In the UK, there are now more children than ever in need of foster carers. Children in Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire are no exception.

Our children need local foster carers who can keep them in education, in local communities and near to the people who are important to them.

Which children need foster carers?

There are children in every age group who are in need of a nurturing foster carer. From young sibling groups, teenagers, mother and babies, children with additional needs and unaccompanied children. The list goes on. By far the most typical children are sibling groups and young people between the ages of 10 to 16.

What does it take to foster?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need qualifications to foster. We look for more general qualities such as empathy, warmth, resilience and passion. In fact, we produced a short film outlining the qualities foster carers should have. You can view the film here.

What are you waiting for?

It could be that you are the perfect match for a child in need. If you want to know more about fostering and you live in Essex, Suffolk or Cambridgeshire, call us on 01206 299775, email us at team@easternfosteringservices.com or follow us on Facebook.

Come and meet us!

You can come and meet the Eastern Fostering Services team and our carers at one of our fostering coffee mornings. Details of all events can be found on our Facebook page. And don’t forget we’ve put loads of information about fostering on our website, so do take a look.

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Are you interested in fostering? If so, we imagine you have lots of questions. We will be at the Holiday Inn in Southend on 21st September between 6 and 8pm to answer your fostering questions!

Contact us at team@easternfosteringservices.com for further information.

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Once you have done your research and have decided you want to become a foster carer, you can arrange a home visit.

An important part of your journey to become a foster carer is to ensure you are well informed. To this end, the home visit is an excellent opportunity to ask any questions you have about fostering and becoming a foster carer.

I want to become a foster carer.What questions should I ask?

Deciding to become a foster carer can open up all sorts of questions and worries. Therefore it is important that the fostering service you are speaking to are open and responsive to your questions. You can find a list of the most commonly asked fostering questions on the Eastern Fostering Services website.

When visiting you at home, the Fostering provider should give you ample time to ask the questions you need to ask about how to become a foster carer and what happens afterwards. It is a good idea to ring round fostering providers in your local area first and get a feel for them. You can find a list of fostering providers on the Fostering Network website.

What will they want to know about me?

As well as giving you the opportunity to ask your questions, the fostering provider will want to check a few things too. It can be a bit nerve wracking, having strangers in your home and you may feel a little exposed.

Any good fostering provider will not expect your house to be a show home..

Don’t worry! We want to see the real you!

Often people can feel under pressure to have the perfect home and for everything to be immaculate. Any good fostering provider will not expect your house to be a show home! They are not there to judge you or to make you feel under scrutiny. There are a few simple things they will be looking for:

The spare room for fostering

Everybody who wants to become a foster carer needs to have a spare room set aside for fostering. However, this room does not need to be palatial! It is simply useful for the fostering provider to understand what age child might best suit the room.

Understanding the fostering needs of you and your family

When it comes to fostering, it is important that the fostering provider knows you and your family well. The reason for this is to enable good matching. The home visit allows us to get a good feel for you, your family, your lifestyle and what is important to you. It is about ensuring that your fostering journey is a positive one for you and your family.

Why do you want to become a foster carer?

This is one of the most important questions of all. It is important that a fostering agency understands your motivation as this too will inform the matching process. What do you want out of fostering? How will you keep yourself motivated? What do you think you have to offer? These are all important questions to ask yourself before contacting fostering providers.

If we all want to go ahead after the home visit, what’s next?

If you wish to apply to become a foster carer, you will need to complete an application form. This is the subject of our next blog, so keep your eyes peeled!

If you have any questions about fostering, you can contact Eastern Fostering Services at team@easternfosteringservices.com or on 01206 299775 or you can look us up on Facebook.

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So what do we look for in foster carers?

Whilst foster carers do not need formal qualifications, there are qualities that we look for. Foster carers need to be resilient. During the fostering assessment resilience is looked at and foster carers can cite their life experience to evidence this.

Foster carers need to have emotional intelligence, empathy and kindness. Because many looked after children have specific emotional needs. But don’t worry if you don’t know a lot about the ins and outs of fostering. Foster carers undergo training as part of their assessment.

Whilst it is helpful to have experience of children and child care, even this is not a must. Undoubtedly what we look for is someone who has a passion to make a difference. Having empathy and a desire to positively change the outcomes for children is the most important thing.

A spare room to foster

The only thing we have to insist on is that foster carers have a spare room available for fostering. For some people this is a barrier to fostering. We understand that this is frustrating for some people. Nonetheless it is important to have enough space to enable long term plans to be made for looked after children.

I want to foster. What do I do now?

Email us at team@easternfosteringservices.com. We can send you information about fostering and can organise a visit to you in your home.

Fostering is difficult. However, it is also one of the most rewarding and valuable things that a person can do.

If you are thinking of fostering, contact Eastern Fostering Services today.

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When it comes to fostering, money is an emotive topic of conversation. Nonetheless, people ask “Do I get paid to foster?” and in order to answer the questions we get about finances, it’s a topic we’d like to address.

We’d like to make it clear that good foster carers are motivated by a desire to make a positive difference in the lives of children. The best foster carers seek to nurture, love and advocate for the children in their care. In our experience, very few carers are ever motivated by money and it is very important to us that they are not.

However, one cannot escape the fact that it costs money to raise a child and it is for this reason that Local Authorities pay a fostering allowance to foster carers.

The money foster carers receive will cover the cost of caring for a child. It includes the cost of food, clothing, pocket money, savings for the child, personal items such as toys or toiletries. It will include extra-curricular activities, school uniform and equipment, school meals, leisure and sports activities. It is expected to cover other incremental household costs associated with caring for additional children, such as utilities.

Many people want and need to know how much money they will receive for fostering; it helps them decide whether fostering is a viable option for them. The answer to this is that the amount will vary and is dependent on the needs of the individual child.

For example, a carer who looks after children with profound care needs would receive a higher allowance. This is  because there might be significant costs associated with providing the required level of care. Children and young people whose care needs are less challenging might require less round-the-clock care and a lower care-related expenditure and therefore carers looking after these children would expect a lower allowance.

It is worth saying that Fostering Providers will differ in what allowance they pay foster carers. Instead of solely asking, “do I get paid to foster?”, we would urge prospective carers to look at the whole package offered to them by Fostering Providers. Whilst we would expect no foster carer to be out of pocket when caring for a child, when it comes to fostering there are some things that money can’t buy. Many other things are vital to ensure stable, positive and fruitful fostering experiences. When looking for a fostering provider, we recommend you check:

1. How child focused the fostering provider is

Talk to fostering providers and gauge how invested they are in the children they support. Their policies and activities should be child-centric and should promote stable, nurturing and successful fostering experiences for carers and children alike.

2. What support you will be given

Does the provider offer 24/7 support? Is the team small enough to get to know you, your family and the child(ren) you care for?

3. What additional support is offered?

Does the provider offer services to promote emotional wellbeing and resilience amongst its carers? Is there an active and supportive fostering community who can meet regularly to support and encourage one another? Is there a sound Social Worker to carer ratio, ensuring carers and their families can be seamlessly supported and listened to?

4. What training and development opportunities exist?

A good fostering provider will provide varied, relevant and tailored training and development for their carers. It should be easy for carers to communicate their training needs and aspirations and fostering providers should be able to demonstrate that they are responsive. 

If you would like to talk to us about fostering, including the finances, please contact us at team@easternfosteringservices.com or call us on 01206 299775.

Alternatively, pop into one of our events. A full list of events can be found at www/facebook.com/EasternFosteringServices/events

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We hold regular events for people who are seeking information about fostering. Often we have some of our carers with us who are more than happy to share their experiences of fostering.

When you are looking into fostering it is important that you do as much fact finding as possible. Equally, it’s vital that you get a feel for how well the agency will support you.

When is the nearest fostering event to me?

Keep an eye on our Facebook events page for future events around Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Equally, let us know you’d be interested in dropping in and we can arrange something with you!

www.facebook.com/EasternFosteringServices/events

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