The Fostering Application form
Lucy Stevens - 12th September 2019
The next step in becoming a foster carer. How do I proceed with the Fostering Application after the home visit? Completing the Fostering Application form is not difficult...just a little time consuming. Last week we shared a blog about the home visit. Once you have had your home visit and you, your family and the fostering provider are keen to go ahead with your fostering application, you are ready for the next stage of the process. The fostering application form. What information does the fostering application form require? We need quite a bit of information from you in order to proceed with your fostering application. The assessment will consist of information gathering both behind the scenes and directly from you
Tags: becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, fostering, fostering application, fostering assessment, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, how do I become a foster carer
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How do I become a foster carer?
Lucy Stevens - 4th September 2019
Step 2: The home visit 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
Tags: applying to be a foster carer, becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, essex foster care, Essex fostering, fostering agencies near me, fostering application, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering children, fostering Suffolk, how do I become a foster carer, Suffolk fostering
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5 steps to becoming a foster carer
Lucy Stevens - 28th August 2019
Step 1 - Register your interest Thinking of becoming a foster carer? How do you find out which fostering providers to approach? As with anything in life, when it comes to becoming a foster carer, you should do your research. As a foster carer, you will need excellent support so you should look for local fostering providers who offer quality, 24 hour support. Smaller agencies are often better placed to offer quality, tailored support. The Fostering Network have a tool on their website that allows you to search for local fostering providers. Moreover the internet is an excellent source of information. However, you need to know what you are looking for when deciding which fostering provider might best suit you
Tags: becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, foster care, fostering, fostering agency, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering in Peterborough, fostering near me, fostering service, fostering Suffolk
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Fostering Refugee Children
Lucy Stevens - 12th June 2019
What should carers know when it comes to fostering refugee children? When it comes to fostering refugee children, carers must learn to navigate a whole new world. Let's start with semantics. The language people use when discussing the needs, provision and challenges associated with fostering refugee children is specific and fluid. In the UK we tend to brand all migrant children as refugee children or vice versa. In fact, whether someone is a refugee or not is specified in law. Moreover, it often directly relates to that child's legal status at the time. It is highly likely that if you are fostering a refugee child, you are actually caring for an Unaccompanied Migrant Child. But you could equally be looking
Tags: fostering, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering refugees, fostering Suffolk, Fostering unacomapnied asylum seeking children, Refugee Week
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Becoming a foster carer: 5 things you should know
Lucy Stevens - 28th May 2019
Becoming a foster carer will change your life. Here are 5 things you should know. Fostering is hard but rewarding Becoming a foster carer is one of the bravest steps you can take. It is a job that takes place in your home, 24/7. Fostering will require you to make changes to your life. Not only will you be fostering the most vulnerable children in society but you will be working within a difficult system too. It's hard work. BUT the rewards are beyond anything you could expect in any other job. If you're in two minds about fostering, simply ask yourself, "in what other job can I transform lives?" With the right support, from the right fostering agency, fostering
Tags: becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, families who foster, foster care, foster carer, fostering, fostering agencies near me, fostering agency, fostering application, fostering assessment, fostering babies; #ProudToFoster, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering families, fostering in Peterborough, fostering provider, fostering service, fostering Suffolk, how can I foster?, how do I become a foster carer, how to foster
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Could you #changeafuture
Lucy Stevens - 7th May 2019
Good fostering can transform lives This May sees the start of Foster Care Fortnight, the UK’s biggest awareness raising campaign for foster care. In the UK, it is estimated that over 8000 additional fostering families are needed . “In the East of England alone, we need over 600 additional carers to allow us to provide well matched foster carers to the children who need them,” says Eleanor Vanner of Eastern Fostering Services, an agency who look after children across Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. “Every 20 minutes in the UK another child comes into care needing a fostering family; it’s vital that we have a good pool of carers for these children.” Fostering offers children and young people the opportunity for
Tags: foster care, fostering, fostering agency, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering in Essex, fostering in Peterborough, fostering in Suffolk, fostering information, fostering information events, fostering service, fostering Suffolk
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What qualifications do you need to be a foster carer?
Lucy Stevens - 10th January 2019
The short answer to the question of what qualifications foster carers need is none! 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
Tags: Essex, Essex fostering, foster care, foster carer, fostering assessment, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering in Essex, fostering in Suffolk, fostering qualifications, fostering training, looked after children, qualifications to foster, Suffolk, Suffolk fostering, training for foster carers
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Do I get paid to foster?
Lucy Stevens - 14th November 2018
Do I get paid to foster? 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
Tags: Do I get paid to foster?, Essex fostering, finances, fostering, fostering allowance, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering finances, fostering in Suffolk, fostering information, fostering money, fostering pay, fostering service, fostering Suffolk, Suffolk, Suffolk fostering
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Which children are most in need of foster carers?
Lucy Stevens - 26th September 2018
Every month we get between 150 and 190 referrals for children who are in need of foster carers. Contrary to popular belief these are not all tiny babies; rather they include a variety of children and young people. This month we have had numerous requests for carers for young mothers and their babies, small and large sibling groups and children entering or well-established into their teen years. To cope with the demand for carers across a wide range of children, we need carers of all sorts. There isn’t a “one size fits all” mould for carers. Carers can be of all backgrounds, religious persuasion, sexuality, race or standing. What we hope to find in potential carers is a desire to
Tags: applying to be a foster carer, becoming a foster carer, Cambridgeshire, do foster carers get paid?, Eastern Fostering Services, Essex, foster, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, how to foster
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Mother and baby fostering
Lucy Stevens - 24th September 2018
When people think of fostering, they often think of babies and young children. Not many people know that you can foster young mothers (or fathers) and their babies. What is Mother and baby fostering? There are some young parents who, for various reasons, may be ill-equipped for parenting. Indeed, they may have experienced chaotic, inconsistent parenting themselves as children and not have a positive role model from whom to se. Some young people are victims of sexual exploitation and may not be in a position to keep their new baby safe. Some young parents may have learning difficulties. Therefore, they need additional support to bond with and care for their children. In some cases, new parents have to overcome mental
Tags: babies, Eastern Fostering Services, fostering, fostering babies; #ProudToFoster, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering mums, fostering Suffolk, mother and baby fostering, teenagers
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