Your Foster Panel
The concept of attending a foster panel can feel daunting, but it is not something you have to go through alone. We will make sure you understand what to expect and feel prepared for the day.
What Exactly is a Foster Panel?
A foster panel is an important part of the approval process.
Once your assessment is complete, you will be invited to attend a panel meeting. The panel will carefully consider your assessment and provide a recommendation regarding your suitability to foster.
Important: This is not an interview, and it is certainly not there to catch you out, either. Instead, it is an opportunity for the panel to understand your fostering journey, your core motivation for fostering and the care you could provide a young person or child.
Well before your panel date, your local Compass team and assessor will help you prepare. They will talk you through what happens, the sorts of questions you can expect to be asked and how the day is likely to feel in practice.
Who Sits on a Foster Panel?
A foster panel is made up of professionally recruited and trained members. A foster panel’s membership is drawn from a central list. On the day of panel, a set number of people are drawn from this central list, bringing relevant knowledge and experience of fostering, as well as safeguarding, children’s services and care.
Panel represents the diversity of those touched by fostering, including current and former foster parents, current and former adopters, young adults with care experience, adoptees, people with disabilities, people from global majority backgrounds and many others.
Foster panel members will be able to recommend on your suitability to foster. Foster panel is chaired by a specifically appointed Independent Chair, whose role is to lead foster panel and ensure that business is conducted within the regulations. In order that they can do that, panel is also served by Compass officers, notably a Panel Advisor and a Panel Business Officer. They cannot make recommendations, but they will support and guide panel in their business.
How Should I Prepare for My Foster Panel?
While some people worry about what to wear, the most important preparation for panel is being clear about what has brought you to this point. Think about why you wish to foster, what strengths you could bring to the role, what lessons you have learned in your assessment and how fostering could affect your family.
In any case, your assessor can walk you through the process. The panel will be focused on your assessment, your understanding of fostering as a whole, your ability to sustain a stable, safe and nurturing home, and the recommendation being made about your suitability to foster.
What Kind of Questions Will I Be Asked?
Prior to panel, panel members will have read your assessment, so they will already understand a lot about your individual circumstances.
The questions are usually designed to explore your understanding of fostering and how you might respond to the needs of a child or young person in your care. They may also ask about things you discussed throughout your assessment, including your support network, family life, experience, resilience and overall preparedness for the role.
What Happens After Panel?
After the panel meeting, the panel’s recommendation will be passed on to the Agency Decision Maker (ADM).
The ADM considers panel’s recommendation alongside your assessment and the information gathered throughout the process. They will then make a final decision regarding whether to approve you as a foster parent.
If approved by the ADM, you will officially become part of the Compass Fostering community! You’ll then be ready to receive your first fostering match and start your valuable work as a Compass Life Changer.
If you have any further questions or concerns about the foster panel, please get in touch with your Assessing Social Worker. They will, of course, be happy to help.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Fostering isn’t easy. But it’s one of the most important things you can do to transform the life of a child. If you’re ready to explore whether fostering could be right for you – and want to do it with a team that will have your back – we’d like to hear from you.
