Which fostering agency

Agency support is about being in touch on a regular basis, both by phone, email, with home visits to supervise and discuss any concerns any family members might have, and to make sure extra support is always available if necessary.

Properly organised and run, these groups can be an invaluable resource. If not they quickly become poorly attended and a waste of time — another reason to contact the right agency. To meet these requirements properly, you will need to feel valued and listened to in a positive, confident, trusting and professional relationship with your agency.

Some carers retire, but a significant number stop fostering because the working relationship with their agency or council , breaks down.

A problem can build up between the carer and agency staff which might be caused by a one off incident or problems can build up overtime which can result in a breakdown of communication which cannot be resolved.

After all, quality relationships are at the heart of quality fostering, and a lack of trust or respect can end any relationship. Foster carer numbers reveal stark challenge facing foster care system. By Sadie Constable. The Fostering Network response to Budget Mockingbird: A really big family. By lizzie. New national guidance for child protection in Scotland. By DavidEggboro. By Cathy Glass More Get in touch to find out about our fees.

As a transferring foster carer, you can expect that the fees you are getting now, will be replicated as a minimum and you will not receive anything less. It is worth checking with your newly chosen agency if they would likely agree to pay your fees.

This is important and can determine types of placements you might be offered depending on contractual arrangements. Their relationship with others involved in the care of your child, may be indicative of how the agency feels able to challenge and advocate on your behalf too. You can identify often if positive relationships exist by looking at the latest Ofsted report and asking other foster carers. People who have already gone through our transfer process have commented it was a more understandable process than the original assessment and seemed much easier.

Assessments are undertaken before you transfer. Because there is a lot of information available about you as a foster carer, we endeavour to work with your agency to read your files and ask questions about your fostering career. We work with you to build our picture of you, that will be shared with our panel formally, as you would expect.

You must be presented to our panel in the same way you were, when you first became a foster carer. You may need to undertake mandatory training to get up to date, and it may be felt necessary or desirable for you to attend some of the Skills to Foster course, this is individualised, and we will discuss this with you.

We appreciate that transferring your approval to foster, is a big decision. The timing is influenced by your intention to enable us to have conversations with your current foster agency.

We are unable to do that until you give formal consent to your current agency and ourselves. This is normally done in the letter of intent to transfer your approval to another agency. You are not committed at this point, to transfer, however you have raised the point that you intend to leave your agency if everything goes well with the new agency that you have chosen. Once you have done this, we can access records of yours, but this will be only in conjunction with your existing agency.

We work hard to make this part straightforward on your behalf. A protocol meeting will be requested by ourselves. This meeting involves you, the social workers of any children in your care at that time, the agency you are working with and your newly chosen agency. The purpose of this meeting is to determine that the move to another agency will be in the best interest of any children in your care.

The meeting will involve conversations about the needs of any children and how the newly chosen agency will meet them. There will be questions about how the agency intends to support the development of you and how they intend to charge the local authority and pay you.

All in all the purpose of this is to make sure that when you give your notice to leave your agency, which you will only serve, when the panel of your newly chosen agency has recommended you and the ADM has ratified their recommendations formally as the notice to leave once served, cannot be taken back.

It requires notice of the need for respite, firstly to ensure availability and secondly to prepare the children who will be using the respite service. Find out how respite is supported in the agency. Ask also, how the agency enables you to use the family and friends support you have built around you, when you may need a break.

We provide flexibility for the use of the respite fund available to you. We know that there are lots of reasons why you may require the use of respite. We have foster carers who specifically undertake respite services, some who are willing to do this in foster carers homes to avoid children having to leave their home.

Respite arrangements are often established as part of any placement agreement. When children are living with you, it is expected that you will treat them as you would your own children, taking them on holidays with you. Get in touch to find out about our support for respite. It is important that activities are available to families to enable people to build other relationships and to enable fostered children and children of foster carers to come together.

We use this as an opportunity to have fun but also to chat about experiences and seek the chance to build support networks and learn about the experience of those using our services. All organisations regardless of their size have a culture. You can look at their statement of purpose and ask questions related to it. The statement of purpose is a regulatory requirement and has to be included on the agency website, so it is easy for you to read it. To achieve the best outcomes for the children we look after, we know foster carers need high levels of support, full training, and industry expertise.

Get in touch with our fostering team today for a chat or to request an info pack. A member of our friendly fostering team will contact you shortly with more information. Usually this is within hours, but if you would like to speak with us now you can call 5 What are Fostering Agencies? The Difference Between Private and Council.

November 25, Fostering. The application process to become a foster carer Putting lockdown to one side, generally the application process is quicker and more efficient with an independent agency. These are some of the common differences between private and council fostering, and three top questions you should ask: Support and advanced training Allowances Age of children Ownership Questions to ask Enquire with a local fostering agency today Support and Advanced Training This is probably the biggest and most important difference.

The Secure Base model, developed by the Centre for Research on Children and Families at the University of East Anglia In addition to therapeutic support, you can access Diploma qualifications up to level 5. Enquire with a local fostering agency today Age of Children Historically, the age of children being cared for by private fostering agencies has been higher than with the council. Share this post. Share on facebook.

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