At the Positive Aspirations Group, all Supervising Social Workers (SSWs) must ensure records are clear, up to date, saved securely, and contribute to a holistic understanding of the child’s life, experiences, and progress.
Good record keeping is central to trauma-informed practice—it promotes transparency, accountability, and trust. It supports children and young people to understand their life stories and ensures Foster Carers and professionals can reflect on and learn from the care provided.
Record keeping is a key element of how the service is delivered, assisting SSWs in planning, assessment, and decision-making processes, and in monitoring the wellbeing and progress of children and young people placed with Foster Carers.
Case recording gives structure to work so that practice remains purposeful, reflective, and child-centred. The case record should ensure that staff can account for and evidence their work, and provide a reliable source of information necessary to that work. This includes contributions from Foster Carers, factual information on the child, and SSW analysis or observations that promote understanding and empathy rather than blame.
Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards
26.5) Entries in records, decisions and reasons for them, are legible, clearly expressed, non-stigmatising, distinguish between fact, opinion and third-party information and are signed and dated.
Records should be signed and kept in date order, in the file provided by The Fostering Service, with a separate file for each child placed with you. Electronic recordings should be anonymised before sending via email.
Recording should always reflect the dignity of the child and family. Avoid language that could be perceived as judgemental or labelling. When opinions are expressed, they must be clearly identified as such and written in a respectful, balanced, and evidence-informed manner.
Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards
26.6) Information is recorded clearly in a way which will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future. Children are actively encouraged to read their files, other than necessary confidential or third-party information, and to correct errors and add personal statements.
All SSWs must ensure that recordings are written in a manner that supports a child’s sense of identity and belonging. Records are part of their story, so the tone and content should convey care, respect, and hope.
Recording Requirements
All SSWs must ensure:
- Recordings are kept up to date – this ensures an accurate reflection of events and supports consistent understanding across the professional network.
- Recordings should be made no later than 7 days from the contact, correspondence or meeting, so that details remain accurate and reliable.
- Recording must be easy to read and understand, using plain, jargon-free English. Avoid slang, acronyms, or professional shorthand that could confuse the reader or child in the future.
- Recording should be purposeful, clearly stating the reason for the visit, contact or meeting and linking back to the child’s needs, safety, and development.
- Recording must contain information essential to the purpose of the contact/visit—focus on relevance, accuracy, and impact on the child and Foster Carer.
- Recording must be accurate, ensuring that names, dates and places are spelled correctly and consistently throughout.
- Recording should be concise, clear and reflective, capturing both factual details and, where relevant, sensitive and balanced reflections on emotional tone, relationships, and progress.
- Recordings of Foster Carer supervisions must include clear analysis and actions. Previous actions should be listed and updates recorded to prevent drift or delay, especially where actions may impact placement stability or wellbeing.
- All contacts must be recorded—this includes Foster Carers, children, young people, local authority representatives, and other professionals. Each contact contributes to the overall understanding of the child’s journey.
- Each visit must indicate whether the foster child was seen, and if seen, appropriate observations should be recorded, focusing on wellbeing, safety, and lived experience rather than behavioural judgement.
- Recording should detail the quality of care provided, and note significant events in the child or foster family’s life which influence care or relationships.
- Supervision with Foster Carers must be recorded as such, using the agency supervision format as a guide. Issues of concern, recommendations and actions should be recorded with agreed next steps. Supervision recordings should routinely be shared with Foster Carers in a collaborative, transparent way that promotes reflection and shared ownership.
- The purpose of other visits must be clearly recorded, e.g., meeting with foster children, household visits, or preparation for upcoming reviews or meetings.
- The people present at any meeting must be recorded, as well as any checks undertaken (e.g., health and safety, bedroom checks, or updates to safer caring policies).
Trauma-Informed Practice Considerations
- Language: Records should always use language that conveys respect and avoids pathologising or judgemental terms.
- Empowerment: Where possible, include the child’s and Foster Carer’s views in the record to promote collaboration and shared understanding.
- Transparency: Children and Carers should be encouraged to read their records, ask questions, and make corrections where appropriate.
- Sensitivity: When recording distressing or sensitive events, describe them factually and compassionately, avoiding unnecessary detail that could retraumatise a reader in the future.
- Reflection: SSWs should use supervision to reflect on the emotional content of records, ensuring they remain balanced and professional.
