[This course will take you about 1 hour to complete.]

Having clear and accurate notes that you and your team can refer to can be incredibly useful. They can help identify patterns, perhaps highlighting areas in which a foster child needs additional support, or pointing towards a particular diagnosis. These documents might also be something the foster child wishes to access later in their life, helping them to piece together their identity and reflect on their history.
Maintaining accurate foster carer records is also important for you, the carer. They can be used in your supervision meetings with your Supervising Social Worker. These records also provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges, triumphs, and progress that you and your foster children are making. Additionally, they could potentially offer protection in the event of allegations made against you.

NB: This course doesn't cover records in the context of Parent and Child fostering. There are different expectations for these. Please refer to the 'Introduction to Parent and Child fostering' course for more information on this topic.

In this course, you will learn:
- Why you need to have foster carer records
- Why they are important
- How to write them
- What to record and what not to record
- What you need to know in terms of confidentiality.