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.
We offer our foster carers in Dumfries & Galloway locally-delivered training, 24/7 support, peer support, and the opportunity to be the best you can be in your role. Many children and young people need fostering in your area. Can you help?
If you’re considering becoming a foster carer, choose to work with a fostering agency that has 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 Scotland 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 in your local area. 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.
Fostering Relations supports foster carers in a large geographical area including Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow, Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, and South Lanarkshire. The team works with foster carers, young people and former foster children in education. Around 60% of foster children at this agency stay with their foster families long-term.
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 Dumfries, 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 most important element of support for me is having someone I know, and who knows the child, at the end of the phone at any time of day, even if it is Christmas morning. They couldn’t do more, they offer me everything I look for in an agency. Their support is second to none.
If you think you’d like to become a foster carer in Dumfries, 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 Dumfries. 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.
Scores of children are currently fostered or waiting to find foster parents in the Dumfries area and across the Scottish Borders. National Fostering Group offices in Grangemouth and Glasgow cover the whole area, including Lockerbie, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright, Newton Stewart, Stranraer, Moffat and Sanquhar.
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.
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