of Fostering
Short Term Fostering
This is when local authorities identify that a child needs to be cared for outside of the home short term. There is no time limit to a short-term placement and the child will be looked after as long as is required. If the situation changes and the child needs to be cared for long term, the foster carer looking after them will be considered and identified as a potential long-term carer, and if the match is appropriate, they will be matched together
Long Term Fostering
This type of fostering provides substitute care when a child or young person is unable to return to their family and are too old to be adopted. Long term fostering will sometimes be a planned setup but could also result when a short-term fostering family are identified as an appropriate long-term match. The carer will, in this instance, care for the child or young person permanently until they move onto independence. As a long-term foster carer, you are entitled to the same benefits, pay, support and training and shorter-term foster carers.
Respite Foster Care
Respite fostering is a very limited length placement type that is designed to help other carers and give them the opportunity for a break away from their care responsibilities.
This service is often provided to foster parents, and birth parents, whose children may have a disability or other behavioural issues and so are more likely to need a break.
Emergency Foster Care
This is short team support for children placed in an emergency or crisis.
The placement will last a couple of days whilst future plans for the child are made
Emergency Foster Care placements are a result of an emergency or crisis, you will not have the opportunity to meet the child beforehand and carers will be required to accept any child when they arrive.
Depending on the nature of the emergency the child may be brought to you by a duty social worker or the Police, the young person will require additional reassurance and a friendly, positive welcome from you.
The nature of this type of fostering means you will not be expected to have long term placements, however you must be flexible as the placements will happen quickly once an agreement is reached. In some cases, you may have multiple places over a short period of time.
Some referrals may come to the Britannia out of office hours and carers are asked to be prepared to take a placement at any time of the day or night.
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children
Occasionally, we take young people into care who may have come from another country and are looking to seek asylum in the UK. They will likely be in their mid to late teens, but this is not exclusive. They may have experienced trauma or persecution. They may not speak English, will often have no identification, and will require access to education which we will help you with.
Parent and Child Foster Care
Parent and child fostering placements involve taking in a parent (or both parents) and their child or baby into care. This allows families to stay together while the wellbeing of the child is assured thanks to your support.
As well as caring for any children in your care, your role as a parent and child foster parent is also to support and develop the parenting skills of the parent or parents while we carry out an assessment process to determine whether their child will be safe in their care.
Therapeutic Foster Care
Therapeutic fostering aims to give children and young people an extra level of emotional, psychological and social support as part of their normal foster care. We provide all therapeutic foster parents with specialist carer training and also provide access to external therapeutic support to help the child overcome any difficulties they may be facing and aid in their positive development.
