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 apply to become a foster carer you’ll receive plenty of information and help to prepare you for your role during pre-approval training, and before your first foster child placement. Your training will take you through what the placement process entails, who is involved in placing a child with you and how you will be supported throughout the placement.
One of the fundamentals of applying to become a foster carer is that you are able to provide a child you are caring for with a bedroom all of their own. This is so they feel safe and protected. During the application process you will specify what age and gender of children you would like to care for and when it comes to preparing a room for the child’s arrival, this can help a little. However, as each and every child is different and has differing interests, priorities and needs, it can be tricky to ready a room in a way that exactly matches their requirements. With this in mind, preparing a room for foster placements can be hard and in many ways is something that should be approached with a flexible, adaptable attitude as making the bedroom a happy place to be goes beyond decorating.
An important part of being a foster parent is nurturing children and helping them to develop their own character and interests. Team sports are known to have lots of benefits for children and can help foster children in particular to acquire new skills and build confidence.
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, whether on your own or as part of a couple, it can be tricky to know how and where to get started. Technically as a foster carer you will be self-employed, but as you will work with an independent agency or your local authority it’s important that you take the time to find an agency that you feel happy and comfortable with, and offers you the support you need.
Holidays are part of family life, and in many cases you will find you are not only able to take foster children on holiday with you but are encouraged and supported to do so.
Staying Put is where a care leaver continues to live with their foster carer after their 18th birthday. Many Young People have already been Staying Put in the past, but the law changed in May 2014 making it a legal requirement for all Local Authorities to support these types of arrangements if they are in the interest of the Young Person and if the foster carer(s) and Young Person want it to happen.
Approved foster carers have the freedom to change the fostering agency they belong to if they so wish. This right is supported by The Transfer of Foster Carers Protocol 2014, which was developed in a partnership between The Fostering Network and the joint forum of independent fostering providers, with the support of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.
TAKE THAT FIRST STEP ON A JOURNEY THAT WILL SET YOU ON A PATH TO HELP A YOUNGSTER BACK ONTO THEIRS NFA is delighted to announce that it is taking part in Fostering February.
Hi! Welcome to the world of the Triple-A Model of Therapeutic Care. I hope that you find it to be a valuable addition to your knowledge about what to do when caring for children who have experienced abuse and neglect.
