The approval journey
- Use our Find a Fostering Service to identify fostering services in your area. You will most likely want to choose a service geographically close to you because you will need to attend meetings with your service and take the child or young person to meet their birth family; the child or young person will probably be attending a school where their service is based and it will usually be better for them to stay at their existing school.
- Once you have identified some possible fostering services, you should contact them to have an initial discussion about fostering. This will allow the service to find out a little about you, but you can also find out what the service offers - training, support, remuneration. Not all services are the same, so make sure you ask plenty of questions. Use the questions from our Deciding on a fostering service page to help you.
- You may then be invited to attend an information session or the fostering service will ask a member of their team to visit you in your home to discuss fostering.
- If you are keen to progress your enquiry, ask if you can progress to assessment by the service. You will be asked to complete an application form and a social worker will be assigned to begin a detailed assessment as to whether you are suitable.
- You will also be invited to attend pre-approval training, usually based on the The Fostering Network’s Skills to FosterTM course.
- You and every adult that lives with you will need to have criminal record checks.
- The assessment can take around four to six months to complete. Your assessor will submit a full report to their agency’s fostering panel who will determine your suitability to foster.
- The fostering panel will make a recommendation on your approval to the fostering service.
The assessment
As part of your application, fostering services will want to know more about you. This can feel very detailed, some people find it a little intrusive. However, it’s important the service really gets to know you so that they can make the best decision as to your suitability as a foster carer and, which children or young people you are best suited to look after.
A social worker will ask you a range of questions on various related areas, including:
- Your health – are you fit and well enough to foster a child now? Do you have any health problems that might make fostering more difficult in the future? You will need to have a medical, usually with your GP.
- Your relationship history.
- Your finances – can you afford to be a foster carer?
- Your home – is your house safe and suitable for children or young people to live in? Do you have any pets?
- Your friends and family – who are the people who can support you while you foster?
- Your past – have you lived abroad, or do you have a criminal record?
- Your experience with children and young people – have you looked after children before, through family, work, or volunteering?
You will also be asked about your reasons for wanting to be a foster carer. For example:
- Why do you want to work with children and young people?
- Can you support children and young people, nurture them, communicate with them, advocate on their behalf and include them as part of your family?
- Will you work as part of a team, and take part in training and learning to develop your skills?
- Are you willing and able to care for a child of a different religion, ethnicity or cultural background, or a child that speaks a different language to you?
You will also be asked for at least two references.
After approval
Sometimes you will be asked to look after a child soon after you are approved as a foster carer. For others, it can take a while for a child to arrive. It is important that your fostering service makes sure that you are the right foster carer to look after a particular child or children. Making a good match is essential for the child and the fostering family.
Throughout your time as a foster carer, you will receive support and supervision from your fostering service, as well as ongoing learning and development opportunities. The fostering service will review your approval to foster annually.
Check out our pages about looking after a child in foster care.