What is Fostering?
Fostering involves looking after children when their own families are unable to do so which could be for a variety of different reasons. Foster Carers can give families time to sort out their difficulties by providing children with support and a home for as long as they need it. It is quite often a temporary arrangement and many fostered children will return to their own families. There are some children who are unable to return home and live in long term foster care but may still keep in touch with their families. We aim to make this time a positive experience which will have longer term benefits.
Fostering is not easy, but it can be an extremely rewarding experience and makes a huge difference to the lives of the children and young people who need it.
All our placements are appropriately matched to ensure a good fit between the needs of the child and the skills and experience of the foster carer.
Currently we offer the following placements:
- Emergency placements – where very little or no warning is given and there is uncertainty on how long the placement last.
- Short term foster care for looked after children for whom the plan is to return to birth or extended family members – this can be for anything from a few days to a couple of years.
- Respite care – this is designed to support the children’s family or foster carers and can be anything from an overnight stay to a few weeks.
- Long Term – these placements are for the whole duration of the young persons childhood until they reach adult hood.
