CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) - FOSTERING ROTHERHAM STATEMENT

Last updated: March 2022

The Prime Minister outlined the next steps for living with COVID. Now that many of the remaining legal requirements have come to an end, it’s important to remember that COVID is not gone.

RMBC employees will still be taking careful steps to ensure that meeting people is managed safely, face coverings will be worn in busy indoor areas and staff are regularly washing their hands.

National 'Living with COVID' strategy

The Government’s Living with COVID strategy has now launched. Here is an overview of the measures now in place:

As of, Thursday 24 February 2022:

People who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer be legally required to self-isolate, however, you will still be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with others for at least five full days.
Routine contact tracing will end, so fully vaccinated close contacts and those under 18 will no longer be legally required to test daily for seven days.

Home visits

RMBC staff will be available to visit you at home to undertake assessment work. Our staff will remain vigilant and if they are unwell, a visit will be re-arranged. We would kindly ask that should you have a planned visit but you feel unwell or someone in your household is unwell, we would expect you to contact your social worker and make arrangements for an alternative date. This will keep everyone safe and avoid the spread of Covid 19.

We would still encourage you to keep your home ventilated during a visit and if you prefer for a member of staff to wear a mask whilst visiting you at home, this can be arranged.

At RMBC we continue to work in a hybrid way, and we are able to be flexible around your current needs. Your social worker can talk to you about arranging a virtual visit if this is deemed necessary but, we would hope to continue with face to face visits for the remainder of your assessment. It is a requirement that your social worker is able to visit your home and undertake an assessment, specially to observe the spare bedroom you aim to provide a foster child with.

Training

Currently we are running a mix of face to face and virtual training for Skills to Foster which you will complete as part of your ongoing assessment. Our face to face training sessions take place in a room with sufficient space and ventilation. If you have any questions or worries about this, please speak with your social worker.

Further information and general guidance