THE Local Government Ombudsman has rapped Herefordshire Council for the way it dealt with complaints over a foster care placement.

A foster carer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raised concerns over how the council failed to correctly assess the needs of the child and did not put the child’s needs first.

The council did not adequately address the impact of its action on the foster carer, her family and the child, she says.

And the council’s actions caused avoidable distress and financial loss to her.

The ombudsman says it has found fault by the council and the local authority has agreed a remedy to address the injustice.

“The injustice caused by the delays in the complaint handling are frustration, distress and time and trouble taken by the woman in progressing her complaint,” the ombudsman report reads.

“I have found fault by the council in this matter and the council has agreed a remedy to address the injustice caused.”

The carer felt offence and distress at the way her and her husband were treated by the council.

She says there was a lack of communication from the council and apparent bias against her by some council officers.

She also said the council refused to help with support to manage the child’s attachment and trauma issues.

She also self-funded a therapeutic parenting course to learn how to best assist the child and converted one of her rooms into an extra bedroom to provide enough space to accommodate them.

The council has apologised to the carer and child and says it has improved its processes and recruited more social workers and reduced caseloads.

It has also provided training to social workers and arranged for further training to be delivered.

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The council says the carer is entitled to receive support for herself and the child and can be assessed for additional direct support through the Adoption Support Fund.

Changes have also been made to the way children’s services complaints are handled and the council has updated the foster carers handbook, so it now includes a whistleblowing policy.

The council has also offered the carer £500 for the time and trouble in dealing with the complaint.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “We greatly value the work of all of our foster carers and the difference they make to the lives of children and young people in the county.

“We recognise that in this particular case we had failed to adequately undertake care planning and failed to support the complainant in line with our policies.

“We have upheld this complaint throughout the complaints process and have also sought to assure the complainant that we have taken steps to improve our practice and offer an improved support service.

“The ombudsman has confirmed they are satisfied with the evidence provided by the council that demonstrates the implementation of these improvements that will help to ensure that our service does not fall below the required standard in the future.”