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.
Foster children and young people need foster carers in Walsall and throughout the Midlands. Become a foster carer with us and receive first class training, 24/7 support, peer support and a buddy scheme.
If you’re considering becoming a foster carer in Walsall, choose a 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, including the Midlands – meaning you have the support of a team close to you. We are the leading fostering agency in your area, working with your local authority 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. You’ll also have access to a large and active peer network that includes several local support groups.
As a foster carer in Walsall you could offer long-term, short-term or emergency foster care, depending on what works best for you. You’ll also have the option to foster teenagers, young children, babies or a parent with their young child. It all comes down to your training, experience and preferences.
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 Walsall 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 Walsall, 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.
Being a foster carer is an amazing opportunity to help make a difference in a child’s life. Although we are new to fostering, we are not unfamiliar with supporting vulnerable children due to our jobs.
Despite this, we have found the support of the National Fostering Group team especially our fostering social worker, the deliverance of good training and regular supervision has been priceless particularly when we have been facing the challenges that fostering can present. This support has also enabled us to make the smooth transition from professionals to foster carers.
If you think you’d like to become a foster carer in Walsall 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 Walsall 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.
Hundreds of children are currently fostered or waiting to find foster parents in and around Walsall. National Fostering Group has local offices across the Midlands, Northamptonshire, Sandwell, Derby City and Derbyshire, Birmingham and Warwickshire. This includes West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Tamworth, Lichfield and Cannock.
We have found that National Fostering Group are always happy to offer sound and professional advice whenever you need it. They also hold lots of events that enable you to meet up and obtain support from other foster carers too, which helps to build your support networks. We feel that they really make you feel part of their family.
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
