Young people need us now more than ever. It is so important that they have a safe, stable home with people who care about them and want to help them reach their full potential.

But we need more foster carers to make sure there are enough homes for children in care.

What is foster care?

You may have heard the term, but do you know what foster care is?

A foster carer is someone who looks after young people who are unable to live with their own family. They do all the things that any good parent would do – help with schoolwork, supporting with health and wellbeing, and generally making sure they have a happy childhood.

Foster carers can have an amazing impact on a young person’s life. Read some of our foster carer’s stories to find out more.

What is the criteria for foster carers?

The requirements for who can foster are not as restrictive as many people think. You will need:

• At least one spare bedroom
• Experience with children and young people, either through raising your own family or through your job
• Capacity to travel to meetings about the young person you’re looking after
• To live in the West Midlands or East of England, where we have fostering offices.

How can I become a foster carer?

There are five stages of the process to become a foster carer – your initial enquiry, an information visit, your formal application, an assessment and meeting our fostering panel. It typically takes six months from the point of your enquiry to approval.

Usually this would involve some visits to your home so we can understand where a young person would be living and get to know you face-to-face. However during the coronavirus lockdown, we have adapted our processes so we can do this via video.

Throughout the process we provide online training to ensure you are as prepared as possible to support a young person and we are available if you have any questions about fostering.

Enquire about fostering today to start your fostering journey.