Lancashire County Council: Pause and Reflect fostering arrangements

The model ensures same-day homes are identified, avoids costly out of area residential care, and promotes child empowerment. Results include improved stability, emotional wellbeing, and over £1.5 million in savings. Sustained through multi-disciplinary collaboration and continuous feedback, PAR has become a best-practice approach, enhancing foster carer retention and transforming emergency care into a more nurturing, child-centered experience.

In 2022, a collaborative and reflective exploration of the lived experiences of foster carers and care-experienced children highlighted two practice challenges: improving retention of experienced foster carers by recognising and valuing their skills, and offering an assessment model for children needing care, particularly those with significantly complex needs who often face limited care provision choices. 

As development work continued into 2023, fostering sufficiency remained a daily challenge to ensure Lancashire's children were matched with the right fostering families at the right time.

The council developed the PAR model, an enhanced fostering arrangement that: 

• provides up to 28 days of emergency foster care for children often with complex needs, enabling an assessment period to better understand the child’s needs before identifying a longer-term home
• selects experienced foster carers who undergo an additional application process and receive enhanced financial offers and intensive support packages, including regular visits from social workers, therapeutic input, and planned breaks
• enables children to move into the fostering PAR home on the same day they require fostering, avoiding unregulated or expensive emergency home provision
• promotes child empowerment by allowing children time to reduce dysregulation and express their needs in a nurturing environment, supporting calmer, more proactive planning
• fosters close multi-disciplinary collaboration and regular professional review meetings to adapt support and plan next steps for each child.

Children in Lancashire who need emergency accommodation now have the option of a 28-day assessment period within a supportive and nurturing foster home, rather than a children's home. This initiative allows children to be seen, and their needs understood outside of a crisis moment, enabling proactive rather than reactive matching. This ensures the right home is available for these children at the right time, a rare opportunity amidst national fostering service challenges where children often have limited choices and remain in homes out of necessity rather than suitability.

The PAR initiative provides children, foster carers, and professionals the breathing space to consider and plan the next steps for the child in a calm, open, and prepared manner. This ensures children are emotionally ready to engage with their longer-term care plans, reducing the likelihood of further moves and the associated feelings of loss and rejection.

Experienced foster carers have a development pathway that recognises their skills and knowledge, allowing them to fully commit to the fostering role and meet more complex needs. This recognition and financial model encourage retention at a time of national challenges in recruiting and retaining foster carers.

Creating lasting stability

• positive experiences: many young people had positive experiences with their PAR carers, feeling settled, relaxed, and well-supported.
• fostering meaningful connections: strong relationships were often formed between the children and their PAR carers, with some children expressing a desire to stay longer.
• informed and individualised care: the PAR arrangement allowed professionals to better understand the needs of the children, which helped in finding suitable long-term homes.
• out of 30 children placed in PAR arrangements in year 2024/25, 96 per cent achieved stability in their next home.

Delivering value through innovation

• PAR arrangements led to significant financial savings, with one example showing a saving of £8,791.60 over 13 days.
• all residential homes post-PAR were low or medium cost, avoiding high-cost emergency home provision.
• total saving of over £1.5 million to date. 

Smarter planning, better matches

• PAR arrangements allowed for better-informed care planning, improved child participation, and more suitable long-term matches.
• regular meetings involving carers and professionals were seen as beneficial for discussing strategies and tracking progress.
• the model reduced reliance on unregistered homes and emergency high-cost home provision.

The PAR provision highlights that with the right approach, recognising both the child's needs and the fostering cohort's experience, no child should need an unregulated care arrangement in an emergency. Children in crisis need space to breathe and express their true needs, suggesting that similar reflective practices could be explored in all fostering provisions in Lancashire.

Experienced and skilled foster carers feel empowered and valued when recognised for their knowledge and given opportunities to make a difference for children whose needs may appear complex on paper, and who are therefore often overlooked in the matching process.

Further development of the service is needed based on feedback from children and carers who have experienced PAR arrangements. This includes increasing awareness of PAR and tailoring support to consider the trauma responses of children who may struggle with increased professional presence due to previous experiences.

In conclusion, Lancashire County Council's PAR fostering arrangements represent a significant innovation in fostering services, providing essential support and stability for children with complex needs while recognising and valuing the skills of experienced foster carers. This initiative not only improves outcomes for children but also presents a sustainable and cost-effective model for fostering services.

Simon became known to Children’s Social Care (CSC) at age 13 following a missing episode. He disclosed emotional and physical harm within the family home. A police investigation followed, though no arrests were made. Simon consistently expressed that he did not feel safe returning home.

Attempts to explore kinship options were unsuccessful. His mother cited concerns about past exploitation, and his father declined involvement due to the nature of the allegations. Wider family members, including his grandmother, a friend, and his great aunt, were unable to provide stable care due to Simon's emotional needs and repeated missing episodes.

Simon was found sleeping rough after being excluded from school and told he could not return home. This was a deeply concerning situation that prompted immediate attention from both police and children's social care (CSC). Recognising the urgency and vulnerability of his circumstances, professionals worked together to ensure his safety while exploring potential family-based solutions. Despite efforts to engage extended family, no viable options could be secured. CSC therefore sought emergency accommodation through a PAR fostering arrangement, ensuring Simon was cared for in a safe and supportive environment.

Simon went to live with PAR carers Bob and Sue. This marked a turning point. The carers provided a warm, structured, and trauma-informed environment where Simon felt safe and respected. Within 48 hours, a Home Planning Meeting was held, and a referral was made to Lancashire County Councils therapeutic service for care experienced children. Weekly visits from the social worker and supervising social worker ensured close monitoring and responsive care planning.

Simon responded positively to the predictability and emotional containment offered. He engaged with routines, communicated openly, and began to regulate his emotions. His behaviour stabilised, and his strengths of resilience, reflection, and a desire for connection became more visible.

The stability provided by the PAR home enabled a thorough and child-centred family finding process. The Family Finding Team identified a family for Simon. As newly approved carers they were initially hesitant due to Simon’s age and background, however with the understanding gathered in respect of Simon and his needs due to time in a PAR fostering arrangement they were able to be reassured and agreed to a one-week trial period of care to assess compatibility.

This short-term arrangement allowed Simon and the carers to build rapport in a low-pressure environment. Simon responded well to the warmth and structure offered, and the carers quickly recognised his capacity to engage and form attachments. They extended their commitment beyond the initial week and have continued to care for Simon on a task-centred basis with a view to permanence.

Sue and Bob played a key role in supporting a positive and well-managed transition. Simon was actively involved in discussions about the move and entered his new home with reassurance and preparation.

Simon has remained in the care of the fostering family identified and continues to thrive. He is engaging positively with education, participating in routines, and building secure attachments. His emotional wellbeing has improved significantly, and he is demonstrating increased confidence, self-awareness, and hope for the future.

The carers have expressed a strong willingness to continue supporting Simon long-term. The stability of this home has allowed Simon to begin envisioning a future beyond crisis. He is now in an environment where his needs are understood, his voice is respected, and his potential is being nurtured.

Simon’s journey demonstrates the effectiveness of the PAR model in stabilising young people in crisis and enabling thoughtful, evidence-based planning. The structured support, therapeutic input, and professional collaboration embedded in the PAR framework directly contributed to Simon’s positive journey.

The PAR process encouraged close collaboration between social work teams, and all key professional relating to Simon's care and day to day needs. Regular review meetings, shared planning, and clear escalation pathways ensured Simon’s needs were consistently prioritised and decisions were made in a timely and coordinated manner.

Simon’s case provides compelling evidence for the continued use and development of the PAR model as a best practice approach for children with complex needs. With the right compassion, support and environment, even the most challenging care journeys can lead to positive, lasting outcomes and a brighter future.

Emma Bottomley

Fostering Team Manager I Resilience, Development & Sufficiency (Fostering Family Finding and Mockingbird), Lancashire County Council

Email: [email protected]