Initial enquiry – This is when you first make contact with our agency and we send you our information pack to help you make this decision. This pack will also include an application form which you can fill in and send to us if you are interested. You may call us with any questions you have before completing an application form.

This is the first time we meet with you in person. We will arrange a meeting to discuss why you want to foster and find out any information we need for the application process. This meeting will explain the process to becoming a foster carer and what it is like once you are approved. This is the perfect time to ask as many questions as you would like. 

This process will likely take between 12-16 weeks. This has many varying factors including your availability and ours. We use an independent social worker who completes the assessment paperwork to lead you onto the next stage. This assessment will include background checks, DBS, references from your workplace and a medical. The main assessment will be about you and your extended family. 

Once the assessment has been completed, you will be taken to a panel which is a group of independent professional people who will read this assessment and ask some questions. They will then decide if they are happy to recommend your approval. Their decision will be sent to our agency decision maker who will have the final say.

Once you have been approved, you will begin the TSD’s (Training, Support and Development Standards) which will guide you through becoming a foster carer. You will likely have a child placed with you within this process, but your training will continue to ensure that you meet the national minimum standards of being a foster carer. Your supervising social worker will be with you the whole way through to help and guide you with this training.