Foster care in the UK: how to apply & what does it involve

In the UK, to become a foster parent you must be a UK resident and be able to take care of a child or young person, often on a full time basis.

Foster parents in the UK must be at least 18-year-s-old, though most services will require you to be at least 21.

How long you look after a foster child depends on the type of foster care you offer, with many different varieties available, including long term fostering, which could be a matter of years, or emergency fostering, which could be as short as one night.

How can I become a foster parent, and what does a foster parent do? (Image: Getty Images)

Before you foster a child you must pass a fostering assessment to show that you are able to care for a foster child.

What does a foster parent do?

Your responsibilities as a foster parent include

• caring for the child, along with local authorities, schools, health professionals, and the child’s birth family.
• Keeping records and reports about your child’s progress
• Attending meetings and advocating for your child
• Attending training to support you and your child’s relationship
• Helping the child manage their behaviour

What type of foster care can I provide?

There are eight different types of foster care in the UK, with people being able to offer their home on a long term basis for children who cannot go back to their birth family but do not want to be adopted.

You can look after a child on a short term basis while plans are made for their future, or you can care for a child who you know, or may be a part of your family, such as a grandchild. This is known as becoming a ‘family and friends’ or ‘kinship’ carer.

Emergency fostering sees you offer a safe space for a child to stay for a few nights. This is often unplanned with less than 24 hours’ notice given on occasions.

You may also be able to provide ‘respite’ care for a child which involves caring for children who have disabilities, special educational needs or behavioural issues while their parents or usual foster carers take a break.

The other types of fostering are

• Remand – caring for a child who has been remanded by a court
• Fostering for adoption – caring for foster babies or children who you may go on to adopt
• Specialist therapeutic – providing specialist therapeutic care to children and young people with complex needs or challenging behaviour

How to become a foster parent?

The process of becoming a foster parent can take up to eight months to complete and involves multiple steps.

Your first action will be to apply to become a foster parent through your local council or through an independent fostering agency.

You will then be asked to go on a preparation course ready for fostering. Every adult that lives in your home will also have to pass an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.

Social workers will assess you and your family in order to check that you are able to provide suitable care to a foster child.

During the process you will be asked your preference about the children you’d like to care for, such as age and gender.

The fostering service will review your application and you will be required to meet with the panel who will then make their recommendation before the final decision on your application is made.

Once approved the fostering service will add you to their approved list of available foster parents, and will send you a profile of any child they think is a good fit.