2026-07-01 21:48:46
I fostered with Five Rivers for many years, caring for children with enhanced and complex needs. My early experience with the agency was generally good, making the events leading to my resignation particularly disappointing.
My concerns relate to support during challenging placements, communication and transparency, financial transparency, training, and the way allegations and Standards of Care (SOC) investigations were managed.
When placements became increasingly complex, I did not feel the level of professional support matched the needs of either the children or my fostering household. Requests for additional support were not addressed, leaving us feeling isolated during difficult periods.
Communication often lacked transparency. I found that carers were not always clearly informed of the nature of concerns or allegations at the outset of an investigation and, in my experience, often only became aware of the detail of the investigation when an appointment was...
2025-05-25 21:15:25
Havering are discriminative and lack transparency. We have never experienced any such behaviour in all our years of fostering and would not advise anyone to join this local authority until there is an improvement . At the moment they are rated as unsatisfactory with Ofsted for obvious reasons. I mistakenly recommended friends to join but after our own experience with them I would advise against it.