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Fostering is about looking after other people’s children when they are unable to remain with their own families. Foster care provides a safe, secure and stable environment for children and young people.
We work with children, young people and their families to help them, where possible, to return home or to move on to a permanent and secure placement. Foster carers can provide care to children and young people for a few days, weeks, months or even years depending on their needs.
Who can apply to foster?
Anyone who is over 21 can apply. You don’t have to have a big house, be in employment, be a couple, or have children of your own. It doesn’t matter if you are married, divorced, single, in a same sex relationship or living with your partner. If you are living with someone in a relationship we would like you to have been living together for at least two years.
It is important to remember that we are not simply looking for people who have had straightforward lives. We consider your family history sympathetically. We want to know how you have dealt with difficult experiences and what you have learned. Having survived and learned from difficulties or losses is likely to be helpful in fostering children and helping those who have had their own problems. It is best to talk to us and we can advise about your suitability to foster.
You need time, patience, tolerance, resilience and energy. A sense of humour goes a long way too.
Foster caring for a range of circumstances
Short term – which can be anything from overnight to several months. Your goal may be to help the child back to his or her own family as soon as possible or helping a child to move on.
Long term – this is when children are unable to return to live with their family but may want to remain in touch with them. You will be including a child as a complete member of your family. You will be caring for them throughout their childhood and helping them gain the skills they need to eventually leave home.
Respite and Family Link– this can be for a child with disabilities to give their family a break or to provide care during weekends and school holidays for children returning from residential school.
It is also to provide support to long term placements for foster carers and their family.
Want to know more? Contact us:
Office Opening Times:
Monday to Thursday: 8.30am to 5pm
Friday: 8.30am to 4.30pm
Phone: 01782 234555
Email: fostering@stoke.gov.uk
Address:
Fostering Team
Swann House
Boothen Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 4SY