Foster Carer Assessment and Form F in Wales: What to Expect

The assessment is the part of the fostering process that stops most people before they even begin. "What will they ask?" "What if they find out about my past?" "What does a social worker coming into my house actually mean for our family?"

These questions are not just nerves — they are the result of a process that nobody explains clearly until you are already in it. Here is a plain account of what the fostering assessment in Wales involves, from Stage 1 checks through to the panel decision.

The Two-Stage Structure

The fostering approval process in Wales is divided into two formal stages, both governed by the fostering regulations that came into force in 2018 and 2019 under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.

Stage 1 gathers factual information and completes safety checks. Stage 2 is the in-depth assessment. You cannot start Stage 2 until Stage 1 is satisfactorily completed.

Stage 1: The Checks

Stage 1 is paperwork-heavy but not subjective. Its purpose is to establish that you are legally eligible and that no automatic bars exist.

Enhanced DBS check: Every adult in your household must have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check, which includes a search of the children's barred list. This is not the basic DBS check used for employment — it is the most detailed level available. Applications go through the Disclosure and Barring Service, and your fostering agency handles the submission.

Medical assessment: You attend your GP for a full health assessment. The resulting report is reviewed by the agency's independent medical adviser, who advises on whether any health conditions are likely to affect your ability to care for a child. This is not a fitness test — it is an assessment of support needs and risk.

Personal references: The agency requires at least three personal references. They will also seek references from former significant partners and from employers or organisations where you have worked with children or vulnerable adults. Honesty matters here — the agency will cross-reference what referees say against what you disclose yourself.

Local authority checks: The agency requests information from children's services departments in any local authority where you have lived. This captures any prior involvement with social services — as a parent, as a child, or in any other capacity.

Most Stage 1 checks take between six and eight weeks. The DBS is usually the rate-limiting factor.

Stage 2: The Form F Assessment

The Form F — formally the CoramBAAF Prospective Foster Carer Report — is the standard assessment tool used across Wales and England. It is conducted by a qualified social worker through a series of structured interviews, typically held at your home over a period of several months.

The Form F is a two-way process. The social worker is building a professional picture of you, but you are also developing your own understanding of whether fostering is right for your household.

What the Assessment Covers

Your personal history: The social worker will ask about your own childhood — what kind of parenting you experienced, any significant traumas or losses, and how those experiences have shaped who you are. This is not an interrogation. Acknowledging difficulty is a sign of self-awareness, which is exactly what the assessment is looking for.

Family dynamics and relationships: If you have a partner, the social worker will assess your relationship's stability and your shared understanding of what fostering will involve. If you have biological children, they will be spoken to separately — their views on fostering are part of the picture.

Motivations and expectations: Why do you want to foster? What do you think a child coming to you will be like? How will you manage the day a child leaves? The assessment probes whether your motivations are realistic and whether you have thought through the emotional demands.

Skills and experience: Parenting experience, work with young people, volunteering, and even managing adversity in your own life all count as relevant evidence.

Home safety inspection: The social worker will walk through your home and assess it for practical safety — fire safety measures, storage of medications and cleaning products, sleeping arrangements, and the suitability of space for a child.

The Written Report

At the end of Stage 2, the social worker produces a comprehensive written report. Under Welsh regulations, you are invited to read the report and given the opportunity to respond to anything you feel is inaccurate or incomplete before it goes to panel. You sign the report to confirm you have seen it.

The Fostering Panel

Your case then goes to a Fostering Panel, a body convened under the Fostering Panels (Establishment and Functions) (Wales) Regulations 2018.

A properly constituted Welsh fostering panel must include:

• An independent chair — someone with significant social care experience who is not employed by the agency
• At least one qualified social worker with three or more years of post-qualifying experience
• For local authority panels, at least one elected councillor
• Independent members, which may include care-experienced adults or foster carers from other agencies

The panel is quorate when five members are present. You are usually invited to attend the beginning of the meeting, where you can answer questions directly. The panel then makes its recommendation after you have left the room.

The panel does not make the final decision. It makes a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) — a senior officer within the fostering service who reviews the recommendation and the full assessment report before issuing the legal determination.

What Happens if You Are Not Approved

If the ADM's decision is negative, you have the right to challenge it through the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) for Wales. This is a formal process in which an independent panel reviews your case. You can request a review within 28 days of receiving the decision letter.

How Long Does the Assessment Take?

From initial enquiry to panel decision, most applicants in Wales are approved within four to six months. The timeline depends on how quickly checks return and how often assessment sessions can be scheduled around your availability.

If you want a thorough walkthrough of both the assessment itself and what comes after — the National Commitment package, the Induction Framework, and how financial support is calculated — the Wales Fostering Approval Guide covers every stage in the context of Welsh law and the current Foster Wales system.

The assessment is designed to build a professional relationship, not to find reasons to say no. Preparation is the best thing you can do — not to perform, but to think clearly about what you are offering and what you will need.

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