What is fostering?
Fostering is rebuilding a child's future
Fostering is a way of providing a stable family life for children and young people who are unable to live with their parents or other relatives. Which can be for many reasons.
WHY FOSTERING?
Why do some children need a Foster Carer?
- Family breakdowns
- Relationship problems
- Threatened child’s welfare
- Due to Parents’ Illness
Different backgrounds
The children and young people placed with foster carers are from a number of different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds and will display different behaviours depending upon their various experiences.
All children and young people are different from each other, what you can expect is that, as with any child or young person, they need security, stability and the chance to develop and thrive.
Foster is about providing placement in your home, allows a child or young person the chance to thrive in a safe, secure, and caring home environment. Fostering is challenging but also rewarding at the same time. It takes time, patience, and commitment to foster.
Foster care placements can last for days, months or even several years. Many children return to their families but others may receive long term support; either through continued fostering, adoption, residential care or being helped to live independently.
Choices and who will you look after?
Children can be placed in foster care from birth to 18 years
Placements can be for short periods, emergency, long term or for a respite period
If a child is part of a sibling group it is common for the children to be placed together
It will be considered whether you have sufficient space for one child or more.
What type of behavior and experiences can you manage?
Are you able to care for children from different religions or ethnic backgrounds?
Fostering and adoption same?
What is the difference between fostering and adoption? The main difference is that with adoption you become a child’s legal parent permanently, whilst fostering is usually temporary, until a child returns to their family.
Key factors
About foster care
Ofsted inspect foster care providers who are both Local Authorities and Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA’s).
Foster care is regulated by The National Minimum Standards, and Fostering Regulations 2011.
Focus on positive outcomes
There is a strong focus on positive outcomes for children and young people in our foster care.
Around 62,000 children (source: Fostering Network) are in care in England on any one day with around 75% in foster care.
Become A Foster Carer
Show your interest to become foster parent here