Types Of Fostering

As one of our foster carers, you’ll do more than simply offer a safe home to children or young people. It’s all about providing an environment where children can grow and develop to their full potential, making sure all their health and educational needs are met – even in short term placements.

You’ll be expected to transport children to and from school and contact with their families and protect them from harm. You’ll work closely with a supervising social worker, who will support you every step of the way. Another social worker from the Council’s childcare team supports the child/young person and looks after their general welfare.

• Helping children to look after themselves
• Teaching them to recognise inappropriate behaviour
• Making sure they know how to get help if they feel unsafe
• Building relationships with the children in your care and helping them to relate to and trust others
• Helping them to develop healthy friendships and attachments with other children and with adults
• Helping them to keep links with their families and friends (where appropriate)
• If appropriate, getting to know birth parents and helping them develop their relationship with their child
• Helping the child / young person to understand and feel positive about their religion, origin and culture. We try to match children with foster carers of a similar ethnic background, but this is not always possible. As a foster carer, you must be willing to promote a child’s cultural and religious background, even if it is different from your own.
• Following an agreed care plan and keeping written records of the progress of all children or young people who are in your care.
• Contributing to reviews and reports about the child. You will get support and training to enable you to do this.

Many people don’t realise that there are many types of fostering. It is difficult to categorise foster care but this is a summary of the different types of care looked after children may need.

During the assessment process you and your supervising social worker will decide which type of care you are best suited for. This could be to fit around work or the types of experiences you have working with children. We will want to ensure that when we are matching you with a potential foster child that it is the best for both of you.