Single or in a couple
You can foster on your own or with a partner, married or not.
Thinking about fostering?
Could you give a child a home?
Fostering means caring for a child in your own home while their own family cannot. This site explains what it really involves, in plain English, so you can decide if it is right for you.
Free to read. No sign-up. No obligation.
Is fostering for me?
There is no typical foster carer
Every fostering household is different, and that variety is a strength. Here is who fosters.
Any background or faith
Foster carers come from every ethnicity, culture and religion.
LGBTQ+ or straight
Your sexuality or gender identity does not decide whether you can foster.
Working or not
Some carers keep another job. Others foster full time.
With or without children
Some carers have young children, some grown-up children, some none.
You already have skills
Everyone brings something from their own life. Assessment helps you see it.
From first question to first child
How becoming a foster carer usually works
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Learn and ask
Read the free handbooks below and write down your questions. There is no wrong question.
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Talk to a fostering service
Have an informal chat. It commits you to nothing, and you can talk to more than one service.
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Assessment and training
A social worker gets to know you and your household over several months. You also take preparation training.
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Fostering panel
You meet an independent panel, who make a recommendation about your approval.
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Matched with a child
When a child needs a home, the service looks for the right match, with support from day one.
Free course handbooks
Learn before you decide
Start with Stage 1: seven short handbooks covering the basics every foster carer needs. When you are ready, 15 more in Stages 2 and 3 cover keeping children safe and well, and go further.
- Foster Carers' Roles and Responsibilities What foster care is, why children come into care, and what foster carers actually do. LF2522
- Identity and Life Chances How foster carers help a child feel proud of who they are, and get a fair start in life. LF2523
- Working with Others The team around a fostered child, the plans that guide their care, and keeping family links. LF2524
- Understanding and Caring for Children Attachment, behaviour and resilience, and how a secure base helps a child to settle. LF2525
- Safer Caring Keeping children safe, and keeping your own family safe, in everyday family life. LF2526
- Transitions Helping children through moves, and preparing young people for adult life. LF2527a
- My Family Fosters Written for the children of foster carers: what fostering will mean for them. LF2528
What children need
A secure base
Many children in care have had a hard start. The Secure Base Model, from the University of East Anglia, describes five things that help a child feel safe enough to grow. Handbook 4 explains it in more depth.
- AvailabilityHelping a child trust that someone is there
- SensitivityHelping a child manage feelings
- AcceptanceBuilding a child’s self-esteem
- Co-operationHelping a child feel effective
- Family membershipHelping a child belong
Choosing a fostering service
Questions to ask any fostering service
Support makes a big difference to foster carers. Whoever you talk to, these questions help you compare.
- Who will my supervising social worker be, and how often will they visit?
- Who can I call at night, at weekends and on bank holidays?
- What training is there before approval, and after?
- Is there a mentor, a support group, or other carers I can talk to?
- What allowances and breaks are there, and how do they work?
- How do you decide which child comes to live with us?
Want to talk it through?
Rachael is happy to answer your questions, however early you are in thinking about it. No pressure and no obligation.