foster carer

Foster carers welcome children and young people aged 0-18 who are unable to live with their birth families. The care needed may last for a few nights, several months or, for some children, through to adulthood. You can express a preference for the age range your skills, experience and family circumstances are best suited to, and we will explore this with you during assessment. As a foster carer, you will provide a safe, stable and nurturing home. You will support a child's everyday needs, education, health and wellbeing, and work with the wider team around the child. Where it forms part of the child's plan, you will also help them maintain important family relationships and connections. Different children need different kinds of care

• Short-term fostering: care for a child while plans are made for their future.
• Long-term fostering: offer belonging, continuity and a stable family home through childhood.
• Emergency fostering: provide safety and reassurance when a child needs a home at short notice.
• Brothers and sisters: help children stay together at an important and difficult time.
• Parent-and-child fostering: support a young parent and baby while the parent develops skills and confidence.
• Part-time fostering: offer regular support care to the same child from as little as one weekend a month, or provide one-off breaks and holiday care for different children.
You do not need to choose a type of fostering before you enquire. We will help you consider the options that best match your experience, household and circumstances. Who can foster? There is no single type of foster carer. We welcome enquiries from people of different ages, backgrounds, cultures, identities, family circumstances and life experiences. You may be single or in a relationship, employed, retired or managing other commitments. What matters most is your ability to provide patience, stability, care and commitment, and to work openly with the professionals supporting the child. What will you receive? You will not be doing it alone. From your assessment onwards, Sheffield City Council will provide professional, practical and community support.
• A dedicated social worker throughout your assessment, offering guidance and helping you prepare for the fostering role.
• Your own supervising social worker after approval, providing ongoing supervision, advice and support.
• Access to specialist support within the service, including a Speech and Language Therapist and a Psychologist, who can offer advice and support in understanding and responding to children's individual needs.
• Preparation and ongoing training to develop your knowledge, skills and confidence.
• Financial allowances and fostering payments that recognise the costs, skills and commitment involved in caring for a child.
• Foster carer support groups where you can meet other carers, share experiences and benefit from peer support. Sessions include daytime, evening and online options to help people attend alongside work, family and other commitments.
• Events throughout the year that support and celebrate our carers and recognise the contribution fostering households make to Sheffield's children.