Fostering

Fostering provides homes for children who are temporarily unable to live with their own families but who wish to maintain contact with them. Hackney currently has over 160 foster carers, but we still need more. By becoming a Hackney foster carer you could help make a difference to some of the most vulnerable children in our community. If you have space in your home and heart to care for a child, we would like to hear from you.

Please read through the sections below which briefly answers some of the questions you may have about fostering. For more information on fostering in Hackney, download our information leaflet, come along to one of our Open Days (see the page on the left), or contact us (contact details on the right), where we will be pleased to discuss any aspect of fostering or queries you may have about your eligibility.

What is fostering?

Fostering is about caring for a child in your own home and providing them with a caring and safe family environment. For a whole variety of reasons there are around 60,300 children (in England) who are placed with foster carers. Often children will return to their families once the problems that caused them to come into care have been resolved. In some cases this might take a matter of days or weeks, in others it could take much longer. If a return to their families is not possible a decision may be made to find them a permanent new family, possibly through adoption or long-term foster care. Some teenagers may go on to live independently. In the vast majority of cases, children in foster care will have regular contact with their families, and their parents will continue to have responsibilities towards them throughout the time they are in foster care.

Types of fostering

Hackney has a variety of fostering schemes that provide care for a range of children and young people with different needs -

Short-term

Foster carers look after children for a few weeks or months, while plans are made for the child’s future.

Long-term

Long-term foster care is for children who cannot return to their families and where adoption has not been possible, for example older children or those who continue to have regular contact with relatives. Long-term foster carers care for these children until they reach adulthood.

Specialist fostering - Hackney Local Intensive Fostering programme (LIFe scheme)

The Hackney LIFe scheme looks for foster carers for young people between the ages of 10 to 16 years who have shown complex and challenging behaviours. Each foster placement is for six months, after which the young person moves on to a permanent placement or returns to their birth or adoptive family.

This programme combines specialist foster care with support services, both practical and emotional, which wrap around the young person and provide a total integrated service. For more information on this scheme see Specialist fostering.

Disabilities

Foster carers in this scheme care for disabled children or children with special needs. Carers will be expected to demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the needs of children with disabilities together with the willingness to develop their skills. For more information on this scheme dowload our information leaflet ‘Can you foster a disabled child’.

Mother and baby

Foster carers in this scheme will look after young mothers and their babies and help them in developing their parenting skills.

Family and friends or kinship fostering

A fostering scheme whereby the family or friends of a child in the local authority’s care, i.e. aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or grandparents, can be assessed to look after the child. This can be very beneficial for the child.

Private fostering

Private fostering is a private arrangement between a parent and a carer. When a child under 16 or 18 if disabled, is cared for and provided with accommodation by an adult who is not a relative, for 28 days or more, it is called private fostering. If you have a child living with you under this arrangement, then you are privately fostering and you need to let us know. For more information see Private Fostering.

Who can foster?

If you live in the borough of Hackney or a neighbouring borough, and have space in your home and life, enthusiasm, warmth and commitment to care for a child or young person, then you have what it takes to be a Hackney Foster carer.

We accept applications from people who are in their mid twenties and it is quite common for people to foster children up until their 60s. One of the things we find when people are thinking about applying to become foster carers is that they can sometimes make assumptions about what is involved that are simply incorrect. For instance, some people think they have to own a large house or have a certain income. Neither of these assumptions are correct! Foster carers can be single, married or cohabiting. They can be gay, lesbian, a tenant or homeowner. Whoever you are, it is what you have to offer as an individual that is important.

We aim to recruit foster carers from all ethnic groups to reflect the diversity of the children that are in care.

Fostering support

Hackney has a strong commitment to giving foster carers the training and support that they require to help them provide the care that children need. We offer:

• Pre-approval and post approval training with the opportunity to obtain an NVQ
• On-going support
• Finances and equipment needed to support the child
• A professional fee for the carer

How to find out more about fostering

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a foster carer and would like to know more you can contact us using any of the following methods:

• Call us on our adoption and fostering freephone number (see contact details on the right of this page), where you will be able to talk to a social worker experienced in fostering practice. You will then be sent an information pack, which is also available to download.
• Come to one of our monthly open days. For dates and times click here
• Visit Hackneykids where you can also register your interest in fostering.
• Complete our online form

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Page updated: 3 Jun 2008