Find out if you could be a foster carer
In a few simple questions, you’ll know if you’re suitable to apply to become a foster carer.
Many children and young people need fostering in Birmingham. When you become a foster carer, we offer local training, 24/7 support, peer support, and the opportunity to be the best you can be in your role.
Children and young people need fostering in Birmingham and the surrounding area. We offer training, 24/7 support, peer support, a buddy scheme and an Additional Needs Support Group.
If you’re considering becoming a foster carer, choose an independent fostering agency with local teams who will be with you every step.
National Fostering Group is the largest independent fostering agency in the UK with superb agency coverage across all regions – meaning you have the support of a team close to you.
We are the leading fostering agency in the Midlands, working with local authorities to place children and young people in homes where they can thrive.
As a foster carer for the National Fostering Group, you’ll have unparalleled access to professional support and excellent free training in your local area. We want you to thrive too, being the best you can be in your role as foster carer.
In addition, as a foster carer with one of the leading fostering agencies in the UK, you’ll have access to a large and active peer network that includes several local support groups.
Our foster carers in Birmingham are supported by a large team of fostering professionals at NFA Midlands. With an office for support staff in Solihull, West Midlands, supervising social workers work in the community to be closer to the foster families and the children they care for. While it covers a large geographical area, the agency has a friendly, family feel.
Our average foster carer pay (fostering allowance) is around £24,500 a year (£2,040 on average per month), which is far higher than the government’s recommended weekly allowance. For most foster carers in Birmingham, this will be tax free! Some types of fostering placement pay more than £35,000 a year. Foster carer pay doesn’t affect state benefits you’re currently receiving.
Moving to NFA Midlands (part of National Fostering Group) has been the best thing we could have done. We'd been fostering already for a couple of years, and were pretty happy plodding along.
However, I had a good friend around the corner who fostered for NFA and couldn't rate them higher! She was so thrilled with her experience with them that, after almost a year of trying to persuade us to transfer, we finally made the swap!
We'll never look back! Support for foster carers is exceptional. Training informative and easily accessible, and all staff members are highly committed to their role!
If you think you’d like to become a foster carer in Birmingham, your next step is to have a chat. You can book a call by using our enquiry form. After this, if you decide to go ahead with an application, this usually takes around 16 weeks and we’ll help you every step of the way. We’ll help you decide what types of fostering you want to do and we’ll even get you started with foster carer training.
We are looking for foster carers in Birmingham, across all areas. We welcome people from ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, physical abilities and the LGBT+ community. You can be single, married, a homeowner or a tenant. Your ability to care for and nurture a child is what really matters. If you’ve worked in sectors like education, the emergency services, care or healthcare, you’ll be especially suited to this role.
Hundreds of children are waiting to find foster parents in Birmingham. National Fostering Group has local offices across the Midlands. This includes Leicester, Coventry, Peterborough, Nottingham, Staffordshire, Derby, Leicester, Long Eaton and Bromsgrove.
Our foster carers are inspiring. The carers I work with never shy away from any situation and their dedication and passion to support these children is admirable.
It is vital I am there for our carers any time they need me, I will always be on the end of the phone or at their door, anything they need. We all work together as one big family and I very much enjoy getting to know our foster carers and supporting them throughout their fostering journey.
We have a great team here in the Midlands, we always have fun and support each other through thick or thin. I love where I work and can’t imagine doing anything different.
Our foster carers come from all walks of life. With training, support and a generous fostering allowance, they provide homes where children can thrive and experience the childhood they deserve. More than 9,000 new foster carers are needed UK-wide to provide homes for children in need of a foster family. If you’re thinking of becoming a foster carer, now’s the time.
Source: The Fostering Network
Around 7,070 children live with a foster family in the West Midlands. There are approximately 45,370 fostering households and 76,640 foster carers in England.
Sources: Department for Education, Ofsted