Fostering as a Professional Career

Despite the variety of care alternatives accessible, you will be a role model for the child in your care and give them a safe and happy environment, just like any parent.

In addition to managing the day-to-day needs of the child, foster parents are also expected to support the child's educational, physical, and emotional well-being, manage occasionally difficult behaviour, maintain records, participate in meetings, and collaborate with the larger team while also honing their own skills.

In addition to receiving a competitive charge for each kid in your care, you will also receive a weekly skills payment based on your expertise and ongoing learning, a £500 yearly bonus, mileage reimbursement, and payment for babysitting and setup expenses. Also, you will get payments to cover birthday and holiday gifts for the kids in your care as well as experiences like vacations.

You will be paired with an experienced mentor foster carer who will support you throughout your first year of fostering as a new carer.

The goal of providing the safest care is at the core of all UK Fostering does, as are our foster carers. Our foster carers tell us that although the job can be difficult at times, it is also quite rewarding.

Who Can Apply to become a Foster Carer?

If you match the following requirements, you can apply to be a foster carer almost immediately.

To foster, you will require:

keep a spare bedroom available (unless you specifically wish to foster babies up to 18 months old and then they can remain in the same bedroom as the carer).

There is no maximum age; you must be older than 21.

live within 30 miles of the UK

Inquire with a member of our welcoming staff if you'd like to learn more about becoming a foster carer.

The Process

We will ask to meet you if you are thinking about fostering since it helps us get to know you better and provides you with an opportunity to ask us any questions.

A professional evaluating social worker will start your fostering assessment after we've met and you've decided you want to apply to be a foster carer.

We will invite you to participate in 16 hours of training (8 courses) that will offer you the "building blocks" for fostering and give you the chance to meet and speak with other potential and authorised carers as part of the application process and to give you an understanding of fostering. You can select from a variety of in-person and online courses that are also offered on the weekends and in the evenings to accommodate your family's schedule.

Within six months of your initial contact, UK Fostering aims to finish a thorough assessment of potential mainstream carers. Once you've been given the go-ahead, we'll make every effort to pair you up with a kid that complements you the most.

When you are ready to welcome your first child, we will begin introducing our kids to you.

You will never be on your own as a foster care provider because UK Fostering will assign you a licenced social worker to serve as your primary point of contact.

Your social worker will speak with you frequently to assist you, provide guidance, do supervision, and talk about possible training opportunities.