Voices of Fostering

Becoming a Foster Carer: Insights and FAQs with Nic

• National Fostering Group • Season 3 • Episode 6

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Becoming a Foster Carer: Insights and FAQs with Nic from National Fostering Group

Join us for a special bonus episode of Voices of Fostering, where we speak with Nic, a carer recruitment manager from National Fostering Group. Nic walks us through the entire process of becoming a foster carer, from the initial visit to training, assessments, and finally, getting approved. She also sheds light on the different types of fostering, financial support, and the extensive support network available to foster carers. Whether you are just curious or seriously considering fostering, this episode answers your most frequently asked questions and offers valuable insights.

If you would like to find out more about fostering please visit our website here.

If you have any questions that you would like to be answered on our next episode email podcast@nfa.co.uk

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Helen: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to this very special bonus episode of Voices of Fostering, where I'm delighted to be joined by Nick, who's a carer recruitment manager for the National Fostering Group. We're going to be talking through some of your most frequently asked questions. So Nick, let's talk about the process of becoming a foster carer then.

For those who are watching who are maybe completely new to it, can you talk us through the process really, and how that begins at the initial visit? 

Nic: Yes, of course. So every foster carer journey will begin with an initial visit. So it gives you the opportunity to be visited by a carer recruitment officer, uh, one of the team managers or one of the supervising social workers.

So they'll come along to your home and complete the visit. Uh, at your house. So it's the opportunity for us to get to know you and your family a little bit better, um, learn a bit more about your background, um, you know, your skills and that kind of thing. And also get a bit of an idea about what your motivation to foster is as [00:01:00] well.

So, um, it's also your chance to. ask as many questions as you need to, uh, throughout the visit. We usually say a visit lasts around two hours. It can be a little bit longer than that, you know, however long you need to, you know, gain as much information about fostering from us as possible and for us to gain some information about yourself as well.

So our intention after the visit is that you will go away from the visit feeling like you've got loads of information about fostering, all about your and about National Fostering Group as well. Um, so. Following your initial visit, um, you'll be provided with lots of information to take away. So if you feel ready, uh, and only when you feel ready, you know, we can progress you through to the next stage, which would be filling out an application form, um, which is online, um, which just details all of the information that you've given us.

And we get to know a little bit more about you, uh, through the application process as well. So that's all dealt with by one of your recruitment officers who are on [00:02:00] hand. Um, you know, throughout the week, at the weekends as well, everybody's really flexible to be able to give you information and support throughout your care journey as well.

Um, so we'd look at progressing you through into a fostering assessment after, after the application process. And then we generally say that a fostering assessment would take between four to six months. Um, that's the general guidelines for us. It can sometimes take a little bit longer than that, but our aim is to get you through a fostering assessment.

within four to six months. So within that time, you would have the opportunity to do some more training. Um, you'll get the chance to meet everybody within your local team. Um, and you'll also get to meet some of our, uh, approved foster carers as well, who are a great source of information. Um, you know, it's a great opportunity for you to pick their brains about what day to day life is like as a foster carer.

Helen: Yeah, and then you go to panel, don't you? You do, yes, that's 

Nic: right, [00:03:00] yeah. So, at the end of the four to six months assessment, uh, we would, um, have compiled as much information about you as possible. You would have had weekly visits with one of our assessing social workers, um, which could be a combination of home visits or, um, virtual visits where we'd want to speak to, um, you know.

Uh, individually, if you're part of a couple, then we'd speak to you as a couple and also speak to members of your family as well, just to gain a really good kind of, um, story and picture about what makes you tick and, you know, what, you know, your motivation to foster is. Um, so when you are approaching your panel date, obviously it can feel like a quite.

nerve wracking time for a lot of, um, foster, you know, potential foster carers. So we do get that, um, you know, hopefully we can give you as much support and guidance when you're approaching your panel date. So, what to expect at your panel date would be that you would go to your local fostering agency [00:04:00] office, um, and meet with the panel there.

So, I think the word panel generally does pretty well. inflict quite a lot of fear into some people. Maybe sounds a bit 

Helen: daunting. It is, yeah, but 

Nic: we, and we do get that, you know, but the, the panel is basically made up of, um, anywhere between six to 10, uh, professional people. So you've got people that maybe got an education background.

Um, you know, we've got some care leavers who have been in foster care themselves, um, social work professionals, you know, all quite a wide variety of people that, Um, will form, form the panel. So you would go to your, your panel meeting and, um, have a conversation and they would ask you a little bit more in depth questions about what, um, you know, the, the report that, um, the assessing social workers put together.

Um, and generally the panel meeting would last. Around 30 minutes, 45 minutes. Um, and you [00:05:00] will hear, you will hear the recommendation on the day. So there's no, no waiting around for, you know, like a job interview. Um, you know, you don't have to wait, we will give you the recommendation at the end of the panel meeting.

So, um, you know, if everything is positive and we can make a positive recommendation at the end of that panel, you know, that's. Celebration time isn't it? You can go off and celebrate. And 

Helen: then once a foster carer has been approved, how do you go about matching a foster child with a prospective carer? So the, uh, 

Nic: each agency has their own referrals team attached, uh, to, to each agency.

So they're, um, a team of really experienced, dedicated social workers who, um, You know, day in day out are able to, um, receive the referrals from the local authority and hopefully match with a suitable foster carer from one of our agencies. So prior to being approved, the referrals team would, um, receive what we call a carer profile.

So they would [00:06:00] have lots of information about you as foster carers, you know, they gain information about where you live, um, you know, which schools are in the local area. If you've got any pets, um, you know, what. if you've got any of your own children as well, we'd look at all those different factors and the referrals team will get to know you before you become an approved foster carer.

So all being well, once you get the positive recommendation and the agency decision maker has, um, has agreed with that decision, we can look at placing a child or a young person with you. So the referrals team would, um, you know, offer, offer different placement types to you. You know, they know what your interests are, where you live and that kind of thing.

So they take all of that into consideration, um, and hopefully be able to match you with, with, um, you know, somebody that's, that's suitable for your, you and your family. 

Helen: Let's talk about the different types of fostering then. So Nick, can you tell us a few of them? 

Nic: Yeah, so there's quite a few different types of [00:07:00] fostering, um, the main types of fostering, um, are short term fostering, long term fostering, and, uh, we also offer, uh, respite fostering as well.

Um, so with short term fostering, it's a bit of a case of how long's a piece of string in some respects, uh, but short term fostering, you're generally looking at, you know, anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, um, Long term fostering, obviously, as the name suggests, it's a little bit longer than that, you know, it can be, um, you know, anything from several months to, you know, several years, you may well see that child up to, you know, support that child through to adulthood, um, and hopefully independence, um, you know.

I think the thing about the different types of fostering is that, you know, some short term placements can start as short term placements and then they can turn into long term placements, you know, if everybody's happy and settled, you know, um, and it's within the child's best interest, you know, that can hopefully turn into a [00:08:00] long term placement.

So with respite care, we're looking at, um, you know, giving, Uh, approved foster care is the opportunity to have a little bit of a break. You know, they might have an operation coming up or something like that. Um, sometimes, you know, to support the child within the placement, you know, it's necessary for everybody to just to take a breather, take a step away.

And sometimes it's a nice opportunity for the, child or young person to go and stay with, you know, another approved foster carer that we can provide regular respite opportunities for those children. So it's a bit like holiday, you know, a bit like a weekend away, going to stay with, with somebody else. Um, so there are other specific types of fostering as well.

So, um, we can offer such schemes as Bridge Invictus Placements, which, um, offer the opportunity for, um, Some of our specially trained foster carers to provide, um, for more children that have got more complex needs. Um, so from the very beginning, we'll get a good insight into what your interests are, you know, what your [00:09:00] experience is, if you've got any transferable skills, but, and we'll gain a bit of information about what your preferences are for the different types of fostering.

Um, But we'll very much encourage you to have an open mind in terms of, um, you know, what placements you, you're interested in going forward because sometimes a lot of new potential applicants and new foster carers aren't quite sure about what's going to be best for them. And, you know, we'd say, just keep an open mind and hopefully, you know, we'll, we'll be.

We can do the hard work behind the scenes and hopefully find you a match that's suitable for your circumstances. 

Helen: Yeah. And there's a lot of support and training, isn't there, for the different types of fostering. Is that right? 

Nic: Yes, very much so. Yeah. So, um, yeah. All of our dedicated team of social workers and support workers, um, you know, are able to offer 365 days a year, 24 7 support.

There's always somebody on the phone, at the other end of the phone if you need support. You know, I quite often say to a lot of applicants, you know, [00:10:00] um, Things with children and young people, you know, doesn't happen, middle of the week, middle of the day, something will always happen, 3am in the morning, Saturday, you know, you don't need to worry if you need any support or, you know, you need somebody to speak to, one of our supervising social workers will always be on call, they've got all the information about yourself, about the children, they've got access to that, so, you know, you don't need to worry that there will always be somebody.

within the agency that will be able to help you. Um, so whilst we've, we can provide as much support as, as we can, we'd also look at what support network you've got available as well. So, you know, family and friends, um, you know, a great source of support, um, you know, both practically and emotionally as well, you know, we fully acknowledge that Um, fostering can be quite an emotionally challenging thing to do.

Um, but it's nice that you've got a support network there to, you know, support you with the challenges, but hopefully be, be there to [00:11:00] celebrate the golden moments of fostering as well. So the, there's lots of training opportunities as well. So we've got an award winning platform, um, which, um, is able to be used, uh, for any training that is specific to your needs.

So whilst all of our. applicants would, um, be required to do a certain amount of training before approval. Um, all of our approved foster carers are expected to produce a portfolio. So continue professional development is an opportunity for all of our foster carers as well. So if there's a specific type of fostering that you're interested in, say parent and child fostering, if you wanted to specialize in that, we can provide you with a training course for those specific needs.

Helen: Let's talk about finance and fostering. So a lot of people wonder why we pay foster carers, don't they Nick? So can you tell us about that and what financial support is available? Because it's very important, isn't it? 

Nic: Yeah, so we want to make sure that all of our foster carers are financially [00:12:00] secure and, um, you know, there's lots of things that we might need to take into consideration.

You know, we wouldn't want to put any of our foster carers in a financially difficult situation because we do appreciate that. You know, children, young people, um, you know, they require things like going, you know, they want to attend after school clubs and, uh, they've got, maybe have lots of hobbies that, you know, we want them to, to continue to be able to access.

They cost a lot. They do. Yes. So, you know, there's things like that. We, we pay a really generous fostering allowance, which can be put towards these activities as well as the food and the clothing, um, um, you know, any activities that they do. And, you know, we also pay like what we call a professional fee as well.

So we want to acknowledge that, you know, you've got a level of experience and, you know, acknowledge the training that you've completed as well. Um, and that the fostering allowances is reflected on all of those factors. 

Helen: And our foster carers class is self employed. 

Nic: Yes, they are, yes. So [00:13:00] we expect all of our foster carers to be registered as self employed.

But we offer lots of support. Our foster carers are able to offer lots of support, you know, completing tax returns and things like that. We're also able to offer opportunities to attend webinars about, you know, all things tax. And all of our foster carers are eligible to claim qualifying care relief as well.

So We give you lots and lots of support in terms of the social workers who work directly with you and other foster carers as well who've got experience of completing tax returns, that kind of thing. 

Helen: Yeah. So foster carers do pay tax and national insurance then? Yes, that's right. Yeah. They do pay national, national 

Nic: insurance contributions.

Helen: And what happens when you don't have a child with you? Maybe you've got a gap between your, your children that you have with you. What happens then? Do you still get paid? Yeah. So whilst we 

Nic: Would work, you know, do our best to be able to, um, match you with a placement or [00:14:00] with a child or young person as soon as possible, uh, after approval, you know, for whatever reason, um, you know, we might not be able to do that.

You know, sometimes there might be a little bit of a gap between placements. Uh, if a child moves on to another placement or returns to their birth parents, you might want a bit of a gap between your placements. So each individual circumstance is taken into consideration there. So. We would look at, um, potentially providing you with a bridging retaining payment, which is, um, a payment just to give you peace of mind, financial peace of mind, uh, if there was a gap between your placements.

Helen: So Nick, there's lots of support available to our fostering families, isn't there? So tell us more about that. 

Nic: Yeah. So, um, each of our placements. dedicated team, um, is, is made up of supervising social workers, support workers, team managers, carer recruitment team, uh, admin staff, um, and beyond. So we can offer 365 days a year, 24 [00:15:00] seven support, you know, there will always be somebody on the end of the phone if you need it.

Um, you know, let's face it when you, Working with children, when you're living with children, accidents, incidents, you name it, something, you know, never crops up during the week. It will always pop up 3am, Saturday night, etc. But, you know, we can reassure you that somebody will always be at the end of the phone if you need a listening ear, if you need advice, if you, um, you know, need to kind of share any information with your supervising social worker.

There's always somebody on duty that will be able whatever time of day or night it is. So, Whilst we can offer, you know, that, that level of support, we'd also look at who you've got within your support network as well. So, um, friends and family, you know, a really, really important source of, um, support for you.

Um, you know, both emotionally and practically, you know, we do acknowledge that fostering can be an emotionally challenging thing to do, but it's nice that if you've got a, Really strong and [00:16:00] robust support network in place that, you know, they can be there to emotionally support you, practically support you if you need somebody to do the school run for you, you know, you've got those people there to be there for the emotionally challenging moments and support you as a foster carer, but also hopefully, celebrate the golden moments of fostering with you as well.

Helen: Yeah, and other foster carers as well. I imagine there's a really brilliant network with, with other carers. 

Nic: Yeah, very much so. We do say when you become an approved foster carer with any agency within National Fostering Group, you're becoming part of a family, a part of the a community. So all of our approved foster carers are just fantastic whenever we've got a new foster carer within the agency, you know, they'll welcome them with open arms and you'll be invited to some, a lot of our social activities that we run for our foster carers as well, are a lot of our teams and carer recruitment officers will run, um, weekly.

Um, all monthly activities, social activities where, [00:17:00] you know, you can come and meet some of the foster carers or the foster carers, you know, um, a lot of them will do afternoon teas and breakfasts and go bowling and that kind of thing. You know, a lot of which you'll, you know, the pictures are shared on social media, uh, that you might have already seen.

So it's a really good opportunity for you to. You know, be around other people that have experienced the same challenges, you know, share the golden moments, like I said before, with all the foster carers. Uh, so they are a really great level of support because they, they've been there, they've done it, you know, they get it there, they do it within their daily lives.

So. 

Helen: And you know, if anyone watching, you know, has, has birth children, they'll know that they don't really come with a manual. You don't get training, but when you become a foster carer, you do get training, don't you? Lots of it. Very much so. Yeah. So we've 

Nic: got an award winning platform that is available to, um, all of our foster carers, but also people that are within a fostering assessment as well.

So from the moment that you start your assessment, that [00:18:00] training platform is available to yourself. So if there's a specific type of fostering that you wanted to do, um, some specific type of, um, information you wanted to gain from some training, more often than not, it's available within that platform, or we can look at potentially, uh, giving you the opportunity to, uh, access training.

Externally. We work with quite a lot of external agencies to provide training as well. Um, the main kind of aspects of training that we would look at. all of our foster carers, uh, completing, uh, you know, like the safeguarding training, but we'd encourage all of our foster carers to become therapeutic parents as well.

So, um, they've got the opportunity to access some therapeutic parenting training from the start. 

Helen: Let's talk about who can become a foster carer. So, so who can? Anyone? Well, we would look at the, 

Nic: We'd ask if you've got a spare room for a start. It's a good start, yeah. So we'd ask if you [00:19:00] are over the age of 21, if you've got the right to work within the UK, and we'd also look at what transferable skills you've got as well.

So, um, you know, we appreciate that people come from all different walks of life. Um, you know, so we do accept inquiries and applications from, um, people from all different backgrounds. 

Helen: Yeah. So what do you think are some of the main misconceptions about foster carers and who can become a foster carer? We do get a lot of inquiries from people 

Nic: saying, Oh, you know, I've got this background, I've got this, you know, come from this community, you know, can I, can I foster, but we do, um, accept applications from people from all walks of life.

So, um, you know, people with a disability, people from the LGBTQ plus community, um, any religious background, any cultural background as well, you know, we're, we're. 

Helen: And do foster carers have to make fostering their main job or can they still have a career alongside it? 

Nic: No, we do have a lot of foster [00:20:00] carers that do some work full time, some work part time, some work flexibly.

Um, you know, so if you, we don't ask that you give up work to become a foster carer, it is possible to foster and work at the same time. The main thing that we do ask is that you give up work. do have a degree of flexibility. So, you know, children can come with unexpected circumstances. So, you know, if you need to pop out and pick up somebody from school because they're unwell, um, you know, we would ask that you have got, um, an understanding employer that is able to allow you to work flexibly around the child to meet the needs of the child.

Helen: And a question that I hear a lot, Nick, is can you foster if you've got pets? Very much so, yeah. So the 

Nic: The therapeutic benefits of owning a pet, um, you know, for any child or young person, um, are massive. You know, we would, uh, complete what we call a pet assessment during the assessment process. So they have their own kind of, um, whether it's a cat, dog, guinea pig, you name it.

We'll do, [00:21:00] um, you know, a bit of a risk assessment, a bit of a pet assessment. But we work quite closely with, um, an animal charity who were able to provide, um, some bespoke training about keeping children and pets safe within the home. So it is something that we would, you know, you know, recommend and we're happy to hear from people who've got pets from any, you know, any, any kind of pet, you know, we're happy to hear from 

Helen: you.

So Nick, if someone was watching who was considering fostering, what advice would you give to them? 

Nic: Ask 

Helen: questions. 

Nic: Um, you know, if you're curious about fostering, you know, please go onto the website. The website's a really useful resource of information. Um, you know, there's no silly question. There's no big question.

Some small question, you know, the questions are important to you. So, you know, we, we can give you the information if you ask questions. So we've got a dedicated team of recruitment officers, uh, across the UK and a team of fostering advisors as well, who are really experienced [00:22:00] in, uh, all things fostering and are able to answer any question you've got.

Um, you know, the moment that you make your inquiry with us, you know, your care of a journey is really important to us. So, you know, don't feel like. You're asking a silly question, you know, we want you to ask those questions to further your understanding of fostering. 

Helen: Yeah, and we host a lot of events, don't we, so people can ask questions.

Nic: Yeah, so there's quite a variety of opportunities for people to find out information about fostering. So, um, you know, there's the opportunity to, um, Come to, you know, a lunch or a coffee morning where some of our approved foster carers are going to be and some of the teams so you can find out a bit more information.

Some people might prefer the opportunity to attend a virtual event. Um, you know, there's quite often, um, events held online where you can attend. You know, you don't have to have your camera on. You can just listen to the information being given. Uh, you might be in the very early stages of your, um, Fostering, uh, inquiry.

So you [00:23:00] just want a little bit of information. Our fostering advisors are happy to email you over, um, some information. We've got a really informative information pack that we can send over to you. And, you know, you can read through that and make the decision whether you want to progress your inquiry.

whenever you're ready. 

Helen: And how can people find their local fostering agency? 

Nic: So you can visit the website, uh, nfa. co. uk, um, and that has got a search facility that you can search using your postcode to find your local agency. Um, a lot of the, um, agencies are somewhere within the High Street as well now, so they're really visible.

Uh, if you wanted to pop into their office, they, you know, they will open you with welcome arms and offer you a cup of tea and, um, you know, talk to you until the cows come home about fostering. So, lots of opportunities to find out information. 

Helen: Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Voices of Fostering.

If you'd like to get involved in the [00:24:00] conversation, we would love to hear your questions. Maybe there's something you'd really like to ask about fostering, get in touch. You can e