Fostering

South Lanarkshire Council is a registered fostering agency. This means is that we must carry out various statutory checks on people who apply to be foster carers. These checks are repeated as your circumstances can change. These are the checks we must carry out regularly.

PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups)

As a registered foster carer, you are required to be registered with Disclosure Scotland PVG Scheme and we will assist you with this. If you are an existing scheme member, we will undertake a check. If you have a criminal conviction, it does not necessarily mean that you can't care for other people's children, but it will mean that we will have to discuss your convictions with you. If you have any convictions, it would be best if you mentioned them to us when you begin the application process, so that we can advise you and this can be taken account of from the outset.

We will also carry out enhanced Disclosure Scotland checks on anyone else in your household over the age of 16.

Medical reference

It is important that you are able to look after children on a day-to-day basis and for that reason we will require a health check. Existing medical conditions will not necessarily be a barrier to fostering, however, we would want to take account of these as part of the assessment. Your doctor will be asked to provide a medical report which is confidential and our medical advisor will inform us if there are any issues which we need to consider in relation to you becoming a foster carer. Please let us know at the beginning of the process if you have a history of medical problems.

This check is repeated every two years.

Local authority check

We will check if you have had contact with social work agencies in the past and whether this is relevant to your application. This check is repeated every two years.

Employment history and employer's reference

We will talk to you about your employment history since you left school. We may also ask for a written reference from your employer if you are working. If you are no longer working we may ask for a reference from a previous employer.

Previous partners, older and adult children

If you have been married before or were in a long term relationship we may want to contact your former partner and any children of the relationship. We understand that this may feel intrusive. If you are worried about this, please talk to the social worker when he or she visits you at home to discuss your application.

Personal references

We will need to take six references from people who know you (and your family). We will visit these referees to discuss your application. Two may be from relatives.