Are you interested in fostering?

Are you interested in fostering?

Sometimes families are unable to provide the level of care and support a child needs and it may be unsafe for children to continue to live at home.

When this is the case professionals will make the decision for the child to become ‘Looked After’ by the local authority. You may know this as ‘taken into care’.

When a child or young person comes in to the care of the authority there are a number of possible options for where they will live. It may be that there is another family member who could be considered as a carer (known as kinship fostering), or that they will go to live with a non-related foster carer. Our foster carers will provide the children with the opportunity to feel happy and safe, living as part of a family. They will encourage them to do well at school, make friends and try new things and help them to keep in touch with the people who are important to them.

We provide stable and supportive foster placements to children and young people of all ages, from 0-18 years old. In order to ensure the best possible placement match, we need a broad range of foster carers from various backgrounds and with differing levels of experience. We cover the Worcestershire area including: Kidderminster, Evesham, Redditch, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Stourport, Malvern, Pershore.

Making the decision to foster a child is one of the biggest, but one of the most rewarding decisions anyone can make. We know that caring for children is a tremendously important task and we aim to guide you through the journey you will take if you decide you want to foster a child.

The best part about fostering is knowing that you are making a positive difference to a child or young person's life. You will be helping them to build a better future, by providing care and support at a time when they need it most. Being a foster carer is no easy task; children can be distressed, demanding and despondent. They are likely to have complex histories and to have come from troubled backgrounds.

Sometimes the children will be fostered for a short period of time, and others may remain in foster care until independence. If a child will not be returning to their family, then they may live with a foster carer until an adoptive family is found for them. All these roles performed by our foster carers are vital in helping the children adapt for their future life. The role a foster carer plays in their life will remain with them forever.

Register your interest in fostering

Or call us today to speak to a Fostering Recruitment Officer on 0800 028 2158.

Download: Fostering information pack (PDF)

The fostering journey

"To be a good foster carer you need patience and perseverance". Pirjo - foster carer
 

That journey is made together with the social workers from Worcestershire Children First Fostering. Their job is to work with you and make sure that you understand the needs of children who are looked after and that you have or can acquire the skills and knowledge to meet their needs.

The assessment of a person’s suitability to foster consists of two stages. To ensure that the process is smooth and efficient, in most instances we run the stages in parallel. Once your initial enquiry is processed, we aim to complete the assessment within four months. This allows time for people to consider carefully whether embarking on this journey is right for them.

We know that people may have been thinking about fostering for some time before feeling ready to begin their journey. We hope this helps you to decide if you can make a positive change to the life of a child or young person.

Step one: register your interest

Register your interest in fostering

Or call us today to speak to a Fostering Recruitment Officer on 0800 028 2158.

An information pack can be downloaded or emailed to you. Once you have read the information pack and considered all the information, you can contact our Recruitment Support Officer to have an ‘initial enquiry’ taken.

This will then be passed to a social worker who will call you to arrange the Initial Home Visit.

If you have any questions we will be able to answer them for you.

Step two: pre-assessment - initial home visit and preparation training course

After the initial enquiry has been completed, a social worker will contact you to arrange to visit you (and your partner if relevant) in your own home. This will provide the opportunity to further explore your personal circumstances in privacy and to talk about the role of fostering.

If both you and the social worker agree that fostering could be right for you, you will then be invited to attend a preparation training course. We hold these monthly, alternating weekday, evening and weekend courses.

Once you have attended the Preparation Course and managers believe you might be suitable, a formal application form will be emailed or posted to you at this stage to complete and return.

Step three: assessment stage one registration and checks

Once you submit your formal application form, Stage One can begin. We will take up a number of statutory checks and references, including, for example:

  • Disclosure and Barring Service which is a criminal background check
  • personal references, from family members and non-family members
  • employers’ references

We will request your agreement to undertake a fostering medical, which is completed by your GP. This is simply to ensure that you are medically fit enough to cope with the challenges of fostering. Your application can, however, be stopped at any point during Stage One, should the statutory checks reveal information that we consider would make you unsuitable to foster.

Step four: assessment stage two assessment

Your social worker will meet with you throughout this period. During this time the social worker gets to know you and your family and spends time helping you think about what strengths you could bring to caring for a looked after child or young person. We will talk to you about your family background and your present circumstances.

You will be asked to provide information about your education, employment history and leisure interests, past relationships and experience of caring for children. Remember, the whole process is focused on finding the right homes for the children and young people who need to be looked after, so developing an understanding of the kinds of children and young people you could support is very important.

The process of preparation and assessment of prospective foster carers is thorough. This is to determine whether applicants are suitable to foster. During this stage we will have to ask some very detailed and personal questions, so we ask you to be as relaxed, open and honest with us as possible.

Step five: fostering panel

On completion of the assessment, it is written up into a report called the Prospective Foster Carers’ Report (Form F), which is taken to Worcestershire Children First Fostering Panel.

You will have the opportunity to read and comment upon the report.

You will be invited to attend the panel meeting with your social worker. All panel members will have read your assessment and will have some questions to ask you. You will also have the opportunity to ask any questions that you may have.

The panel will make a recommendation regarding your approval. This will be passed to a Agency Decision Maker, who decides whether or not to accept the recommendation based on all of the reports and minutes of the panel meeting.

Step six: following approval

Following approval you will be asked to sign the Foster Carer Agreement.

This sets out what you can expect from the Fostering Service in supervising and supporting you, and our expectations of you and how we work together.

You are then ready to foster.

The Fostering Service will look at matching you with a child and young person depending on your type of approval,the needs of the child and young person and your particular strengths.

What if your application is not successful?

During the early stage of the process

Occasionally applicants will be advised that the Fostering Service believes they are unlikely to be recommended as suitable to foster a child or young person. If this is the case, we will provide you with a clear written explanation of the reasons why you are unable to complete

Stage Two. An applicant cannot appeal this decision. However, if you are unhappy with the way your application has been handled, representation can be made through the complaints process. The complaints process cannot, however, consider whether you are suitable to foster or not.

Following attendance at Fostering Panel

Should you not agree with the decision of the Agency, you have the opportunity to appeal and have your case reviewed either by the Fostering Service or by the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM). This is operated by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (CoramBAAF), on behalf of the Department for Education.

Whilst it cannot overturn the Agency’s decision, it can make a recommendation to the Agency on your suitability to be approved as a foster carer. The Agency will take that recommendation into consideration when making its final decision.

Register your interest in fostering

Fostering drop in events

Come and talk to Worcestershire Children First about fostering at our pop up events.

These are held virtually (unless stated otherwise), please contact us if you have an interest in attending.

Future events

  • Wednesday 4 October 6:30pm
  • Wednesday 18 October 1:00pm
  • Tuesday 7 November 6:00pm
  • Thursday 23 November 1:00pm

Interested in fostering?

Register your interest

Get more information about becoming a foster carer.

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