Types of Fostering
Emergency:
An emergency placement is usually unplanned. This placement can arise at any time of the day or night but will usually require the child or children to be placed on the same day. This can occur at short notice for example if a child has been left at home alone and has no one to care for them.
These placements can last for a day or sometimes weeks, depending on what the circumstances are and what the plan is for the child/children.
Short-term:
Short term fostering is an arrangement for children or young people that can last for weeks,months, or even extend into a few years.
Children or young people can be placed short term whilst decisions are being made about whether they can return home, or alternatively it may be deemed appropriate for them to move on to adoption or long term fostering. Children in short term care can be in care proceedings which means a court will have an overview of the social workers' care plan for the child.
Long-term or permanence:
Long term fostering is decided upon when it is deemed that the child or young person cannot return home to their own family. A long term fostering arrangement usually lasts until the child or young person is 18. This type of placement is very carefully matched and the foster carer will attend a matching panel to fully agree this arrangement.
Short Breaks:
Carers delivering Short Breaks care will care for children or young people for a specific, short period of time. It is planned and can offer a few hours or even weekends for a child who would usually have a disability. This is often to offer a break to the child or young person's birth family.
Parent and Child Foster Placement:
Parent and child placements involve offering supervision, guidance and safe care to young parents and their baby/child so that they can care safely for their child. There is usually an assessment of a parent and child placement which might be undertaken by a social worker or independent assessor, or more rarely, a foster carer.
Remand Fostering:
Remand fostering is designed to support and assist young people involved in criminal, offending behaviour. Young people can be remanded into foster care from the courts and this can avoid them being exposed to more serious offending. Remand foster carers, as part of the team around the child will work with the Court as well as the Youth Offending team.
For more information, contact us here.
How do I Become a Foster Carer?
1. Collection of information
Checks and references are taken up as part of the assessment process. Disclosure and barring (DBS) checks are undertaken on everyone in the household over 18. Health checks and work and personal references are taken for the main applicants.
2. Preparation
Diversity foster care will give you training during the assessment process. This is the Skills to Foster Training and will prepare you in becoming an informed and skilled foster carer.
3. Assessment
You will be assessed by a Form F assessor who will visit you approximately 8 times at your home. The Assessor then completes the Form F report.
4. Panel
Once your assessment is completed you will attend the Diversity Foster Care panel, which includes independent panel members.
5. Decision
The Panel will make a recommendation regarding your suitability to foster and the final decision is then confirmed by the Agency Decision Maker.
6. Completed
Once you are accepted you will become an approved foster carer and part of the Diversity Foster Care family.
What is Fostering?
Fostering is providing a family life for children who for whatever reason cannot live with their own family. Children can be fostered from birth up to the age of 18 years and the decision to place a child in foster care is the responsibility of the designated local authority.
There are many reasons why children are fostered and some of these are:
- Parents may not be able to look after their child due to illness, pregnancy, family problems or economic or employment difficulties.
- Abuse, physical, sexual, emotional, or neglect.
- They may be teenagers who are out of the control of their parents and it is felt that they might benefit from being in foster care.
- Children may be felt to be at risk of significant harm due to the care received from their parents or due to the behaviour of the child themselves e.g a child who is at risk of sexual exploitation.
- Children with disabilities who need a short break in foster care for weekends or a holiday.
Relatives, extended family and friends are usually explored before or in parallel with a foster placement being made but where this is not possible the Local Authority will make the decision to place a child in foster care. Foster care can be short term or long term and it depends on each individual child's circumstances. Even if a child is in foster care there may be a plan to explore rehabilitation back to their birth parent.