What training do you receive before becoming a foster parent?

Before approval, prospective foster carers complete preparation training designed to show what fostering involves in practice and help them decide whether they can meet a child’s needs. It is normally delivered alongside the assessment process and involves discussion, exercises and reflection rather than a pass-or-fail examination.

The training commonly explores:

• The role of a foster carer: how day-to-day care fits within a wider professional network, including social workers, schools, health professionals and the child’s family.
• Safer caring: how to establish appropriate household rules, protect children and carers, manage privacy and maintain professional boundaries within the home.
• Children’s experiences: how separation, loss, neglect, abuse, disrupted relationships and uncertainty can affect a child’s feelings and behaviour. The focus is on understanding what may be behind a behaviour and responding safely and consistently.
• Identity and relationships: how to support a child’s culture, religion, ethnicity, language, sexuality and personal identity, while helping them maintain important connections with family members where this forms part of their care plan.
• Working with birth families: the importance of respectful communication, agreed contact arrangements and keeping the child’s needs at the centre of interactions.
• Communication and recording: how to listen to children, share information appropriately, keep clear records and report concerns to the relevant professionals.
• Health and daily care: practical matters such as routines, appointments, nutrition, school attendance, medication procedures and responding to a child’s individual health needs. Additional preparation may be needed for particular medical or developmental requirements.
• First aid and emergencies: the procedures carers may need to follow when a child is unwell, injured or at immediate risk. The precise training required can depend on the child’s needs and the fostering service’s policies.

Training also helps you consider how fostering could affect your household. Everyone who lives in the home should have an opportunity to understand the role, raise concerns and discuss changes to routines, privacy, relationships and family responsibilities. Children already in the household may receive explanations suited to their age and be included in relevant conversations.

Preparation training is interactive. You may be asked to consider case studies, discuss possible responses to difficult situations and reflect on your own experiences, expectations and support network. This is intended to help you identify both your strengths and the areas where further guidance would be useful. You do not need to know everything before you begin, but you should be willing to learn, accept professional advice and examine how your decisions may affect a child.

The training is one part of the approval process. The assessment will also consider your suitability, household circumstances, health, relationships, home environment and ability to work with professionals. Completing preparation training does not by itself result in approval, and approval is not based on a written test. The assessing team uses the training, conversations, checks and supporting information to build a fuller understanding of your capacity to foster.

Training may be delivered in a group, online, in person or through a combination of methods, depending on the fostering service and your circumstances. Group sessions can help you hear different perspectives from other applicants, while individual discussions allow the preparation to reflect your household and the types of placements you may consider. If you need reasonable adjustments, discuss these with your fostering service so that you can take part effectively.

Preparation does not end when you are approved. Foster carers generally complete further learning during their fostering career, with training linked to the children in their care, changes in guidance and areas identified through supervision or review. This means the learning completed before approval provides a foundation; it is not expected to cover every situation you may encounter.

Before committing to an application, ask the fostering service what its preparation programme includes, how household members participate, what attendance is expected and which additional courses may be required for specific placements. You can also ask how training needs are identified after approval. These questions will give you a clearer picture of the learning, responsibility and ongoing development involved in fostering.