How does fostering work?
We believe that children and young people in Rotherham should grow up with the right conditions to allow them to be healthy, safe and achieve their potential in life. That’s why we are looking for people who, with just a little bit of compassion, guidance and support, can help us to provide these conditions for children and young people in care. We call these amazing people foster carers.
Fostering provides a home and more stable family life for children and young people who can no longer be cared for by their parents. There are many different types of fostering depending on the needs of the child or young person. There are many reasons why children are placed into care and it is our job to find them safe, supportive and caring homes with foster carers.
Want to know more? You can also talk with one of our friendly fostering advisers about fostering.
What do foster carers do?
Foster carers come from all walks of life and not all fostering journeys are the same. A foster carer may be there to house a child in an emergency or they may foster a child for a longer period though some of the most important moments of their life.
Foster carers provide day-to-day care for children and young people supporting their educational, health and social wellbeing. All foster carers receive training before being approved to foster, giving them the skills and tools to help meet the needs of a child in their care. Foster carers receive a weekly foster care allowance to cover the cost of looking after the children in their care. Foster carers also receive a fee to recognise the skills, time and experience they bring to the role of fostering.
When someone decides to become a foster carer, they go through an assessment process, working closely with a designated social worker.
Why foster?
Whether you’re interested in long-term fostering, and seeing a whole variety of milestones for your foster children, or if you’re interested in providing a short-term break for other fostering families, your commitment to fostering will be invaluable to a young person in need of care. Nothing can compare to making a positive difference in a child’s life.
There are many different personal reasons someone may choose to foster and many people tell us it is something they have thought about doing for a while. Whatever your motivation for fostering, it is a journey that will offer you a rewarding career opportunity, training, support and a whole host of other benefits. On average, our foster carers are paid £442 per week.
Who can become a foster carer?
In order to care for a diverse range of foster children, our foster carers must be equally diverse. We have foster carers from a huge range of ages, faiths, ethnicities and cultures.
You don't need any special qualifications to be a foster carer and it doesn't matter whether you are employed, unemployed, married, single or divorced, the most important thing is that you have the capacity to care for someone else’s child.
There is no such thing as a typical foster carer and we assess all applications on an individual basis. If you are aged 21 or over, have a spare bedroom and live within 20 miles of Rotherham- you can apply to become a foster carer with Fostering Rotherham.
