Understanding the importance of a Statement of Purpose for a foster care business, and what the documents are required to include.

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
And Why Your Foster Care
Business Needs one
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2. A guide to help you understand what is
required within a Statement of Purpose, and
the importance of it for your foster care
business.
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3. Why You Need a Statement of Purpose
If you are setting up a foster care agency, you will need to register with Ofsted
as a Child Services Provider. Part of this includes providing a clear and succinct
Statement of Purpose.
A Statement of Purpose is a document that provides information about an
agency and the services it provides to foster carers, children, young people,
parents, and other professionals.
Ideally, your Statement of Purpose should be reviewed and updated annually,
and be easily accessible upon request.
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4. The Core Basics
As well as Ofsted, The Care Standards Act 2000 requires all fostering service
providers to produce a Statement of Purpose which states the range of
services the agency provides.
The Statement of Purpose should always meet the requirements of:
• Care Standards Act 2000
• The National Minimum Standards (2011)
• The Foster Service Regulations (2011)
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5. Though every foster care business will operate in
slightly different ways; we recommend that you
consider including the following sections in your
Statement of Purpose.
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6. Introduction
In this section you may want to clarify why you have drafted a
Statement of Purpose and which ‘requirements’ it meets (refer to
‘acts’ in the previous slide).
It is a good idea to outline what you are going to include in your
Statement of Purpose in this section, as well as provide details of any
recent Ofsted results, if you have them.
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7. Mission Statement
A mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of a
company or organisation.
It is not necessary to include one in your Statement of Purpose, but it
is an effective way of highlighting your company’s core beliefs, without
having to go into too much detail.
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8. Values and Objectives/ Goals
In this section, you will have the opportunity to write about your business’s
values and goals in greater detail. Foster care services literally transform lives,
so it is important to translate your beliefs, as accurately as possible here.
Here are a few example points you may wish to consider:
• Provide a responsive and supportive 24 hour service for foster carers.
• Ensure careful matching of a child’s needs and desires.
• Recruit and retain foster carers from a range of backgrounds.
• Promote a healthy lifestyle for young people.
• Offer on-going learning and professional development of the agency.
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9. Management of the Staffing Structure
Provide a clear explanation of who exactly is going to help run your business,
and what role they will have.
Are you going to have an office manager? A placement manager? Have you
thought about getting any social workers on board?
Consider presenting the ‘structure’ of your staffing team in a simple
infographic. Websites such as ‘canva’ and ‘piktochat’ are easy to use.
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10. Agency Standards of Care
This will make up the bulk of your Statement of Purpose. You may wish to
break it down into further sub-categories, as there is likely to be a lot of
information.
Consider:
• Physical Environment
• Boundary Setting
• Health Care
• Education
• Contact with Friends & Relatives
• Complaints & Protection
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11. Support
Ensure that you discuss the support your agency will offer to both the
young people and the foster carers. We recommend that you explain
this in two separate sections.
As well as this, consider writing about how you will ‘match’ children to
an appropriate foster family, or how you will train carers and help
maintain relationships that are smooth and beneficial for both parties.
Think about creating a separate section titled ‘Training and Support’.
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12. Additional Information
The ‘gov.uk’ website will provide you with further information and documents
about The National Minimum Standards act (2011) etc, and what your
Statement of Purpose will require.
There are a number of foster care agencies based in the UK and the majority
of their websites provide you with a link to their own Statement of Purpose. It
is a good idea to look at a few examples before drafting your own.
Ensure that your Statement of Purpose is unique to your business, and your
values and objectives.
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www.tcipathway.co.uk

13. Everything starts with a conversation, so let’s talk:
Safaraz Ali
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/safaraz
Twitter Handle: @SafarazAli
Tel: 0121 707 0550
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www.tcipathway.co.uk