Can I foster?
At Family Works Fostering agency, we welcome applicants of any race, gender or sexuality. Family Works Fostering has a legal duty to assess suitability of prospective carers within the stipulated timescales and through an assessment process that is rigorous and informative.
What you need:
- You must have a suitable spare room in your house for the foster child.
- There is a need to be able to provide close supervision and care to a foster child, as you would for your own child.
- Be willing to work with us as part of a team of professionals, such as social workers, teachers, doctors, therapists in the best interests of the foster child.
- The minimum age is 21 years old, we do not have an upper age limit for one to foster a child.
- You are expected to be healthy enough to manage the care of a child/young person.
- Do not have any serious convictions or cautions.
- Be flexible, patient and determined not to give up easily when facing a challenge.
You don’t need:
- To be in a relationship, you can be a single person of any gender, race, sexuality or religion.
- To have your own children, although experience of working with or caring for children in some way is an added advantage. It is your commitment to children and young people that is the most important thing in fostering a child.
- To have access to a car or be able to drive although having a car and being able to drive is an added advantage.
A Valued Professional
Fostering a child is a professional role, although most people will agree it is more than a job. You will be a very important part of a professional team around the foster child and will be expected to attend meetings with the Local Authority, Schools and other relevant meetings which plan for the care of the foster child. You will need to be flexible and available to attend such meetings.
Family Works Fostering agency invest heavily in our foster parent’s professional development and we will provide you with all the opportunities you will need to train and to become highly skilled members of the professional team. We have an exciting annual timetable of training you can choose from covering a diverse range of topics relevant to your role as a Foster Parent. We also run a monthly support group for our foster parents where you can meet your fellow foster carers over a coffee and share experiences and support each other.
Young people who need your care
Once approved and depending on your approval terms, you could be fostering a child of any age, from 0 to 18. Children and young people who are referred to Family Works Fostering will have experienced trauma in their early childhood and will be looking for a home where they can be safe and well-cared for. You will receive support to meet the needs of any child placed with you.
Some children might need a foster home for a short time, during a difficult time in their lives, then return to their birth families. Other children might need a home until they become adults at the age of 18. Some children go on to ‘staying put’ arrangements with their foster parents, which means they stay in the home after the age of 18 and up to the age of 21 or 25, to help them get ready for being independent adults.
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