What is fostering?

Fostering is a way of providing a family life for children who cannot live with their own parents.

It is often used to provide temporary care while parents get help sorting out problems, take a break, or to help children or young people through a difficult period in their lives.

Often children will return home once the problems that caused them to come into foster care have been resolved and that it is clear that their parents are able to look after them safely.

Others may stay in long-term foster care, some may be adopted, and others will move on to live independently.

Are there different types of fostering?

Types of foster care include:
Emergency - where children need somewhere safe to stay for a few nights.

Short-term - where carers look after children for a few weeks or months, while plans are made for the child's future.

Short-breaks - where disabled children or children with special needs or behavioural difficulties enjoy a short stay on a pre-planned, regular basis with a new family, and their parents or usual foster carers have a short break for themselves.

Remand fostering - where young people in England or Wales are "remanded" by the court to the care of a specially trained foster carer. Scotland does not use remand fostering as young people tend to attend a Children's hearing rather than go to court. However, the children's hearing might send a young person to a secure unit and there are now some schemes in Scotland looking at developing fostering as an alternative to secure accommodation. For more information on remand fostering (in England and Wales) download a briefing note on remand fostering (pdf) produced by the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO).

Long-term - not all children who cannot return to their own families want to be adopted, especially older children or those who continue to have regular contact with relatives. These children live with long-term foster carers until they reach adulthood and are ready to live independently. For more information see past articles from Be My Parent News & Features on long-term fostering.

"Family and friends" or "kinship" fostering - where children who are looked after by a local authority are cared for by people they already know. This can be very beneficial for children, and is called "family and friends" or "kinship" fostering. If they are not looked after by the local authority, children can live with their aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or grandparents without outside involvement.

Private fostering - where the parents make an arrangement for the child to stay with someone else who is not a close relative and has no parental responsibilities, and the child stays with that person (the private foster carer) for more than 27 days.
Although this is a private arrangement there are special rules about how the child is looked after. The local authority must be told about the arrangements and visit to check on the child's welfare.

This rest of this web page is about fostering a child through an agency (all the types of fostering apart from private fostering). For more information on private fostering see our private fostering website and advice note.

Is fostering a job?

All foster carers are registered with and contracted to a local authority or voluntary or independent agency. Many foster carers are volunteers, but increasingly they are seen as professionals and receive a fee on a basis of being self employed - see are foster carers paid?

What do foster carers do?

The foster carer's role is to provide high quality care for the child. All children in foster care will be looked after by a local authority and the foster cares will work in partnership with the local authority to provide this.

The foster carers may also work with other professionals such as therapists, teachers or doctors to help the child to deal with emotional traumas or physical or learning disabilities.

For more information see our advice note on foster care.

What kind of people become foster carers?

Fostering agencies, including local authorities, need a wide range of people to meet children and young people's very different needs.

It is best for children to live with foster carers who reflect and understand the child's heritage, ethnic origin, culture and language, and fostering agencies need carers from all types of backgrounds.

People do not need to be married to become a foster family - they can also be single, divorced or cohabiting. Gay men and lesbians can become foster carers, although in Scotland they can only do so as single individuals living on their own. People in households with 2 or more unrelated adults of the same sex can't foster in Scotland. You can read about single, male and carers in past issues of Be My Parent News & Features.

There are no upper age limits for fostering, but fostering agencies expect people to be mature enough to work with the complex problems that children needing fostering are likely to have, and fit enough to perform this very demanding task!

How are foster carers recruited?

Fostering agencies often recruit new carers through publicity campaigns or newspaper or radio advertisements. They may have information stands in public places.

If you are interested in becoming a foster carer, the best first step is to get in touch with your local authority's fostering team or with a fostering agency in your area. You can find their details in the phone book or in our agencies database.

What preparation and training do foster carers get?

People who want to become foster carers need to go through thorough preparation and assessment.

They attend groups where they learn about the needs of children coming into foster care.

Alongside this, they receive visits from a social worker.

The social worker will then prepare a report that is presented to an independent fostering panel, which recommends whether this person/family can become foster carers.

Training does not stop when a person becomes a foster carer. All carers have an annual review and any training that's needed to ensure they are suitable to continue fostering.

Some carers also take a national qualification such as an NVQ level 3 Caring for Children and Young People (or an SVQ in Scotland).

For more information about the training of foster carers see our advice note.

Are foster carers paid?

Allowances

All foster carers receive an allowance to cover the cost of caring for a child in their home.

For foster carers working on behalf of an agency, this is set by the individual fostering agency, and is usually dependent on the age of the looked after child.

Fostering Network produces an annual guide, Foster Care Finance, recommending the basic levels of allowances it believes agencies should be paying.

In England the government has now introduced national minimum allowances for fosters carers.

Fees

Increasingly, fostering is being seen as a "professional" role and many local authorities, voluntary and independent fostering agencies run schemes, which pay foster carers a fee. This may be linked to the child's particular needs but is often a reflection of the skills, abilities, length of experience or professional expertise the foster carer has.

Tax relief

The introduction of tax relief in 2003 means that foster carers in the UK do not pay tax on their income from fostering, up to a maximum of £10,000 plus allowances.

National Insurance contributions

Since April 2003, foster carers have also been entitled to Home Responsibility Protection - a way to make sure that you do not get less Basic Retirement Pension just because you have stayed at home to look after a child.

What about adoption?

Fostering is different from adoption because when a child is in foster care, the child's parents or the local authority still have legal responsibility for them. But when a child is adopted, all legal responsibility for the child passes to the new family, as though the child had been born into that family, and the local authority and the birth parents no longer have formal responsibility for the child.

When there is no possibility for a child to return home to their parents, attempts will be made to see if anyone else in the family can care for them. If this is not possible, a family must be found who can provide "permanence" for the child, to allow them to feel as secure as possible. This either happens through long term fostering or adoption.

If a foster carer decides that they want to adopt a child, they can ask to be assessed as a possible adopter for that child. Their suitability will be considered in the same way as anyone else applying to adopt.

Some foster carers can now apply to become Special Guardians.

Further information

Learn more about the recruitment process and support for foster carers.

You can read articles about long-term fostering from Be My Parent website.

Advice notes

Our advice note Foster Care - Some questions answered contains more information on all the above areas, plus information about:
The role of social workers
What it is like to be fostered
What the law says about fostering
The legal processes of fostering
Special guardianship

Our private fostering advice note has information about private fostering

Our advice note Meeting Children's needs has more information about the children that need adopting and fostering

Our advice note talking about origins offers help in talking about a child's origins with them.

Also see book topics:
Resources for adopters and fosterers and
Fostering

If you need further help and advice, please call our advice lines.

 

Basic Information on Fostering

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Much of the information below is dealt with in greater depth on our later information pages.
Fostering

Fostering is about caring for a child in your own home. For a whole variety of reasons there are around 39,000 children (in England) who are placed with foster carers by social services departments. Many of these children will eventually return to their families. In some cases this may take a matter of days or weeks in others it may take much longer.

If a return to their families is not possible a decision may be made to find them a permanent new family, possible through adoption.

In the vast majority of cases children in foster care will have regular contact with their families and their parents will continue to have responsibilities towards them throughout the time they are in foster care.
Foster Carers

Foster carers are people who look after these children. In the past we used to refer to them as foster parents but this term is misleading. The children already have parents and "foster carers" better reflects the often temporary nature of the task.

Foster carers can be single or a couple, they do not need to be married. They can be hetrosexual or gay. Most fostering agencies welcome applications from people who are in their mid twenties and it is quite common for people to foster children up until their 60's.

One of the things we find when people are thinking about applying to become foster carers is that they can sometimes make assumptions about what is involved that are simply incorrect. For instance, some people think they have to own a large house or have a certain income. Neither of these assumptions are correct!
Why do children need to be fostered?

There are a lot of reasons why families are unable to look after their children. Many of these reasons will only apply for a short time. For instance, some children may come into foster care for a few weeks when their parent has to go into hospital. In other cases children might need to be fostered for much longer. It may take two or three years before a child is able to return home while social workers and others try to resolve more serious problems within the family.
What kind of children are fostered?

The children who are placed with foster carers come from many social, ethnic and religious backgrounds. They may have experienced a variety of problems in their life. Many will be deeply upset about being away from their families and may be "difficult" to care for when they first come in to foster care. However, this does not mean that all children in foster care are "problem children" and many, given sufficient time to settle, are likely to be as "difficult" as any other child.

Some of the children placed with foster carers, because of their history, will have more problems than most and will offer a considerable challenge to their foster carers. This does not mean that they should not be placed with foster carers as this may still be seen as being in their best interests. In some cases children will be identified as needing a specialist fostering placement when their needs are great and where they will place great demands upon those who care for them.
Who gives foster carers support and advice ?

Most agencies are organised so that a particular worker or team of workers are regularly in contact with their foster carers. These workers are referred to on this web site as "Support Workers" but different agencies have different job titles for them.

Any child placed with foster carers will also have a social worker who can also give advice and support to foster carers. There can be some confusion in the early stages of fostering about which of these two workers should be contacted regarding a particular issue. Our advice is that until you get to know who you should contact it is best to make sure that your support worker is kept informed about any important events and any concerns that you might have. They and not the foster carers will then have the responsibility for informing the child's social worker about these matters whenever they consider this to be appropriate.Who and Why people choose to foster
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We are looking for foster carers for Johnny. Could you be his new foster carers? Why not find out more?

The reasons why people decide to apply to become foster carers are many. Although each families aspirations and the many other factors which bring them to the point of making this decision are never the same, there are often some common features that they share.

Some foster carer applicants have come to consider fostering as a very natural thing to do. Many feel that they would like to share the good things in their lives with a child who is, at least for the time being, unable to live at home.

Applicants are often people who consider themselves as "very ordinary" and do not consider themselves to be "super parents". For applicants who are already parents they are likely to feel that they did a good job with their own children and can see no reason why they could not make a similar contribution to a child placed with them as foster carers.

People who foster often consider themselves to be "child-centred". Many just like children and feel that their family has something to offer. They all value children and want to contribute towards their development, and to protect them.

Many appreciate that young people only have one childhood and that on occasions some children may need the contribution they and other families are able to make. Some see their role as being one that not only cares for a child temporarily, but helps bring families back together.

Whilst there are strict criteria for all applicants, which are expected to be met. There are not very many requirements that are "set in stone". Prospective foster carers do not need to be in a certain salary bracket, own their own home or have a certain standard of education. All fostering agencies are looking for people from every type of background and life experiences to provide the diversity they need to meet the needs of children in foster care.

There is simply no "ideal type" of foster carer. Each foster carer brings their own unique mixture of history, experiences, abilities and knowledge and uses them to help children and their families.The Assessment Process (Part 1)
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The details on foster carer assessments are covered in our next six information pages. You are able to download a copy of the entire contents of these pages that you can print out. The link to this file is on the last assessment page

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Introduction

Deciding to foster a child is a big step. Naturally, potential foster carers are apprehensive about what an assessment entails, and in order to lessen this anxiety we believe in being as open as possible about the whole process. For this reason the coverage given to this topic is quite detailed and lengthy.

Social services departments or independent fostering agencies carry out foster carer assessments. Whilst each of these departments and agencies will differ slightly in how they conduct the assessment process there are many aspects governed by the Children's Act that they all must follow.

It might be helpful to take a brief overview of the various stages potential foster carers go through during the assessment process. Please bear in mind that the following is a generalisation and that not every agency (social services department or other fostering agency) will always fit this pattern.
The First Step

Assuming that you fulfil the department or fostering agencies basic criteria (e.g. on health, your accommodation has the physical space for a child, etc.) and are deemed after a brief interview or discussion on the telephone to be a potential candidate, you will probably be invited along to an introductory meeting on foster care. This meeting will give you the opportunity to find out quite a bit more about fostering and to ask as many questions as you want about the whole process. At the meeting you can start to find out how the agency conducts their assessments and gain a very rough idea of the likely timescale should you choose to apply.

You should also use this opportunity to find out what the agency is looking for in prospective foster carers, how foster care becomes the plan for some children, and what are the 'typical' difficulties and frustrations applicants face, etc. If at the conclusion of the meeting or shortly afterwards you wish to pursue your interest further you may be invited to attend a 'preparation for foster carers group'.
The Preparation for Fostering Group

These groups consist of prospective foster carers like yourself and agency staff, and exist to acquaint you with the range of issues surrounding fostering and foster care. These groups tend to meet between 4 to 6 times, usually spaced over several weeks. You will usually get the opportunity to meet experienced foster carers, and you may well have the chance to listen to visiting specialist speakers. The groups are a chance for you to question your own attitudes and beliefs in relation to children and fostering. They are also a chance for staff to start to get to know you.

After the sessions you may be asked to think about your application a bit more, and then confirm your willingness to continue. Most will not accept your application immediately, they want you to go home and to think about all you have seen and heard and to discuss the issues with your partner (if applicable) as well as family and friends.
Home Visits

The next stage, should you decide to continue is when you begin to receive 'home visits' from a social worker. The social worker will talk to members of your household both individually and together during these visits.

Bear in mind throughout this stage that the entire assessment process is not solely about deciding whether or not you will make 'suitable' foster carer/s) - it is also about providing you with information in order that you can decide whether or not becoming a foster carer is right for you and your family.

The primary purpose of these home visits is to build up a comprehensive profile of you and the parenting environment you can provide, and to determine the type of child(ren) whose needs you will best meet. Most social workers will assess your suitability to be a foster carer using a document often referred to as the "Form F".

Throughout this stage and in co-operation with you, your social worker will start to fill in your Form F. Upon completion if there are any points of disagreement between you and your social worker they can be recorded. Finally, having read and agreed to what has been written, all sign the document.

Over the next few pages we shall examine the assessment procedure, and in particular the structure and content of the form F which, once completed, is the major part of a final report that is submitted to the panel.

It is important to point out that your social worker's role is to assist you through the process, and to identify your needs and abilities to see if these can be matched to children who are likely to need to be fostered. Ideally you will build up a close and honest relationship with your social worker, and the finalised Form F will reflect this, being arrived at by mutual agreement.

The whole process, from first home visit to being presented to the Panel for consideration, can take anywhere from about 6 months to over a year, depending on the department or agency, and on such things as how long you had to wait for the Panel meeting to consider your application.

More information on foster carer assessment are on our following pages.

The Assessment Process (Part 2)
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The Assessment Form

The commonly used assessment form consists of five parts, which are summarised over the next few pages. Bear in mind that although the form is extremely comprehensive (which is understandable in the circumstances) your social worker is there to assist you through it. Try to view the report as a joint venture, while acknowledging that most social workers will feel quite comfortable compiling the report, after all they will probably have done it many times before. You on the other hand will be stepping into totally unfamiliar territory. Remember too that you are not expected to be 'perfect applicants' - social workers are not looking for them either. Many know that they do not exist!
Part 1.

This part of the form gives factual information about you. Your agency social worker and you are asked to:
1. Provide details of the social services department or agency.

Name, office address, phone number, etc
2. Provide your basic details.

These include the language you speak at home, your religion, ethnic descent, occupation, and current or proposed hours of work. You are also asked to provide a recent photograph of yourself.
3. Outline the children in your household.

This includes their ethnic descent, the type of school they go to, and their relationship to you.
4. State what type of care you are offering.

There are several options - including 'respite care', 'long-term fostering', 'emergency placement', etc.
5a. Consider the type of child or children that you will be suitable to foster.

There is a detailed checklist included, which is to be completed only after a full discussion has taken place between you and the social worker regarding the issues involved. The checklist is intended to reflect a mutually-agreed position between you and the agency, outlining what you all agree would be the most appropriate type of child(ren) for you to foster. It begins with an outline of the children:
First, the age range - for example, that you will be allowed to foster a child or children between the ages of 4 and 9
Secondly, what gender child(ren) will you be suitable to foster
Thirdly, would you be capable of looking after a child or children from a different ethnic or religious background to yourself?

There then follows a comprehensive checklist

Detailing various possible characteristics and backgrounds that you and the agency agree it would, or would not, be appropriate for you to consider to foster. There are over forty possibilities, so the following is only a selection:
Children with hearing impairment.
Children with severe learning difficulties.
Children who may have been physically abused.
Children who are unlikely to make relationships easily. etc.
5b. Describe you and your family.

This covers you and your family's personalities, interests, experiences etc. It is designed to be a 'snapshot' of your family that will aid your agency in the initial stages of matching you with a child.
6. Provide details of any other children.

For example, details of any of your children living elsewhere.
7. Provide details of other adult members who are part of your household.

For example, grandparents living in your home or a lodger.

More information on foster carer assessment are on our following pages.The Assessment Process (Part 3)

Please visit our page on using this site in order for you to be able to get the maximum benefit from all the information that we have available.
Could you foster Johnny?

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8. Detail other significant adults who will have contact with any child of your household on a regular basis.

For example, a neighbour or a close friend who visits you frequently, or perhaps a baby sitter you use for children within the family.
9. Detail your accommodation, neighbourhood and mobility.

You need to outline your neighbourhood - its ethnic composition, its schools and recreational facilities, and the public transport that is available to you. You are then required to give a simple description of your accommodation and the proposed sleeping arrangements for any child. You are asked for health and safety information, and finally whether or not you intend to move house in the near future: and if so, what the implications of such a move would be for any child placed with you.
10. Detail any restrictions on pets.

What pets do you already have (if any), and would there be any limitations placed on a child who might bring a pet with her / him?
11a. Confirm whether or not you have a permanent home in the U.K, Channel Islands or Isle of Man.

You also need to provide your date of birth and marital status, with confirmation that the appropriate documentation has been seen by the social worker.
11b. Describe your work and educational history.

This includes periods of raising a family, unemployment, part-time employment and voluntary work. You must also provide your National Insurance number for confirmation of these (where applicable).
11c. Detail the various compulsory checks that have been carried out.

These statutory references include police checks and personal referees. If you have a criminal record you need to make the agency aware of this and ask them if this would stop you being able to foster. In many cases as long as you have not committed an offence recently and the offence did not involve violence against a child the agency may still be prepared to consider your application. You will also be expected to take a medical and complete a medical questionnaire. If you have concerns about a previous illness affecting your application you should speak to your GP about it. Other areas that may be checked include education and employer references (where applicable).
12. List detail of your home visits.

This includes the number of times the visits have taken place, and who was seen at each one. You also need to describe the number and type of preparation group meetings attended, and to describe the ethnic mix of the group and aspects of the training covered, as well as your participation and what you felt had been useful. Any further areas of training that might be required should also be identified. Finally, for those who have not had the opportunity to attend a preparation group there is a chance to list what preparation or training has been utilised instead.
13. Provide details of medical information.

The date of your medical examination, comments from the agency medical adviser, details of any physical, mental or emotional disabilities within your extended family, and details of any disabled children.
14. Give details of personal referees.

You are asked for the referees' relationship to you, the time that they have known you, and comments on the information they have provided. In England and Wales there is a requirement for the referees to be personally interviewed by the agency social worker, and a record of these visits should be attached to the form.

More information on foster carer assessment are on our following pages.The Assessment Process (Part 4)

We use this box to make important points or to keep you up to date with any recent changes.
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The Assessment Form (continued) Part 2.

This part of the form details your attitudes and life experiences relevant to fostering a child. Your agency social worker and you are required to:
1. Provide information on your background.

Your parents, siblings and other significant family members. What is the significance of culture and religion in an individual's upbringing, and what are your views on your own upbringing and the impact that has had on you? What are your attitudes to and experience of people with disabilities? Describe your experience of education and work (including unpaid or voluntary work) and your attitude to work and to unemployment. What effect, for example, could unemployment have on family life? Detail your interests and talents, followed by how you perceive yourself - your personality, racial and cultural identity, strengths and weaknesses.
2. Describe your partnership (if any) and how that partnership works.

What qualities do the partners bring to the relationship, what makes it positive for each of you, how do you support each other, how do you cope with problems? How might fostering a child affect this relationship - for example, how will you cope with a child who becomes attached readily to one partner and much more slowly to the other? How are decisions made between the partners, and is there wider family involvement in the decision-making process? What are the strengths and vulnerabilities of the partnership? Have there been previous significant relationships, and if so what has been learnt from these. Do they affect the present partnership? Are there children from any previous relationships, and if so how will those children be affected by the decision to foster and by the child themself?
3. Provide information on your support networks.

These are the people who you are in regular contact with and who will support you in caring for a foster child. They include family, friends, neighbours and community and religious groups.
4. Give more details of existing children in the household.

Describe their personalities and temperaments, their relationships and any special talents or needs that they might have. How have they been involved in the preparations for fostering, and what is their understanding of the implications of this for themselves?
5. Describe other adult members of the household.

This includes significant adults who don't live in the home. What is their relationship to the family members, their attitude to your intention to foster, and how important is that attitude to you?
6. State the reasons why you have decided to foster

What motivated you to consider applying to foster? Are both partners (where applicable) equally committed to this course of action?
7. Describe the family's lifestyle.

What activities do the family undertake together? Are there any religious or cultural practices that are important? How is affection shown, what roles do different individuals take, what expectations are there and how are these accommodated within the family unit? What personal space do individuals expect within the family? What is the family attitude to food, and to potential eating difficulties that child might bring with them?

More information on foster carer assessment are on our following pages.The Assessment Process (Part 5)
Could you foster Jerome?

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8. Examine your attitudes to Britain as a multicultural and multiracial society

How is your understanding of it reflected in your present lifestyle? How can children be educated to take a positive view of such a society? What impact can discrimination have on a child, and what understanding do children already in the household have of discrimination?
9. Outline your parenting abilities.

You are asked for a description of your experience of caring for or working with children. What is your understanding of child development, and of how children in foster care might be affected by early experiences? What are your own childhood experiences? In what way would you do things differently to your parents, how flexible would you be in your approach to caring for a foster child? How will you ensure the protection of any child from physical or sexual abuse? You are then asked about behaviour management. What are the rules of the house, how are approval and disapproval shown, and what effect could these methods have on an abused or neglected child? Finally, how would you cope with a child from a different culture or ethnic background, or with a different religion or language? What changes would be necessary in your lifestyle, what difficulties could the child, the existing family and the wider support network face, and what practical experiences do you have that might help you to resolve these?
10. Outline financial and other support that you might need.

What are your attitudes towards money; will you give up paid employment (where applicable); and if so, how will you cope with the loss of income? Who will undertake childcare ?
11. Outline various placement and post-placement considerations.

What understanding do you have of the effects of loss and poor attachment upon a child?
What is your understanding of behavioural difficulties, and what behavioural difficulties would you find it difficult to cope with - for example, bed-wetting, over-affection, or aggression?
What effect is being fostered likely to have on a child's identity? Do you understand that some black or ethnic minority children might grow up with a negative self-image if fostered by carers of a different race and culture?
Could you care for a child who has been sexually abused, and would you have difficulties in coping with sexualised behaviour resulting from such abuse? How would other children in the family react to such behaviour?
How do you view emerging sexuality in adolescence, and how would you ensure an appropriate sexual education?
How do you view adolescent experimentation - for example, with drink and drugs - and what areas of possible difficulty can you foresee both for yourself and for the foster child?
Where applicable, depending on the type of child it is suitable for you to foster, what understanding do you have of possible issues surrounding the health of a child placed with you, and what is your likely ability to cope with those issues - for example, how would you cope with fostering a child with a life-threatening disease?
Do you feel able to meet the needs of a physically impaired child, or a child with learning difficulties, what local resources are available to you, and what help are you likely to require (for example, adaptations to your accommodation)?
What understanding do you have of the emotional and sexual needs of such a young person?
What is your understanding of possible reasons why children become 'looked after' (taken into care) - for example, parental poverty/physical immaturity/drug abuse/depression etc.?
How far do you acknowledge the importance to a child of being able to understand their past and of maintaining positive links with parents, and will you be able to facilitate such links - for example, by encouraging the child to maintain contact with their family, exchange letters and photographs, keep in phone contact?
12. Describe post placement support

What support does the agency offer, and do you know how to access that support or any other resources? What consideration has been given to 'disruption' (the foster care placement breaking down) and the effect on those concerned.

More information on foster carer assessment is on the next page.