Depending on your circumstances you can sometimes foster and continue to work. Can you foster? Can you change lives? Take our quick survey.
Every fostering service will have their own policy regarding foster carers working, but it is very difficult to balance the needs of a looked after child with a full time job. If you foster as a couple, one carer will usually be designated the “main” foster carer and the other could then work outside in another role.
Foster carers are expected to be available to care for children, attend meetings, training, support groups, and to promote and support contact between a child and their family. fostering services would not usually consider it appropriate for a fostered child to be in full-time day care while their foster carer works.
If you plan to work full-time in jobs other than fostering, you may wish to look into ‘part-time’ types of foster care, such as respite care. 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.
Can you foster? Can you change lives? There is a constant need for foster carers with a shortfall of around 9,000 in this year alone. Don’t delay; start the process today.
Find out if you fit the criteria to foster by completing our quick online survey. (only 11 tick box questions)
Call Fosterline in confidence to find out more about becoming a foster carer on 0800 040 7675. Qualified Fosterline Advisers are available 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.