What is a foster carer
Fostering is caring for children in your own home, providing them with day to day support and a safe and secure environment when their birth parents or family are unable to look after them.
Experienced foster carers tell us that being a foster carer is a rewarding and fulfilling career that offers children the opportunity to be cared for by a fostering family. As a foster carer you will help children in your care to develop secure bonds, with children and adults alike, support and encourage them to develop their confidence and self esteem while ensuring their individual needs are met in order to offer them the same opportunities to achieve in life as other children.
About fostering
Foster care provides a temporary, sometimes long term, safe and nurturing environment for children unable to live within their own families for various reasons. Fostering a child allows for local authorities to work with their families to address the areas of concern and consider the best plans for the children’s futures. Fostering allows the children to be cared for and to be safe and supported while decisions are made by professionals involved in their care.
What do foster carers do?
Becoming a foster carer is a rewarding yet challenging commitment that involves caring for children who cannot live with their birth families. Foster carers/families support children in their care by creating a safe and nurturing environment, offering emotional support, maintaining consistent routines, being patient, listening actively, providing stability, advocating for their needs, connecting them with resources like therapy or educational support, and showing empathy and understanding towards their individual experiences and challenges. Building trust and forming a positive relationship is crucial in helping fostered children feel secure and cared for.
Who can foster and what it takes?
Anyone can become a foster carer with Assured Fostering if you are over the age of 21, have a spare bedroom, can drive and have access to a car and can provide a safe, stable and nurturing home environment. Individuals or couples from diverse backgrounds, races, religions, and sexual orientations can become foster carers. You can own your own home, or rent, be employed, unemployed or retired with some flexibility of your time to meet the needs to children placed with you for example, can you be available during school holidays and for medical appointments etc.
Becoming a foster carer typically involves meeting certain requirements, including:
- Being over the age of 21 and legally allowed to work in the UK.
- Able to demonstrate the ability to care for a child.
- Engagement in the fostering assessment process. Allowing access to your background information so we can get to know you. A thorough assessment of your home and background is conducted to ensure a suitable environment for fostering, this is known as a fostering assessment or Form F assessment.
- Completion of pre-approval training (usually 3 days Skills to Foster training) to equip you with the necessary skills to care for foster children.
- Being emotionally stable and ready to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children who have experienced trauma or difficulties.
- Generally, good physical and mental health is required, along with a stable lifestyle that can accommodate the needs of foster children.
- Financial stability and having no major debt or legal issues that could affect your ability to care for foster children.