What Is A Mother & Baby Foster Placement?
In her latest blog, Lauren Sheffield discusses what a mother & baby foster placement is and whether this type of placement is an assessment.
The early stages of a child’s life are crucial for their emotional and physical development and the care given to a child in the first few years can impact their long-term wellbeing and development. Therefore, the relationship between a mother and her child should be full of love, care, and nurture. Sadly, in some circumstances some parents may struggle to provide their child with the care they need due to having grown up in care themselves or having harmful experiences as a child.
For inexperienced parents who lack the necessary support or resources, the Local Authority may be concerned about the risk of harm posed to a young vulnerable baby. One option would be to consider placing the parent or parents with their baby in a supported environment and can consider a family assessment placement or a mother & baby foster placement.
A family assessment placement provides a nurturing environment with experienced and trained staff supporting and assessing their ability to parent whilst advising on parenting techniques. There would also be an opportunity to learn how to prepare meals and provide healthy diets.
These environments usually have a level of supervision which can involve CCTV cameras observing parents 24/7 or less intrusive arrangements with lower levels of supervision. These placements usually last for around 12 weeks and a report is prepared for the use in court proceedings at the end of the 12-week period and at the halfway stage at approximately 6 weeks.
The downside of such a placement is that it can be a very false environment and when parents return home, they may have lost their accommodation and may need to develop a support network afresh.
What is a mother and baby foster placement?
A mother and baby foster placement is a specialist type of foster placement which provides a safe environment for a mother to reside in, on a temporary basis, whilst caring for her baby. The placement is a nurturing space for the parent to develop and learn essential parenting skills, and bond with her baby with the support and guidance of a foster carer whose primary concern is the baby and who will, as part of their responsibility, encourage and support the mother to care for her baby.
Guidance will be given to the parent to enable them to do washing, cooking, and cleaning, and provide basic care for their child and emotionally interact with them. The main purpose of the placement is to empower the parent with the basic skills needed to safely care for their baby in the community and outside of the foster placement.
Is this type of placement an assessment?
The Local Authority will carry out a parenting assessment during the parent’s time in the foster placement. If the assessment is positive, the parent will be encouraged to spend time with their child independently, outside of the placement, so the assessment can progress. If the outcome of this is positive, then the parent and child will move to an independent arrangement as any risk to the baby or child will have been assessed as manageable.
Mother and baby foster placements and family assessment placements can be positive and safe environments for a parent to live with their child whilst developing the skills needed to safely care for their child. Due to the specialist nature, there is a shortage of placements, so a rigorous screening process is necessary before such placements are attempted. It is important that parents engage well and make the most of this opportunity, doing all they can to avoid the placement breaking down as it is likely that this would have a negative impact on the parenting assessment which would in turn impact on the overall plan of the Local Authority. These placements can provide golden opportunities for parents to learn and develop their parenting skills and maintain the bond with their children.
How Can Timms Help?
If you require any further information with regards to mother & baby foster placements, please contact me on freephone 0800 011 666 or via email l.sheffield@timms-law.com.
April 2024