Types of fostering
Did you know that we offer many different types of fostering?
As a foster carer, you might choose to focus on one type or explore different options as you progress throughout your journey.
Short term fostering is for children of all ages who can require fostering for anything from a couple of days up to 2 years. Whilst the child is with you they may keep in regular contact with their birth parents.
Long term fostering offers children, normally over the age of 10, the care and security of a family for as long as needed until they are ready to lead their own independent lives. As with short-term fostering, the child will continue to keep in touch with their own families.
Like long term fostering, staying put fostering allows young people to stay with their foster carers up to the age of 25. Providing this is what both the foster carer and young person want.
This could be a short term or long term arrangement with a person who is a family member, friend of, or other person who is known to, the child or their family. They can be child minders, teachers, youth workers or others working in a professional capacity with the child. See our Connected Carers information pack for further details.
Respite fostering is part time care which could be every weekend or once a month. Usually, the child will already have full time foster carers. This is a very flexible form of fostering that can be arranged to fit in with other commitments.
This type of fostering is unplanned and used at short notice, for example, if a lone parent is taken into hospital and there is no one to care for their child. Emergency foster carers will need to be ready to take a child into their home at any time of the night or day and have them stay for a few days.
Parent and child fostering is where a young parent and their child come to stay with you. This enables a parent and child to be placed together where there are concerns about the parent’s ability to care safely for the child or where a parent might need a high level of parenting support and guidance. Your role will be to both help and mentor the parent; and also assist on a practical level with the baby.
Resilience foster carers are carers who provide long-term care to children aged between 10 and 18 years old who have more complex needs and require a higher than usual level of support.
Foster carers who provide these short and long term placements are provided with generous payments to recognise their skill level. In addition, there is also a team of specialist support to assist them including educational specialists and psychologists.
If fostering sounds like the right path for you, we’d love to hear from you.
Call 01202 123 345 or fill in our short enquiry form.