Types of fostering

Short term fostering can be anything from a few days to more than a year. It provides a safe place for a child to live while we work with the child's family to try and sort through any problems. Each child will be facing their own muddle of emotions, many will be confused and upset about the move. As a foster carer you will have an important role in helping the child to understand what is happening to them.

Short term foster carers are needed to look after children of all ages from young children to teenagers.

Sometimes when children are unable to return home to live with their parents, they may need a long term foster home. This allows the child to grow up as part of your family until they are able to live independently.

Many of the children will keep in touch with their birth families, and you will play an important part in supporting them with this.

Long term foster carers are needed for children aged five years and upwards.

Foster Xtra is a specialist type of foster care, specifically for children who need extra support and understanding. They may have experiences from their early life which they are struggling to cope with and this may show in their emotions and behaviour. Fostering Plus offers extra support to children and the families who care for them, including therapeutic support to help them have a more positive future.

What's different about Foster Xtra?

Foster Xtra offers specialist support to children who are struggling to cope with their emotions and past experiences. Families are offered tailored support to offer a professional approach to caring for children and helping them to recover from their past. 

Some of the children are in children's homes and we would like to give them the opportunity to live in a family, others have moved many times and we want to give them a stable home.

Contact us for a chat, or complete our Express your interest in fostering a child form and we'll contact you to discuss your information in more detail.

What qualities do you need to be a Foster Xtra carer?

We are looking for people who enjoy working with young people, are not daunted by challenging behaviour and want to make a real difference in a child's life. You will need patience, tolerance, understanding and insight and we will provide you with all the training you need to undertake this rewarding role.

What extra support will you get?

You will work with a dedicated team of professionals to help a young person have a more positive future. You will benefit from additional support and training tailored to your needs including:

• A fostering social worker who will visit you regularly to offer advice and support.
• Intensive involvement from our specialist therapeutic team.
• Family support workers available at evenings and weekends.
• Respite care to offer families a break.
• Specific training to help you develop your knowledge of the child and how you can care for them.
• Regular meetings to discuss managing behaviour.
• A dedicated support group for Foster Xtra.
• Emergency support outside of office hours, at weekends and bank holidays.
• The benefit of a professional multi-agency care team approach who can offer individual support with social opportunities, health and education.
• Extra financial support.

Teenage years are often difficult, when young people are learning to stand on their own two feet and testing out their boundaries. It's also a critical time in their development, when the choices they make are likely to have a major impact on their future.

As a foster carer for teenagers, you will need to be sensitive to their situation, patient, tolerant and understanding. It can be very challenging, but there are great rewards in using your abilities to help a young person develop confidence in themselves, resolve their problems and make plans for the future. We recognise the qualities and skills involved in working with teenagers and have developed an excellent support package.

Fostering teenagers video transcript (PDF, 93.6kb)

When children are unable to live with their parents we will look to see if there are other family members who can care for them, such as grandparents, aunts or uncles. This is called kinship or family and friends foster care.

How can you become a kinship carer? 

If you're a family member or friend able to look after a child brought into care then the child's social worker will visit you to discuss fostering, what's involved and what will happen.

If you want to go ahead you can be assessed as a foster carer for the child. This will involve a social worker coming to visit you, getting to know you and your ability to care for the child. We'll also need to make a number of checks which can include police, medical and employment to make sure the child will be safe.

What support do you get? 

Once approved, we'll offer you support in caring for the child and help you prepare for them to live with you. You are also entitled to the same level of support as all foster carers.

Short break carers usually offer regular weekend and school holiday care to children who are in longer term foster care or residential schooling. Sometimes short break care can be a way of helping parents in difficulty by giving them and the child a break away from each other. This can help relieve the pressure and prevent problems from getting out of hand. If you offered this type of care you would work closely with other professionals and the child's family.

Some foster carers choose to specialise in fostering children with physical disabilities or learning difficulties. If you are interested in fostering disabled children we can offer additional training and support. As a foster carer for disabled children you will find yourself working with a range of health care professionals.

Young people who have been remanded by the courts are sometimes placed with specialist foster carers. This is usually for short periods of time, although it can last for several months if a court case is delayed. As a remand foster carer you would be expected to carry out the requirement of the court, which may include a curfew.

Private fostering is where a child is cared for and lives with an adult who is not related to them, this may be a friend or neighbour. You should inform us if you are caring for a child through a private arrangement.