Fostering

Foster Carers are change makers. Whether you take care of a child or young person for a short time or for all their childhood you can make a huge, positive impact on them.

Be the person that makes the difference. Children and young people who can’t live with their birth families are first and foremost just children with the same hopes and dreams of any other child. Through no fault of their own they are unable to live with their family and that is where you come in. At Scottish Adoption & Fostering we believe that all children deserve the opportunity to experience life in a loving family and that all children and foster carers should be supported at every stage of their fostering journey.

Fostering a child isn’t quite the same as raising your own child, as well as giving every day care you will also have a duty to attend any meetings or appointments and keep records on behalf of the child. Many children in foster care spend time with their birth family and foster carers can be a great help in supporting children to spend positive time with their families.

When you decide to become a foster carer, part of the process involves being assessed, approved and trained by us and you will always be supported by an expert team of people. Although your fostering journey will be hugely rewarding, it won’t always be easy, which is why we’ll give you all the guidance and support you need to adjust to your life and make it successful.

Why it makes sense to become part of the team and foster with us:

100 years of experience in adoption
Sector leading support services with expertise in helping care experienced children and young people and their families/carers
Access to formal learning and informal support including being linked with other foster carers who understand
Early days programme providing a baseline assessment and early input to help build secure attachments with the child/young person in your care
Children and young people’s groups for care experienced children and the birth children of foster carers
A dedicated supervising social worker and out of hours cover
You will be paid a fee that fairly compensates you for the skills and capability that you bring to the role and an allowance that covers the cost of the day to day care of the child you are looking after.

You should:

Be at least 21 years-old.
Have a spare bedroom.
Be a full-time resident in the UK or have leave to remain.
Be able to give the time to care for a child or young person.
Offer a smoke-free environment.
Have flexibility around work commitments to attend meetings etc.

Foster to Permanence

Some people want to permanently care for a child/ren and don’t mind whether that is through adoption or fostering. We are keen to hear from you if your first aim is to emotionally claim a child and commit to caring for them for all of their childhood and beyond. You would then be assessed as a foster carer and might eventually adopt a child but would equally be happy to care for that child on a permanent fostering basis if that was in their best interest.

Concurrent

Concurrent Planning is for babies and young children under 2 who are likely to need adoption, but who still have a chance of being reunited with their birth family. Concurrent carers are dually approved as both foster parents and adoptive parents and perform the role of foster carers while the courts decide whether or not a child can return to its birth family. During this time the children will need to see their parents regularly and the concurrent carers will need to support the child to attend these regular sessions with parents.

Short Breaks

As a short break carer you will look after a child for short periods of time to provide a regular and planned break to the child and whoever looks after them. This could be for children who are looked after by our full time foster carers or a child living with their parents or with kin.

Interim

Children who are likely to live with you for less than 24 months. Planning for the child will be ongoing and may include a concurrency plan, working towards rehabilitation with birth parents or other carers (not part of a concurrency plan), working towards Permanence Order with a different foster carer, working towards Adoption Order or Permanence Order with current carer.

Permanent

Permanent foster carers look after children who will not be returning to the care of their birth family, you will be formally matched to that child ensuring that your skills match the needs of the child and that you will be the right person to look after them until adulthood.

Long Term

Long Term refers to a situation where a child has lived with foster carers for longer than 24 months and a permanent order has not been applied for.

Emergency

For a child this will mean that there are immediate concerns for their safety and wellbeing and they require to be removed from their home environment as quickly as possible while the care planning process establishes the best option for the child.

Continuing Care

Continuing Care allows a foster carer to continue to look after a young person up to the age of 21 if they have been looking after them immediately before their care order ran out. This provides young people with a degree of security as they enter adult life and all the challenges and opportunities this brings.

If after reading all the information you would still like to speak to someone please email us at info@scottishadoption.org or call the office on 0131 553 5060.