What training do you receive when fostering in your 20s?
When fostering in your 20s, you complete preparation training before approval to understand children’s needs, safeguarding, behaviour, safer care and the role of a foster carer. After approval, you continue with ongoing training tailored to the children in your care and your development as a foster carer.
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Training for foster carers in their 20s follows the same approval standards as training for applicants of any age. It usually begins with preparation before approval, then continues through your assessment and fostering career with learning tailored to your experience and the needs of the children placed with you.
Before approval, you will normally complete a preparation course such as Skills to Foster. This helps you understand what fostering involves in practice and gives you the opportunity to consider how it fits with your home, relationships, work and wider support network. It also allows you to ask questions before deciding whether to proceed.
Core preparation topics commonly include:
- How children’s early experiences, trauma, loss and attachment can affect their behaviour and development
- Safeguarding responsibilities, recognising signs of abuse and knowing how to report concerns
- Managing behaviour through consistent, nurturing and trauma-informed approaches
- Safer caring, household boundaries, privacy and managing risk
- Promoting children’s health, education, identity and emotional wellbeing
- Working with birth families, social workers, schools and other professionals
- Recording important events and sharing information appropriately
- The legal and professional responsibilities of foster carers
Some parts of the training may be particularly useful if you are new to caring for children or have limited experience of professional childcare. You may explore how to establish authority while remaining approachable, how to respond when a child tests boundaries, and how to avoid taking challenging behaviour personally. Being in your 20s does not mean you are expected to know everything already; preparation is designed to develop your understanding before a child is placed with you.
Training also forms part of the assessment and approval process. Your participation can help your assessing social worker understand your strengths, learning needs and readiness to foster. You will have opportunities to discuss situations that could arise and reflect on how you might respond. If further learning or support would be helpful, this can be identified before approval rather than left for you to manage alone.
After approval, training does not stop. You will have an ongoing development plan, with courses and learning activities linked to your role and the children in your care. This may include mandatory refresher training, first aid, safeguarding updates, health and safety, safer caring, recording, online safety and managing allegations or complaints.
Additional training is often arranged when a child has specific needs. For example, you may be offered learning about therapeutic parenting, developmental differences, communication needs, health conditions, self-harm, exploitation, harmful sexual behaviour or supporting a young person towards independence. The relevant subjects depend on the child’s circumstances and the type of fostering placement.
Foster carers are also expected to work towards the Training, Support and Development Standards for foster carers. These standards cover the knowledge and skills needed to provide safe, consistent care. Your supervising social worker can help you identify evidence from everyday fostering, discuss areas for development and plan further training.
Learning is not limited to formal courses. Supervision meetings, reviews, support groups, discussions with professionals and reflection on a placement can all contribute to your development. You should be able to raise questions about a child’s behaviour or needs and use the support around you to decide what to try next.
Training requirements can vary according to your fostering provider, the approval process and the children you care for. Ask for a clear outline of the pre-approval course, post-approval expectations, refresher requirements and how training is recorded. This will help you understand the commitment involved and identify any practical arrangements, such as fitting courses around work or other responsibilities.
Preparation training for fostering is generally practical rather than academic. You are not expected to memorise theory or arrive with professional childcare qualifications. Instead, you may work through realistic examples involving safeguarding, boundaries, communication and behaviour, then explain how you would respond and consider the possible impact on a child.
This approach helps you identify where you feel confident and where you need more guidance before approval. It also gives you space to discuss how fostering could affect your existing routines, relationships and support network. Take an active part in the exercises, ask for clarification when something is unfamiliar and be open about areas where you would like further learning. Your responses are useful to your assessment because fostering requires sound judgement, self-awareness and a willingness to keep developing.
Find Out More About Training When Fostering in Your 20s
If you would like to clarify the training commitment or how it may fit your circumstances, contact Become a Foster Family to discuss your fostering enquiry and the next stage of the application process.