sign in

What is support care?

Support care is a form of part-time foster care that helps families to stay together, primarily to prevent an initial breakdown when difficulties are mounting. A relatively new form of preventative care, it is time limited and task focused, to enable families to continue to care for their children and young people at home, and avoid the need for longer term local authority care.

Support care project and report

The Fostering Network has been involved with support care since 1999 and for the last three years has been running a support care project in England, funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Separate funding was obtained for a similar project in Wales. A summary report (PDF) of the support care project is now available.

Joy Howard, who has worked in partnership with the Fostering Network throughout, is acting as consultant to the current projects in both England and Wales, and to other associated schemes.

Joy can be contacted on 01535 645711 or email joyhoward@supportcare.org.

For further background on support care and ideas about how it might work within your organisation, visit Joy's website at www.supportcare.org.

Latest news on support care work in England

Go to the Foster Care Resource Centre for further information on support care