Complain or not complain?

[Murray72]

Hi,
I was just wondering if it is worth my time complaining about my child's old foster carer?

Recently the police were trying to contact the parent/carer of my child (who was previously in long term foster care) so I can only presume the details held with CS were not updated and previous FC was contacted first. Anyway the FC decided it would be a good idea to text my child at 11pm at night stating the police were worried and needed to talk asap! So one terrified child (14) woke me up the following day in blind panic. Now my dilemma is why the FC did not contact me (she gave the police my contact details) and why she thought it may be wise to text the child direct? I suspect my complaint will fall on deaf ears and some kind of feeble excuse will be offered, this will increase my frustration further with the FC but then they are accountable for the actions they take and this FC had shown lots of unprofessional behaviour in the years I have dealt with her.

The police wanted to speak to us regarding the offending behaviour of child's biological father, who was in custody at the time. If anybody reading this post has a partner suspected of child sex offences then believe me when I say this behaviour will only increase and the offending will only get worse.
Any advise regarding the complaint would be helpful.

Thanks

[ange301126]

Dear Murray, My first thought is you should contact the foster-caring agency and complain to them.
Another idea is that you should ask the question on the other forum which is for foster-carers, grandparents etc.

I'm sure Suzie will advise you soon.

[Murray72]

I was thinking of contacting her Link worker at the local authority, but they were so clicky at meetings I don't feel confident it would get me anywhere.

[ange301126]

Dear Murray, It would ensure that she NEVER does it again!
She has no right to contact your child without your permission.You should give her a taste of her own medicine.
You can be sure she was not slow to complain about you when stirring it up for you with social workers in the past following contacts etc.t

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Murray

Welcome back to the parents' board.

You are correct in questioning why procedure was not followed by the foster carer or the police particularly as your child is still a minor, and you have parental responsibility . Not only that it was not appropriate for her to directly contact your child at 11.00 pm in the evening, it reflects a pattern of unprofessional behaviour and as Ange correctly pointed out it was done without your consent.

The statutory guidance Training, Support and Development (TSD) Standards for Foster Carers (2012) sets out the professional roles, responsibilities for interagency safeguarding and the appropriate share of information with families and professionals.

Furthermore, under the data protection requirements of the guidance there is an expectation for previous foster carers to return or delete records pertaining to foster children who are no longer placed in their care (TSD Guidance 1.4; 2.1b; 2, 2a; 2,2b; 2.3; 2.6c; 4; 4.3; 4.5 & 6.4)

Therefore, It is evident that a lot of heartache could have been avoided for your family had the boundary you describe not been crossed by the foster carer. However by directly approaching your child without your consent in an ongoing police matter, her actions had the potential to influence the outcome of a criminal case and place to also place your child at risk.

Whatever you decide to do I advise you to put your concerns in writing to the previous social worker, team manager the foster carer's supervising (or link social worker) along with her team manager.

In addition, I am attaching a copy of our complaints advice sheet to assist in your decision about whether to make a formal complaint about the foster carer.

I hope this helps.

Best Wishes

Suzie

[Murray72]

Thanks for the replies, I have lots to think about now.

Great advice as always.