How to foster children
Everyone who wants to become a foster carer has to undertake a fostering assessment. The foster care assessment is about exploring your individual skills and experiences. The assessment also provides you with information about foster care for children and how foster caring will affect you, your family and your friends. If you have children, it is important that you talk with them at an early stage about being part of a fostering family. There are both Local Authority and Independent Foster care Agencies and every Agency has vacancies for foster carers.
Timescales
In our experience, Local Authorities take six months and Independent Fostering Agencies take an average of four months to complete the foster carer assessment. However Local Authorities are catching up.
More information...Foster care course
As your application proceeds you will be invited to attend a fostercare training course, most Fostering Agencies use the Fostering Network course called "Skills to Foster".
More information...Assessment
The fostering social worker will visit you and your family at home. It is important that you discuss fostering with your children at an early stage and check out how they feel about being part of a fostering family.
More information...
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