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.
When you become a foster carer in Dudley, we offer 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, 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 this area and work in partnership with local authorities including Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council 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.
CCB is a small team that was founded in 2000 by a foster family, who brought a great deal of insight into the levels of support that our foster parents and children need and deserve. The office is in Worcestershire and supports fostering in Dudley and across the West Midlands, plus Worcester and offer a wide range of types of fostering placement.
NFA Midlands is one of our large foster agency teams with around 50 members of staff. With an office for support staff in Solihull, West Midlands, supervising social workers work in the Dudley 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 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 Dudley, 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.
The support I receive from my Supervising Social Worker has been like a big hug to me, helpful and encouraging and extremely supportive. It gives you the resilience in what can sometimes be a challenging job to face another day.
Fostering is a very rewarding role and no two days are the same. The look of joy on your young person's face when they have a new life experience and you turn their life around is priceless!
If you think you’d like to become a foster carer in Dudley or another location in the Midlands, 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 Dudley and the wider Midlands area. 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.
Many children are currently fostered or waiting to find foster parents in Dudley and across the Midlands. National Fostering Group has local offices across the area, including Worcester, Stafford, Shifnal, Solihul and Milbury Heath.
Working for the National Fostering Group, means I am happy to get up every morning and do my job. Both the team I work with and the foster carers I supervise, we are a family and we all work together to make sure the young people have the best possible future.
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
