Some types of fostering

Emergency

Emergency foster carers will need to be prepared to take a child into their home in the middle of the night and have them stay for a few days. This type of fostering is used at short notice; for example, if a lone parent is taken into hospital and there is no one to care for their child. Longer-term plans must then be considered.

Short-term

This can mean anything from an overnight stay to a period of several months. Short-term foster carers provide a temporary place to stay until the child can return home to their own family or a longer-term fostering placement or adoption arrangement can be made.

Long-term

Sometimes children will not be able to go back to live with their own families for a number of years, if at all. Long-term fostering allows children and young people to stay in a family where they can feel secure, whilst maintaining contact with their birth family.

Supported lodgings

Some young people need assistance with the transition to independent living. A supported lodging scheme aims to help young people make the move from fostering to independent living whilst receiving a high level of support from the foster carers in a safe environment.

Respite

Also known as 'short-break' or 'shared care', this covers a variety of different types of part-time care. You might have a child to stay for anything from a few hours each week to a couple of weekends each month, giving their own family or their full time foster carers a break.

Mother and baby

Specially trained carers will take both young mothers and their babies into their home, providing them with care and support and teaching them how to care for their baby.

Leaving care

Some foster carers will specialise in helping young people prepare to live independently. Foster carers will need to help these young people develop self-confidence along with life skills, such as looking after their own health, budgeting, completing domestic tasks and managing social relationships.

Support Care

There are a growing number of schemes which help to prevent children or young people coming into the care system by offering their families support before difficulties escalate to a point where the family can no longer manage. Foster carers offer part-time care to provide both the children and their family with a break. Arrangements are made to suit the assessed needs of the family.

Your fostering service will be able to give you more information about the types of foster care they offer and the types of carers they need.

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