Fostering
There are many different types of Foster Care and virtually
anybody can Foster. Don’t be put off because:
- You are single
- You have a disability
- Of your sexual orientation
- You are unemployed
- You are not a home owner
- You thought you would be too old.
People with offences against children or crimes of violence
cannot Foster, however other convictions do not necessarily mean
you can’t. This all depends on the type of offence, how long
ago it was and how you’ve lived your life since.
Rochdale needs Foster Carers for children of all ages and for
different time scales. The different schemes are:
Respite Foster Care
Respite Carers are usually people who have thought about
Fostering though are unable to commit to full time placements,
usually due to work or family commitments.
Respite Carers offer placement to children and young people to
provide the birth family or Foster Carers a break from the
sometimes stressful task of caring for children.
A series of short breaks
are arranged usually within set time periods with the children or
young people staying with the same respite carers. The
children usually stay for a couple of nights to a month though
sometimes more.
Temporary Fostering
Temporary Foster Carers look after children whilst a period of
crisis is overcome. Once problems have been sorted out the
children move back home to their own families or if this is not
possible until a more permanent Foster or Adoptive family is
found. Temporary carers will generally not look after
children for more than 2 years, though much of the care they
provide is for much shorter periods.
Permanent Fostering
When children are unable to return home to their birth families
and adoption is not an option, we place those children with
Permanent Foster Carers. The children stay with these types
of carers until they reach an age where they can live
independently. Permanent Foster Carers have a vital role in
the preparation of young people being able to live independently
and therefore help young people with life skills such as budgeting,
cooking and keeping house.
Contract Fostering
Contract Fostering is a specialist long term (permanent)
fostering scheme for a small number of children (aged 7 and over),
who persistently display the most challenging emotional and
behavioural difficulties.
Such children and young people have great and complex needs and
so require a high level of supervision and attention. Experience
with these young people suggests they benefit from being the only
child in the fostering family.
Contract Foster Carers are paid a fee and cannot take on other
forms of employment.
Fostering children and young people with disabilities -
Multi-link foster care
We are looking for a multilink carer to offer
specialist fostering to children with learning disabilities
or autism for agreed short breaks.
As a multi-link carer you will be linked with 6-8 children who
will stay with you for up to 24 nights each, per year on a
rota basis. You are expected to provide 210 nights care per
year and attend 10 days training. In addition you will be
available for 10 days of meetings and reviews in any 12 month
period.
We appreciate that caring for children with complex needs can be
extremely challenging and reassure you that you will not be
alone.
As a Multi-link carer you will recieve lots of support from your
social worker as well as input from education, occupational therapy
and other professionals.
In addition you will receive 5 weeks holiday per year plus bank
holidays (or time in lieu if worked).
All necessary equipment like beds, wardrobes, bedding and
so on are provided. Multi-link carers are paid an allowance of
£22,244 per year. It must be noted that this is not a wage but
rather an allowance to meet the needs of the children and young
people in their care.
For more information contactus using the details above
or call the Duty Worker on 01706 646 760.
The Assessment Process
Since caring for children is such an important and responsible
role it is necessary to go through a thorough period of preparation
during which we will assess your suitability to foster.
We understand that some people may find the assessment process
quite daunting - but please don't be put off. You will be
allocated a social worker who will guide and support you all the
way.
- Your enquiry to the service. The duty
social worker will discuss all aspects of fostering with you.
- You will be sent an information pack.
This provides more in depth information about the different types
of fostering. If still interested you will return the form
requesting an initial visit.
- Initial visit. A social worker will
visit you at home, assess your suitability to foster and
discuss with you whether you should proceed to training.
- Fostering training. You are invited to attend
three full day training sessions. Candidates who have
completed training successfully proceed to completing an
'application to act as carer' form.
- Detailed assessment. You are allocated a
social worker to undertake your assessment. This includes 8 -
10 home visits, police checks, medicals, statutory references and 2
or 3 personal references. Your social worker then completes
an assessment report.
- Report presented to Fostering Panel.
Recommendations are made by panel to approve, defer or turn down
your application.
- Head of Service decision. Once the head
of service has made the decision that you should be
approved, you are ready to have children placed with you.
Telephone 01706 710750 for more
information.