blanket approval in east lancs

[fostermumtomany]

so as all east lancs carers know we now are all being re-approved for 3 kiddies 0-18.
now i was previously approved for 1 child aged 0-4 due to lack of space. i have the lo's in a cot in my room. now i have the new approval will they give me more placements or will i still only get the one lo?
are there any other carers out there in a similar situation to me, space wise, that have more than one child placed with them?
i have 3 bedrooms but my son is in one, my 2 daughters are in another and then hubby and me in the third, with the lo we currently foster. we do have room for a second cot in our room so would they use us or not?
our ssw says not but then what is the point in being re-approved for 3 kiddies if they dont use you?
thoughts and experiences please xxx

My LA is about to do this too. I think that it's a good idea in principal as I changed from taking 1 child to taking 2 children a couple of years ago and had to go back to panel. I then very nearly had to do it again as I took a child at the upper limit of my approval who was supposedly here for 6 months, which turned into 18 months.

I see your point that you might get asked to take more, or different, placements but you should always be able to say no. (easier said than done, I know) And we've been assured that our preference (ie what we take now) will be clearly shown on the system.

To be honest my LA tried and failed to do this last year every one went ape and 12 carers put into resighn.

In my view its just away to get more for their buck away to pressure you into taking on a age group you are not comftable with

Pannel is just a formaitly and i dont want to be told when asked to have a 16 year old well you know you are approved for 0-18
It would just be like our la to do that

I would think fostermum you would be on their database showing you had a space for a baby only (when your present fc goes). Things would just carry on the same for you. Unless you had baby twins

The blanket approval system isn't there to put more pressure on foster carers. Clearly if you only have space for one child in your home then there would surely be no mileage in considering you for any more. The blanket approval system was introduced in my LA so that it prevented having to go back to panel at every verse end for tiny changes to approval like if you were approved for 1 child 3-10 and the child in placement turned 11 or you agreed to having an extra child for a week on respite (if you had space).
In some cases it has worked out better for example carers have had children placed with them (that have been a fab match and settled brilliantly) that in the old system were slightly outside their age range so they would not have been told about them.

i would love to take another lo, and there is the room for a second cot. the iro said she would be happy for us to have a second placement (in our room) but our sw said no!
i just do not see the point in taking us back to panel for the new blanket approval if we are still only able to care for one child!?

I was allowed to have siblings in my bedroom ( we are in a bigger house so no need for that now) but they would not have allowed non related babies/ toddlers.