Can you foster with a criminal record?

The short answer

Having a criminal record does not, on its own, stop you becoming a foster carer. The Fostering Network, the national fostering charity, says a criminal conviction does not necessarily disqualify an applicant, and that services look at the circumstances of the crime, how long ago it happened and the type of offence. Council fostering teams say the same: East Sussex County Council, for example, tells enquirers that a criminal record held by you or your partner does not necessarily mean you cannot foster, and that it depends on the nature of the offence.

There is, however, a firm line. In England the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 list specified offences which mean a person is not suitable to be a foster parent, and the same applies if the offence was committed by any adult who lives in the household. These are mainly offences against children and serious sexual offences. Outside that list, a record is something the service assesses rather than an automatic bar.

This guide explains where that line sits, which checks every applicant goes through, how a fostering service weighs up a past offence, and how the rules differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is general information, not legal advice about your own record: the fostering service you apply to, or a specialist charity such as Unlock, can talk through your particular circumstances.

Which offences rule you out in England

Regulation 26 of the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 sets out how prospective foster parents are assessed. Paragraph 5 says a person is not suitable to be a foster parent if they, or any member of their household aged 18 or over, has been convicted of a specified offence committed at the age of 18 or over, or has been cautioned by a police officer for such an offence. A caution counts in the same way as a conviction.

The regulation defines a specified offence as including:

• an offence against a child, as defined in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (with a narrow exception for some offences committed by someone under 20 with a young person aged 13 or over);
• any other offence involving bodily injury to a child, other than common assault or battery;
• importing goods that included indecent photographs of children under 16;
• the offences listed in Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the regulations, which include rape, assault by penetration and other serious sexual offences against adults, including adults with a mental disorder, along with equivalent offences under Scottish and Northern Irish law;
• older sexual offences against children under laws that have since been repealed, listed in Part 2 of Schedule 4.

The one narrow exception

Paragraph 8 of regulation 26 gives fostering services a limited discretion. A service may treat someone who falls within the specified offences as suitable to foster a particular child, but only if it is satisfied that the child's welfare requires it, and only where the person or a member of their household is a relative of the child, or the person is already fostering that child.

This is not a general exception. It does not allow approval to foster children in general, and it is decided child by child. In practice it matters mainly in family and friends care, where a child's relative comes forward and the service has to balance an old offence against the benefit to the child of staying within their family.

If you have an offence of this kind and you are not a relative of a particular child, the regulations mean a fostering service in England cannot approve you. It is better to know that before you begin an assessment.

Everything else: how a past offence is weighed up

Most criminal records are not specified offences. A drink-driving conviction, a caution for shoplifting as a teenager, a public order offence or an old drugs possession charge do not appear in the list. For these, the fostering service makes a judgement as part of the assessment, and the fostering panel and decision maker see that judgement.

Based on the factors The Fostering Network and councils describe, the questions an assessor is likely to explore include:

• what the offence was and whether it had anything to do with children, violence or dishonesty;
• how long ago it happened and how old you were at the time;
• whether it was a one-off or part of a pattern;
• what has changed in your life since, and how you talk about it now;
• whether the offence could affect the specific tasks of fostering, such as driving children if it was a driving offence;
• whether you told the service about it yourself, at the start.

Why honesty at the start matters most

Every applicant has a detailed criminal record check, so a record will come to light. Unlock, the charity for people with convictions, advises anyone with a caution or conviction to be open and upfront about it, and says it will be discussed at a very early stage in the application.

Raising it yourself, in the first conversation or at the initial home visit, lets the service tell you early whether it is likely to be a problem, and saves you months of assessment if it is. It also shows the openness that assessors look for in every carer. A record that was not mentioned and then appears on the check raises a question about honesty that can weigh more heavily than the offence itself.

The same applies to the adults you live with. A partner's, grown-up child's or lodger's record is checked too, and their honesty about it matters in the same way. It can help to talk to them before you make an enquiry.

The checks everyone goes through

Fostering services must carry out statutory checks on applicants and on other members of the household. The Fostering Network says these apply to people aged 18 and over, and over 16 in Scotland. The check used for fostering is the most detailed level available in each nation.

In England and Wales the check comes from the Disclosure and Barring Service. Its guidance on regulated activity with children lists registering to be a foster carer as a specified activity, and says that for these roles an enhanced DBS check with a check of the children's barred list can be requested. A person on that barred list must not do regulated activity with children.

There is no legal requirement in England to repeat criminal record checks within a set period, but The Fostering Network says services should have their own policy on how often they routinely update checks for approved carers and the adults they live with.

Criminal record checks are only one part of a much wider assessment. The Fostering Network lists other checks used alongside them, including verification of identity, public records checks, overseas checks, school references, checks on any previous applications to foster, personal, medical and employment references, and health and safety checks of the home.

Getting advice about your own record

Because so much depends on detail, the most useful step is usually a confidential conversation with the fostering team of the council or agency you are thinking of applying to, before you complete a formal application. Many council fostering pages, including East Sussex's, invite people with a record to get in touch to ask whether they meet the criteria.

If you are unsure what your own record contains, or what will appear on an enhanced check, Unlock offers information for people with convictions in England and Wales. In Scotland, Disclosure Scotland can explain how the PVG scheme works, and in Northern Ireland AccessNI explains what each level of check shows. None of these organisations makes the fostering decision: that rests with the fostering service, after a full assessment.

Across the UK

England

The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, regulation 26 and Schedule 4, set out the specified offences that make an applicant, or any household member aged 18 or over, unsuitable to foster, with a narrow exception for relatives of a particular child or a person already fostering that child. Checks are enhanced DBS checks with a children's barred list check, for applicants and household adults aged 18 and over.

Scotland

Checks come from Disclosure Scotland through the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, a five-year membership scheme under which Disclosure Scotland continuously checks members' criminal history and keeps lists of people barred from regulated roles. The Fostering Network says checks cover household members over 16 in Scotland, and that local authorities should seek up-to-date checks every two years. Scottish Government guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 says convictions will not necessarily preclude approval but need careful consideration of all the circumstances.

Wales

Wales has its own fostering regulations, made by the Welsh Government, and criminal record checks come from the Disclosure and Barring Service, as in England, using an enhanced check with a children's barred list check. Ask the Foster Wales team or agency you apply to how their regulations treat a particular offence.

Northern Ireland

Checks come from AccessNI. nidirect says an enhanced check shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, informed warnings and relevant police information, and that family members under 16 can be checked when someone applies to foster. The Foster Placement (Children) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 require the trust to obtain details of the previous convictions of the applicant and other adult members of the household, subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.

Common questions