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 Braintree. We offer foster local training, 24/7 support, peer support, and the opportunity to be the best you can be in your role.
If you’re considering becoming a foster carer in Braintree, choose to work with a fostering agency that has friendly local teams who will support you all the way.
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 Essex area and work in partnership 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 on your doorstep. We want you to thrive too, being the best you can be in your role as foster carer.
In addition, you’ll have access to a large and active peer network that includes several local support groups.
I love having teenagers. You can have banter with them, sometimes they open up and you can talk things through with them about their past and future. Sometimes it’s possible to use humour to diffuse a situation. I tried that with one of teenage girls we had who was a runaway. She sulked all night but she didn’t run away after that. Later she told people that this was the only place she’s been truly loved.
Brighter Futures offers comprehensive fostering support, spanning from Peterborough to the south coast. With a focus on diversity, the agency collaborates with over 50 foster carers, caring for 90 children and two parent-child placements. Despite its small size, Brighter Futures receives referrals nationwide, working with 52 local authorities.
Rated ‘GOOD’ by Ofsted, the agency guides potential foster carers through the process, emphasizing the goal of providing vulnerable children with caring, supportive homes for a brighter future.
Our average foster carer pay 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 Braintree, 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.
Around 7,230 children live with a foster family in the South East. There are approximately 45,370 fostering households and 76,640 foster carers in England.
Sources: Department for Education, Ofsted
If you think you’d like to become a foster carer in Braintree, 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 Braintree. 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.
I find the commitment and skilfulness of the foster carers I supervise really inspiring, and it’s amazing how quickly they learn more once they’ve been approved.
It’s really important to me to make sure I’m available at the end of the phone when they need some advice, and I think my foster carers are glad to know that there are some really good services available to them, like our peer support service Helping Hands or our therapeutic one-to-one service TAPSS, if they need that bit of extra help with a difficult situation.
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 8,000 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
Hundreds of children are currently fostered or waiting to find foster parents in the Braintree area.
National Fostering Group covers Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea, Sudbury, Cambridge and Luton, plus all the towns and villages in between.
