Everything You Need to Know About Fostering

If you’ve thought about fostering but have never really looked into it properly, now’s your chance. This post will take you through everything you could possibly need to know about fostering, so you can make your mind up about whether it’s right for you once and for all. Read on to learn more:

What is Fostering?

A simple question, but a valid one at that. Fostering is a way of providing a child with a family life when they can’t live with their own parents. It’s often only temporary care while the parents have help sorting out problems, or to help children/young people through a difficult time in their lives.

Once the problems are resolved, a child will often return home. Other children/young people may be in long term foster care, some may be adopted, and others might move on to live independently.

Different Kinds of Fostering

There are many different kinds of fostering to think about:

• Emergency – this is where children may need a safe place to stay for a couple of nights.
• Short term – where a carer looks after a child for a few weeks/months, while plans are being made for the child’s future.
• Short-breaks – this is where disabled/special needs children have a short stay on a pre-planned regular basis with a new family, and their parents/foster parents have a break.
• Long term and permanent – not every child who can’t return to their own families want to be adopted, especially older children or those who continue to have regular contact with relatives. These children will live with a long term foster carer until adulthood, when they then go and live independently.
• Kinship fostering – where children who are looked after by a local authority are cared for by people they already know; perhaps a family member like a grandma, aunt, or brother.
• Private fostering – where parents make an arrangement for the child to stay with somebody who isn’t a close relative, and the child stays with that person for more than 27 days. This is a private arrangement but rules must be followed. The local authority need to be informed of the arrangements and a visit needs to be arranged to check on the child’s welfare.

Is Fostering a Job?

All foster carers are registered with a local authority or independent fostering provider. They receive a fee on the basis of being self employed, although a lot of this money gets spent on the foster child/children. If you’re thinking of doing this job for the money, I’d think again and find something else. You need to do this job because you want to make a difference in the lives of children, not for the money. You can get support when becoming a foster carer by contacting Perpetual Fostering.

If you want to become a foster carer, almost anybody can apply providing you’re suitable. You will then need to go through preparation and an assessment to make sure you’re ready. Good luck!