As part of your assessment and preparation to become a foster carer, we will work with you to agree what kind of fostering will fit best with your family and the number of children (up to three) you would be best suited to look after. 

This will take into account the ages and gender of your children, if any, the size of your home, your experience in looking after children, and your personal skills and preferences.  Some foster carers have a passion for tiny babies, and for others teens can be treasures not terrors!

Mainstream Fostering

Emergency
This means being available for any eventuality night or day where a child or young person will need looking after, whether due to parents’ ill health or incapacity, risks to the children etc.  Besides an initial safe haven you can look after children on this basis for up to three weeks while plans for their future are made.

Respite
You’ll provide a much-needed break for children (as well as relief for their families) or other foster carers.  This can be ‘one offs’ for a few days or weeks or regular periods, say a weekend a month, to help keep families together and give children an experience of quality time.

Short Term
Much of foster care is short term and is the first stop for a child while their home lives are looked at and assessed.  Anything from days to 2 years, this can be temporary where a parent is ill or a long period when there are doubts that a parent can meet a child’s needs. The child will move on, perhaps back home, to adoption or to a permanent fostering home.h

Teenagers
Looking after this age group calls for qualities of acceptance, tolerance and stamina and a capacity for you to remember the upheavals of your own adolescence and to understand the vulnerability of young people not being able to live in their own families.  Challenging but rewarding!

Specialist Fostering

Permanent Fostering
Where you commit to a child for the duration of their childhood and often beyond! 

Remand Fostering
Means offering a stable short-term home to a young person (who could be as young as 10) who is awaiting a court appearance. You’ll be making an invaluable contribution to the life of a young person who could otherwise be lost in an institution.

Family Care Workers Scheme
This is a scheme that looks for homes for some of our most troubled youngsters who have often already had many carers in their short lives.

Special Needs Fostering
This may mean you looking after a child who has physical disabilities, learning difficulties or sensory impairments and you may find yourself working very closely with a range of medical staff.

But in all these cases, if it doesn’t sound like the right child for you, it is OK to say ‘No’.  Mostly though, because we know your background and situation, we only ask you to consider children that are a good ‘match’ - so most carers say ‘Yes!’.