There are three main types of foster placement:

• short-term fostering
• long-term fostering
• short break / respite foster care.

Short-term fostering means looking after children while we work with social services to plan for their future, then working as part of a professional team to make sure it all goes according to plan.

As a short-term foster carer, you may be

• helping a foster child to rebuild a relationship with a parent after a crisis or breakdown in family relationships
• helping a foster child to build a completely new relationship with an adoptive or long-term foster family
• providing foster care for a few nights because a parent has had to go into hospital.

Short-term fostering is used for children of all ages, up to 18 years old (or 19 if the child has a disability).

Long-term fostering means looking after foster children, as part of our professional fostering team, until they are 18 (or 19 if they have a disability, or into their early 20s if they are in full-time education).

As a long-term foster carer, you look after the foster child as if they were part of your own family, but with support and supervision from St Christopher's fostering team.

Children placed in long-term fostering are often over the age of eight, as younger children are usually adopted.

Short break / respite foster care means looking after foster children for anything from a day to a few weeks.

This type of foster care is sometimes used for children with disabilities, who need a lot of care

• to give their parents a break
• to help the child to develop relationships with other people.