There are different types of fostering you can choose to specialise in. Each brings different challenges and rewards. Once you've made the important decision to foster, you need to think about the kind of fostering that's right for you, your family, and your circumstances. We'll help you do this during our assessment process.

We need more foster carers to look after brothers and sisters, older children, and teenagers.

Short-term fostering

Short-term fostering placements can last anything from a few months to over two years. Children and young people in short term placements need support until they return to their families or move to longer term planned placements, including special guardianship and adoption.

Long-term fostering

Long-term fostering has massive benefits for children. It keeps them secure and stable, and enables them to develop meaningful relationships with their foster carers, friends, teachers and families.

Children who need long term foster families tend to be school-aged upwards.

Short break care

This is a specialist fostering scheme for disabled children and young people. They may have a learning, physical or sensory disability, significant health care needs, or a combination of these.

Skilled foster carers look after many of these children on a regular basis and can provide a respite service for a child's parent, carers or guardians.

Supported lodgings

We provide supported lodgings to young people who are aged between 16 and 18. Our supported lodgings carers give young people somewhere stable, safe, and secure to live. The young people need support to develop the skills they require to make the transition to independent living. This could be anything from showing them how to cook or manage their money, teaching them how to apply for work or college, or helping them with important life skills in general.