A council in London has reviewed its social care practice after inspectors upheld a complaint about its treatment of a girl in foster care.
Hillingdon Council had repeatedly attempted to find a family to adopt the girl despite ‘being settled with a foster family committed to her long-term care’. The seven-year-old, who has been in local authority care for five years and has autism, has been with the same foster parents since 2011.
In an attempt to create a more permanent arrangement, the council asked her foster family to become ‘special guardians’, which they declined on the grounds that they would still need the extra long-term support she received as a looked after child.
‘Because of the family’s refusal social workers carried on looking for an alternative permanent family, despite all evidence that this was not in her best interest,’ said the the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). ‘This uncertainty about her future has caused the girl significant stress and anxiety, damaging her welfare, her emotional wellbeing and her ability to learn.’
Hillingdon has carried out a review and will provide training to ensure officers follow the ‘proper process to amend care plans of looked after children’.
Jane Martin, local government ombudsman, said the girl would now ‘find the stability she craves’ with her foster family.
‘All children deserve a stable family life and for far too long this little girl has been distressed by the uncertainty of not having a permanent home, despite having a foster family who very much wanted to be her long-term carers.
‘While I understand the council’s desire to place the situation with the foster family on a more solid footing, the distress caused to the girl by her very real fear of being pulled out of that caring family environment should have been taken seriously.’
Hillingdon Council said it would double the £500 it was asked to pay the foster family to mitigate for the stress and uncertainty caused to the girl.
Chief executive Fran Beasley said: ‘We are sorry for the delay that occurred in this case and we have apologised to the child and their carers. We will ensure that they receive any support that may be needed.
‘The council has now addressed the issues raised in the report to the satisfaction of the LGO and made improvements to the service to ensure that it is not repeated.’
