Who Can Foster?

Lots of different kinds of people foster.

• You can be single
• You can be living with a partner
• You can be married or have a civil partner
• You can have your own children or step-children
• You can have no children at all
• You can own your own home or be renting
• You can be any age, over 21, as long as your health and well-being allows
• You can offer short-break fostering at weekends if you are working full-time
• You can be unemployed
• You can have been 'in care' yourself

What is important is that you must be able to:

• Be warm, patient, understanding and flexible
• Be non-judgemental
• Negotiate and compromise
• Provide good quality care for children
• Care for children safely
• Support children who may have experienced neglect or abuse
• Cope with children whose behaviour may sometimes be difficult and challenging
• Understand and work with parents who have been unable to look after their child, harmed their child or failed to protect their child
• Work as part of a team which includes a child's family, social worker, education and health staff
• Be willing to learn and develop new skills