Our Number:
020 8347 8741
WhatsApp Us:
Our Opening Hours
24/7 365 days a year
Email Us:
Fostering is the process of providing a safe, stable and nurturing home for a child who is unable to live with their birth family.
When children cannot remain at home due to concerns about their safety or wellbeing, local authorities arrange for them to live with approved foster carers. These carers offer day-to-day care, emotional support and stability while longer-term plans are made.
Fostering can be short-term or long-term. Sometimes children return home once circumstances improve. In other cases, they remain in foster care for many years.
At its heart, fostering is about providing security during uncertainty.
Children come into care for many different reasons, including:
Neglect
Domestic abuse
Parental illness
Substance misuse
Family breakdown
Bereavement
Situations where parents are temporarily unable to cope
The decision to remove a child from their home is never taken lightly. Local authorities prioritise children’s safety at all times.
When children enter foster care, they need stability, reassurance and adults who can provide consistent boundaries and support.
Foster carers provide the same everyday care that any parent would:
Preparing meals
Helping with homework
Taking children to school
Attending medical appointments
Supporting hobbies and activities
Offering emotional reassurance
But fostering also involves additional responsibilities.
Foster carers work alongside:
Social workers
Schools
Health professionals
The child’s birth family (where appropriate)
They attend meetings, maintain records and support care plans. Foster carers are trained, supported professionals — not volunteers.
No.
Fostering is usually temporary, although some placements can last many years.
Adoption is a permanent legal arrangement where parental responsibility transfers to adoptive parents.
In fostering:
The local authority retains parental responsibility (in most cases)
Contact with birth family may continue
The goal is stability while long-term decisions are made
Some children in long-term foster care may remain with the same foster family into adulthood, but the legal framework differs from adoption.
There are several types of foster care.
Care provided while assessments or court proceedings take place.
For children who cannot return home and need ongoing stability.
Short-notice care, sometimes arranged the same day.
Short breaks for other foster carers or families.
Supporting a parent and baby together while assessments are completed.
During the application process, carers agree an age range and placement type suited to their circumstances.
Many people assume they wouldn’t qualify — but foster carers come from a wide range of backgrounds.
You can foster if you:
Are over 21
Have a spare bedroom
Are emotionally resilient
Have a stable home environment
You do not need to:
Own your home
Be married
Have children
Have formal childcare qualifications
You do need patience, empathy and the ability to provide consistent boundaries.
Yes.
Foster carers receive a weekly fostering fee designed to cover the cost of caring for a child and recognise the professional commitment involved.
At Fostering Hearts:
£479.50 per week for children aged 0–10
£507.50 per week for young people aged 11+
Fostering is not about making money. However, financial stability is essential to ensure carers can focus on providing care without additional stress.
Fostering is rewarding, but it can also be challenging.
Strong support is essential.
At Fostering Hearts, carers receive:
24/7 support
Regular supervision
Ongoing training
Trauma-informed guidance
Careful matching
A supervising social worker supporting around six families
This ensures personalised, responsive support.
It can be emotionally demanding.
Children entering care may have experienced trauma or disruption. Behaviour can sometimes reflect anxiety or fear.
However, with:
Structure
Clear boundaries
Predictability
Emotional consistency
many children settle and thrive.
You are never expected to manage alone. Support networks are in place to help you navigate challenges confidently.
Children in care need:
Stability
Routine
Safety
Encouragement
Someone who stays
They need adults who remain calm and consistent, even when things feel unsettled.
You do not need to be extraordinary.
You need to be steady.
Across the Midlands, East of England, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, there is ongoing demand for foster carers.
In particular, there is a need for:
Carers for teenagers
Carers who can support siblings
Long-term foster carers
Carers willing to support children aged 8+
Regional needs change over time, and we are always transparent about where support is most required.
The process typically takes four to six months and includes:
Initial enquiry
Home visit
Background checks
Training
Form F assessment
Panel approval
The process is thorough but supportive.
Fostering is not about being perfect.
It is about being present.
If you have:
Emotional resilience
A stable home
Patience
The ability to provide structure
then fostering may be something worth exploring.
No one begins fostering fully confident.
They begin by asking questions.
Right now, somewhere in your region, a child needs stability.
If you would like to explore whether fostering could be right for you, the next step is simple — book a call back and have an honest conversation with our team.
You don’t need to decide today.
You just need to begin.
