No two children or young people are the same. Their circumstances and life experiences will be different.

Some situations mean that only a few hours or days of care are needed, some can be more permanent, over a number of years. Some can be in an emergency at short notice, others can be planned even respite/short break care..

With experience you can choose to specialize in different areas but getting involved in a variety of different kinds of care has its benefits too.

Types of Fostering

  • This can be for a few days up to 3 years and provides a safe place on a short term basis until a young person or child can move to a longer term family or return to their birth parents.

  • This is care required at very short notice and as a result will require you to be available and flexible. This can be due to the child or young person experiencing violence in their home to a parent taken to hospital with no support at home to care for them.

  • This type of fostering can be in place to assist in giving foster parents a chance to recharge.

    It also aids the child or young person in experiencing different people and experiences.

  • Long term fostering is for children or young people who can not return home for various reasons. This gives the child or young person the chance to grow in a loving committed family environment into their adulthood.

  • There are a number of reasons why a parent and child cannot remain in their own home and may come into a foster home where they can get support from a parent and child foster parent. This may be due to them having no experience of parenting and needing to learn skills.

    They be a parent who has a learning disability or is struggling with their parenting skills

    The mother or father can be any age and, if they are under 18, they may be a looked after child themselves, the child may be a baby or a toddler.

  • Although similar to short term fostering, a bridging placement means that a long term foster family has been identified for a child or young person however is not available immediately. Bridging fostering is usually for a few days to a couple of weeks.