What support is available for foster carers who work?

Foster carers who work may receive practical, professional and financial support to help them manage employment alongside the needs of a child in placement. This support is usually tailored to the carer’s job, household arrangements, the type of fostering being considered and the needs of each child.

A supervising social worker will normally be an important source of ongoing support. They can help you review how your work fits with fostering, identify potential difficulties and consider what arrangements may be needed before you accept a placement. This may include discussing your working pattern, travel, childcare, school runs, annual leave, backup carers and the people who could help if plans change.

Support for working foster carers can include:

• Individual planning: practical discussions about your employment, household responsibilities and the routines you could offer a child.
• Training and preparation: learning about safeguarding, attachment, trauma, behaviour and the impact of fostering, with guidance on how these issues may affect your working routine.
• Placement planning: consideration of whether a child’s age, needs, appointments, school arrangements and contact commitments are compatible with your employment.
• Professional advice: help to understand your responsibilities as a foster carer and how to work with social workers, schools, health professionals and the child’s family.
• Financial guidance: information about fostering allowances and other financial considerations, including how payments may relate to the child’s day-to-day costs and the carer’s circumstances.
• Review and supervision: opportunities to discuss what is working, what has become difficult and whether further support or changes to the care plan are needed.

Training is particularly relevant when you are employed, because fostering involves more than providing a spare room. You may need to attend meetings, contribute to reviews, keep records, take a child to appointments or support contact arrangements. During the assessment and approval process, ask how training is organised and how the expected commitment can fit alongside your job and other responsibilities.

Your employer may also have policies that could help, such as annual leave, flexible working procedures or family-related leave. A fostering service can explain the fostering expectations, but it cannot change your employment contract or decide what your employer must agree. You should check your organisation’s policies and discuss any practical requirements with your employer before accepting a placement.

It is also important to identify a reliable support network. This might include a partner, relative, friend or approved support person who understands the child’s needs and can help with agreed practical tasks. The fostering service will need to consider who is involved in the child’s care, whether they are suitable and what arrangements are safe and appropriate.

Support does not remove the need for careful planning. Some placements involve appointments, emotional support, school issues or contact arrangements that cannot always be predicted. Before approval, be open about your job, travel requirements and limits. This allows the assessment team to consider which types of fostering may be suitable and whether your proposed arrangements provide enough stability for a child.

Become A Foster Family provides information, guidance, training, financial support and ongoing assistance for people considering fostering. Its teams support applicants across the West Midlands, including Birmingham, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Dudley, Sandwell, Herefordshire, Telford, Wolverhampton, Shropshire, Walsall, Warwickshire, Stoke, Solihull, Coventry and Gloucestershire.