Frequently asked questions

What is fostering?

Fostering is looking after a child or young person in your home and caring for them whilst their own parents are unable to do so. As a foster carer you will provide a stable family environment nurturing the child to help them develop and succeed.

What do foster carers do?

Being a foster carer involves more than just looking after a child. As well as the day-to-day care of the child, you will be asked to attend meetings about those in your care, keep written records, promote contact with birth families and manage information that is confidential and sensitive.

You may have to help children come to terms with difficult or traumatic experiences. You will need to ensure that you do all you can to support them in their education, whilst also looking after their health and promoting their social wellbeing.

Why are children fostered?

There are a wide range of reasons a child may not be able to live with their own family, for example through bereavement, illness or family breakdown. In some cases, a child or young person may be removed from his or her family for their own safety. They then become looked after by the local authority in which they live and the authority takes a responsibility for the child's welfare.

In many cases fostering is considered to be the best way to provide care for children and young people who are looked after by a local authority. It provides a safe, secure and nurturing family environment until the young person can either return home or alternative plans are made.

Do children and young people have contact with their own families?

Contact with their own families is very important to children and young people in foster care and, as a foster carer, you will need to help maintain this if it is felt to be appropriate. This is important, regardless of any personal feelings you may have about the child's parents.

Contact can be direct (face-to-face) or indirect (telephone, email or letters) and you will receive training to help you manage this. Contact arrangements may change over time.

Who can become a foster carer?

You do not need any formal qualifications or experience to become a foster carer. However, you do need skills and experience that will enable you to meet the needs of the children and young people you care for.

Foster carers need to have:

• The time and energy to invest in a child or young person
• The ability to communicate effectively not only with children and young people but also with social workers the children's birth families and others concerned with the wellbeing of children
• A flexible and non-judgemental approach as well as patience and understanding

What support is available?

If you do decide to become a foster carer you will not be expected to 'go it alone'. There are various sources of support available to you. The most important will be your supervising social worker, a person allocated to support you from your fostering service, who should meet regularly with you to discuss any concerns you have, offer you supervision, and arrange any training you feel you need.

What happens next?

If you are interested in fostering, either as a new or experienced foster carer Priory Fostering Services are keen to hear from you. We actively recruit a variety of carers to offer as much placement choice as possible to children and young people. You can apply to become a foster carer regardless of your marital status or sexuality and foster carers come from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds which reflect the children and young people who are in the public care system.

There are certain offences that will prevent you from becoming a foster carer, so if you have ever been convicted of a sexual offence or a violent act towards a child you will not be able to foster.

Once we hear from you, we can arrange an informal visit for you to discuss your interest further, answer any questions you may have and run through the assessment process in greater detail.

Find me a foster placement

For more information on our specialist fostering services or to request an application pack please call us on 01684 560 333 or send an email to fostering@priorygroup.com