The AFS complies with the requirements laid out by the Children Act 1989 and the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 and the following are undertaken prior to recommendation for approval:

• The Form F assessment report, excluding all references, will be shared with you and then presented to an independent fostering panel.
• The panel makes recommendations about the suitability of an applicant to be approved as foster carer with the AFS.
• The AFS Director receives the recommendations of the fostering panel, and on behalf of the agency, makes the final decision about approval.
• The applicants are informed verbally and in writing about the agency decision.

The complete assessment and approval process generally takes 4-6 months on an average and every efforts is made to avoid all unnecessary delays. All information obtained during the assessment process about the prospective foster carers is kept confidentially in a file. On request this file can be viewed, except all third party information, which are provided in confidence, cannot be seen.