Fostering for the first time

Nobody expects you to have made your mind up before you chat to us.

Most people who enquire are still working out whether fostering could fit their life, and the early stages of the process are designed around that, so you'll have plenty of chances to ask questions and to decide whether fostering is for you.

It's worth reading this with whoever else lives in your home. Fostering affects everyone in a household, and partners, grown-up children and anyone else under your roof will be part of the conversation from early on.

The whole process usually takes between four to six months from your first enquiry to a decision. Some of that is you learning what fostering involves, and some of it is us getting to know you well enough to be confident about the children we'd ask you to care for.

You get in touch

Fill in the enquiry form to get the ball rolling. You don't need to prepare anything, and getting in touch doesn't commit you to anything.

An introductory chat

Someone from the South East London team will talk through what fostering with us involves, ask about your circumstances, and answer whatever you want to ask. This is a conversation rather than an interview, and plenty of people use it to work out that the timing isn't right for them.

We visit your home

A social worker comes to see where you live and meets everyone in the household. They'll look at the room a child would have and talk about how fostering would fit around your work and your routine.

Training

Before you're assessed you'll do a preparation course covering what children in care have been through, how to support them, and what the role asks of you day to day. Training carries on once you're approved.

Your assessment

A social worker works with you over several months to put together a full picture of your household. This covers your background, your relationships, your health and your experience with children, and it includes a criminal record check, references and a medical.

Independent panel review

An independent panel reads your assessment, meets you, and makes a recommendation. You'll know the outcome shortly afterwards.

You welcome a young person into your home

Once you're approved, we'll talk to you about children who might be matched with you. You'll be given information about a child beforehand and you have the final say on whether they come to stay. Your supervising social worker stays with you from here on, and you'll have training, a carer network and support through the harder weeks as well as the good ones.

Ready to start?

The first step is an informal chat where you can ask any questions that you have. We won’t ask you to commit to anything, nothing happens next unless you ask us to take it further.