Foster carers provide an extremely important role in the support and care they give for children in care. Becoming a foster carer is challenging and require a lot of time, dedication and skill development. The journey to becoming a foster carer is ongoing and you must continue to learn, grow and can cope with the challenges that occur in fostering. Once you have been approved as a foster carer, you must complete fostering TSD standards as part of your induction into foster care. TSD stands for Training, Support and Development and TSD standards exist to create a national standard for foster carers to meet, understand and action. At Fostering Dimensions we make sure all of our foster carers complete a Training, Standards and Development portfolio and support them in doing so, allowing them to reach their full potential, provide quality care and make a positive difference in a foster child’s life.
The seven fostering TSD standards
Fostering TSD (Training, Support and Development) standards were set up to create a national benchmark for all foster carers in England, setting out everything they should understand and be able to do within the first 12 – 18 months of becoming a foster carer. Designed to make sure all foster carers receive sufficient training and support and consistent development throughout their fostering journey, TSD standards cover seven key areas. Each standard must be understood to complete training and identify what it means to be a foster carer:
Understand the principles and values essential for fostering children and young people
In this section, you will be required to demonstrate with evidence that you have principles and values of equality, person-centred approaches and confidentiality. These principles are essential to become a successful foster carer.
Understand your role as a foster carer
This standard requires you to understand your role as a foster carer and be aware of laws, policies and procedures relating to foster care. You must also demonstrate your understanding of the importance of friends and family relationships for young people. You must be organised to create a stable environment for your foster child and know how to work in a team, demonstrating awareness of the team of people that contribute to the care of your foster child. Finally, you must be aware of the protocol of making a complaint or compliment with your foster agency.
Understand health and safety, and healthy care
This section of fostering TSD standards covers the health and safety of your foster child. You must demonstrate awareness of health and safety procedures, make your home a place of safety and put health and safety procedures in place e.g. preventing any fire hazards. Personal safety and security and risk assessment procedures are also essential when it comes to understanding health and safety. Finally, you must understand and show care for your child’s physical, mental and emotional health.
Know how to communicate effectively
Communication is key when it comes to fostering and having good communication skills will help you become a better foster carer. Encouraging communication will help the relationship with your foster child. You must demonstrate this as well as learn effective ways of communicating with young people. Communication with parents, family, friends and organisations is also essential for the quality of your child’s life. Recording communications between organisations such as your foster agency and your child’s school is also important.
Understand the development of children and young people
This fostering TSD standard is split into eight sections: understanding attachments and stages of development, understanding resilience, being aware of transitions, support play, activities and learning, support educational potential, understanding contexts, promoting sexual health and sexual identity and finally, supporting disabled children and children with special emotional needs.
Keep children and young people safe from harm
When it comes to keeping your foster child safe from harm, it is essential to demonstrate awareness of legislations and policies that support this. You must demonstrate your knowledge of keeping children safe, recognising and responding to abuse, working with other agencies and whistle-blowing.
Develop yourself
Self-development is essential for all foster carers. This is a vocation that is constantly changing, with new experiences occurring every day. You must demonstrate the changes you have made to understand your role as a foster carer and the impact it has had on your life. You must also be aware of the impact of foster care on other family members, utilise the support and supervision to develop your role and meet learning needs as part of your continued development.
How do I complete fostering TSD standards?
Fostering TSD standards must be evidenced and completed in the form of a portfolio. Within this portfolio, you must provide evidence that proves you have understood and carried out the seven fostering TSD standards as a foster carer. Evidence will naturally vary between each of the seven standards depending on the topic, but there should be at least one piece of evidence per standard outcome. For example, standard 5 includes supporting the educational potential of your foster child. You can choose to present your evidence in paragraph or bullet point form, explaining how you have actioned the standard target. For example, you could say you have helped your child with homework, encouraged them to attend after school clubs or attended meetings with teachers to monitor their educational progress. Providing a range of points as evidence will ensure you have completely understood and actioned the importance of each standard. Your social worker will asses each standard in your portfolio once completed and sign it off.
As your foster care provider, the team of dedicated workers at Fostering Dimensions would support you, explaining the standards and helping you develop in any areas of development necessary. You are not alone when it comes to completing your fostering TSD standards portfolio. When you foster with Fostering Dimensions, you will be provided with a personal social worker. We know how easy it is to feel stressed, overwhelmed and unsure of what is expected from your fostering TSD portfolio. Our social workers are dedicated to aiding you in any fostering difficulty you may have, including the completion of any training course or qualification. Along with fostering TSD workbooks, the Department for Education also provides guides for foster carers to help you complete your portfolio.
Fostering training courses
At Fostering Dimensions, we know how important continuous training courses are, no matter how much foster care experience you have. Whether you’re completely new to fostering or have been a foster carer for years, there is always room to learn more so you can be the best foster carer possible. We offer a range of training courses to supply you with a wealth of knowledge in all areas of fostering. Some of the training course available when you foster with Fostering Dimensions are safeguarding, self-harm and managing challenging behaviours and safe handling to name just a few. Training is available in individual, group and online settings, making it accessible for all.
At Fostering Dimensions, we know that as well as fostering TSD standards, your wellbeing as a foster carer is important too. Our team is highly experienced in foster care and know how difficult it can be, that’s why we’re here to help you through any fostering problem or query you may have. We provide access to support groups, counselling sessions and social events and many other benefits to make your time as a foster carer positive. If you’re thinking of becoming a foster carer or need support completing your fostering TSD portfolio, contact us today.