--- title: SSW Contact with Children Procedure description: "**Purpose and Principles** This procedure outlines how Supervising Social Workers (SSWs) build and maintain safe, trusting, and consistent relationships with foster children and with foster carers’ own children. It reflects the Positive Aspirations Group’s commitment to trauma-informed practice, recognising that…" url: "https://handbook.co.uk/docs/ssw-contact-with-children-procedure/" updated: "2026-10-20" category: Social Work Procedures tags: - Contact --- # SSW Contact with Children Procedure **Purpose and Principles** This procedure outlines how Supervising Social Workers (SSWs) build and maintain safe, trusting, and consistent relationships with foster children and with foster carers’ own children. It reflects the Positive Aspirations Group’s commitment to trauma-informed practice, recognising that every interaction with a child has the potential to be supportive and healing. SSWs play a key role in helping children feel seen, heard, and valued. The relationship should be grounded in respect, reliability, empowerment, and emotional safety. --- **Relationships with Fostered Children and Foster Carers’ Own Children** • SSWs should establish meaningful, safe, and professional relationships with both fostered children and foster carers’ own children. • Reports show that fostered children often have more continuity with their SSW than with their Local Authority Social Worker (LASW). These ongoing relationships can provide stability, reassurance, and consistency — all of which are vital for children who may have experienced trauma, loss, or disruption. • SSWs should create opportunities for birth children who foster to talk privately and safely about their experiences and any worries or concerns about fostering. These conversations should be approached with curiosity, empathy, and without judgement. --- **Regular Contact and Child-Focused Visits** Every other month, the home visit will focus specifically on the child/ren, and a supervisory template will be completed on Base. • This visit is an important opportunity for the SSW to spend time with the child and to check how they are feeling about their home, relationships, and daily life. • SSWs should use active listening and a calm, strengths-based approach to help children feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. • Visits should be conducted in a way that minimises anxiety or feelings of being assessed — focusing instead on relationship-building and empowerment. --- **Progress Summaries and Communication with Children** Each Progress Summary (PS) completed for the child includes a section addressed to the child. SSWs should complete this thoughtfully and meaningfully, using positive and encouraging language that celebrates the child’s achievements and voice. • After the full PS is completed, the section written to the child is automatically emailed by Base. SSWs should take time to go through this with the child, helping them understand what is written and inviting their views. • This is also an opportunity to explore the child’s own goals, ambitions, and interests (“their spark”), so that their strengths and aspirations can guide future planning. • SSWs must record the child’s comments on Base with the same date as the PS, so that their voice appears alongside the professional record. This reinforces that their views are valued and recorded with equal importance. --- **Celebrating Children and Relationship Recognition** SSWs should buy birthday and Christmas (or, where appropriate, other festival) presents to a value of approximately £10 per present for fostered children and the foster carers’ own children with whom they have an established relationship. • Presents can be purchased using a PA Group credit card or the SSW will be reimbursed with a valid receipt. • This gesture recognises the child’s individuality, promotes belonging, and helps maintain a nurturing, consistent relationship. --- **Supporting Children’s Rights to Speak and Be Heard** SSWs must ensure that all foster children understand their right to raise concerns or make a complaint without fear of blame, punishment, or negative consequences. • SSWs should explicitly identify themselves as a safe and appropriate person for the child to talk to about worries or complaints. • Conversations about rights should be framed in a reassuring, child-friendly, and empowering way, reinforcing that being heard is part of being cared for. --- **Children’s and Young People’s Guide** Each child should receive a copy of the relevant agency **Children’s or Young People’s Guide**, and SSWs should go through it with them in a supportive and interactive way. • SSWs should ensure that children understand the information in the guide, taking time to explain rights, routines, and key contacts. • Children who can sign the signature page should do so, and it should be uploaded to Base. • A digital version is available on the agency website so that children, foster carers, and their families can access it at any time. • If the guide is required in a different language, format, or accessible version, the SSW should contact Support Services, who can provide alternatives. --- **Health Passports and Promoting Wellbeing** Children aged 5 and above should be made aware of the **PA Group Health Passport**, which Support Services send to the foster carer when a new child is placed. • For younger children, foster carers will manage and update the passport with details of appointments, medication, and illnesses. • Older children should be encouraged and supported by the SSW to take an active role in maintaining their own Health Passport as part of developing independence and health awareness. • The SSW will check the passport at each supervision visit and tick the box on the Base Supervision Record to confirm it has been seen. • Health Passport discussions should be approached as a collaborative and empowering activity, helping the child build self-confidence and ownership of their wellbeing. --- **Time with Children Away from the Family Home** SSWs should, when appropriate and with consent, spend time with children away from the family home. This can help the child feel more at ease and able to express themselves freely. • Reasonable costs associated with these activities will be reimbursed. If unsure about what is considered reasonable, the SSW should check with their Manager. • These outings should be child-led, supportive, and purposeful — designed to strengthen trust and promote emotional wellbeing. --- **Guide to safe working with children and young people** ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ requires all organisations to have a culture of safeguarding and vigilance. When working 1-1 with children it is your duty to keep them safe. To be an effective practitioner, you need to feel safe, secure and supported by PA Group. With this in mind please make yourself conversant with the content of our lone working policy and in addition follow the guidelines below. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect children. If you are working alone with children, you need to take steps to ensure they are safe. **Letting other people know** Before a 1-1 session with a child away from the foster home, make sure the foster carer knows where you will be, at what time and the plan for the session. They know the child well and so you should use their guidance to risk assess your activities. When you are planning a 1-1 with a child you should **always** let your manager know about the finalised plan in advance so that you are operating within the lone working policy. If you take children out without letting anyone know, you are placing yourself at risk with no back up should an emergency occur or an allegation is made against you. **Agreements** Before working alone with a child or young person, it’s a good idea to arrange a meeting with them and the foster carer. - Agree what activities you will do and what will happen during sessions. - Let the child know what they can do if they have any concerns about the sessions. - Explain who you will share information with and when you may not be able to keep information confidential. - Talk about any support the child or young person may need from their foster carer. - Always confirm that you have the most up to date information regarding a child’s health, medical conditions, emergency contacts and GP details **Supervision** You must make sure children are properly supervised at all times. Think about what you will do if you need extra support, for example if a child is ill, injured or needs to go to the bathroom. Have a plan in place to cover emergencies and be prepared for the unexpected. **Behaviour** In order to reduce risks from the child becoming heightened or dysregulated whilst you are out with them you should complete the E-Learning courses on behaviour management and positive parenting. If you are undertaking a larger piece of work than a supervisory session then it will also be helpful to complete the PACE training course on the same site. Always behave appropriately, safely and professionally when you are around children. This will help make sure everyone feels comfortable and protected. - Set appropriate boundaries and do not be overly familiar - Never give children your personal contact details. If you need to arrange meeting times, do this via the carers and use your work phone - Never make inappropriate jokes or comments to or around children. - Don’t add, follow or interact with children or young people on your personal social media account/s. - Any physical contact must be appropriate, justifiable, approached sensitively and agreed to by the child. Consider implementing behaviour codes setting out how you will behave and how you expect the children you work with to behave. You can share these with children, parents and carers before you start working with the child. **Recording information** You must upload a record of your session onto Base as soon as possible. Remembering that in order to count as a supervisory visit, you MUST either pick the child up from the foster home or drop them back there after your session, going inside the home to check all is well and to hand the child back to the foster parent. **Emergencies** It is important that you have all necessary contact details in case of emergency. ***If you are taking children out on your own it is mandatory to complete a first aid course so that you will be able to administer first aid should an accident happen.  *** You should also make sure that children know what to do and who to contact in an emergency just in case you get separated or it is you that needs help! There should always be a working phone accessible to both you and children. **Assessing Risk** It is important to be aware of the risks involved in your work with children and young people. You should carry out a mental **and** verbal risk assessment with the foster parent and your manager. This will allow you to take steps to manage and mitigate the risks you or the child may encounter. Make sure you consider: - the type of activity - the behaviour and abilities of the child - any special medical needs - the suitability of the location. Make sure you know where the fire exits are and the evacuation plan for the building. During an activity you should continuously be aware of and assess your surroundings and the child’s emotional state, this will help you to re-evaluate if necessary, ending the session early or changing venue or the activity to reduce risk. This is termed a ‘dynamic’ risk assessment allowing you to make safety decisions based on current circumstances. **Choosing a venue** Choosing a suitable venue for working alone with children is an important part of making them feel safe and protecting yourself. - If in the child’s room, keep the door open and do not position yourself between the child and their exit should they feel the need to leave the room. - Do not sit on the child’s bed as this can make them feel uncomfortable or even at risk. - When out in the community, make sure you can always access a working phone in case of emergency. - Choose somewhere easily accessible for the children or young people and yourself. **Transporting children** When travelling with children and young people in your car, their safety is your responsibility. If you are transporting children you have a duty of care to ensure that the vehicle used to transport them is both legal and roadworthy. - Provide HR with the insurance and MOT certificates as soon as requested - Children will usually sit in the back of a car unless there are risks that indicate the front is safer. This should be discussed with the foster carer and your manager. - It is a legal requirement and the responsibility of the driver that children are secured in an age appropriate, correctly fitting car seat. - If the child is too tall for a car seat then the adult seat belt must fit them correctly and not be across their neck. - The child must be secured with a belt/s at all times whilst in your car There is a car seat fact sheet available from: [RoSPA](https://www.rospa.com/), [Child Car Seats](http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/) For more information: [Child car seats: the law](https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules), [Think](https://www.think.gov.uk/)