as your Supervising Social Worker.

What your Supervising Social Worker will do

Your Supervising Social Worker must visit the holiday accommodation in order to complete the Risk Assessment, using the Risk Assessment For Foster Carers Holiday Accommodation form (SS.CC.299). It is your responsibility to notify the fostering service of any significant changes.

When completing a Risk Assessment, all relevant sections of the Health and Safety Checklist (SS.CC7.D) must also be completed on the holiday accommodation.

Where a Looked After Child/young person will be sharing a bedroom whilst at the holiday accommodation, a Bedroom Sharing Risk Assessment (SS.CC.556) will also be completed for each child/young person.

The Risk Assessment must be agreed by the Service Manager/Team Manager before Looked After Children/young people can stay overnight.

Holiday Accommodation and the need to Consider Changing your Safer Caring Policy

As well as assessing risks associated with the environment, it is important to also discuss with your Supervising Social Worker any changes to your usual routines. This will be recorded on the Risk Assessment for Foster Carers Holiday Accommodation form (SS.CC.299).

Questions you may want to think about

• Are the children/young people familiar with the holiday home accommodation and its surroundings?
• If the children/young people are not familiar, what actions will you take to help them with this?
• Do the children/young people know where to go if they get lost and who might be a safe adult to ask for help?
• Are the children/young people aware of any dangers within the holiday accommodation or in the immediate surroundings? (As identified in the Risk Assessment for Holiday Accommodation).

Changes to usual supervision routine

• Are there any changes to the usual supervision arrangements for the children/ young people?
• Are there any communal areas or areas without identifiable boundaries and how will the children/young people be supervised there?
• Are the children/young people aware of which areas they are allowed to go in unsupervised and which areas are out of bounds?
• Are the children/young people aware of what times they are expected back at the holiday accommodation if they are allowed time away unsupervised?

See Risk Assessment For Foster Carers Holiday Accommodation (SS.CC.299) which can be accessed via Forms and Records.