Some specifics…
Finances
We give you money each week to pay all of your costs for each child. We give you a weekly payment that is for you, and you get this for each child that you have placed.
Each year, every child placed with you will get festival allowances and birthday allowances. You may be eligible for our Income Guarantee for the first 6 months, which gives you a guaranteed weekly income to make your transition into fostering an easy one.
Training
We will provide you with the training that you need to be a great foster carer, both in person and online. We have a specialist therapeutic team for our cared for children and they will provide you with additional support for your placed children if it’s needed.
Your own Social Worker and Support Worker
You will have your own Supervising Social Worker and a Fostering Support Worker who will visit you regularly to guide and support you and build your confidence and skill, – you are definitely not on your own!
Therapeutic team
We have a therapeutic team who provide a service to some of our cared for children where there are identified difficulties. They can also provide advice and support to you to make sure that you are able to care for the child in the best possible way. We can access this team quickly on your behalf to make sure that you get the support that you and our children need, when you need it.
Foster Care Buddy
If you want to ‘buddy up’ with one of our experienced foster carers then we can arrange that – a great way of getting informal support and advice. You will become a member of the Fostering Network (a national charity) which provides guidance and information to foster carers as well as having lots of interesting fostering articles on their website.
Extra activities
We will provide support and activities for your own children, where they can meet other children from fostering families to reflect on and share their experiences. You will have loads of chances to meet with other foster carers and staff to share experiences, chat or just have a cup of tea.