What is fostering?

We need foster carers to look after babies and toddlers who cannot live with their birth parents because they have been harmed through abuse or neglect.

At times birth parents may place their young child into care voluntarily.  It is not unusual for young children to have additional care requirements because of attachment issues or developmental delay, and we have some babies who are born with addiction withdrawal to mothers who have misused drugs and alcohol in pregnancy. Foster carers therefore have to be completely available, sensitive and highly responsive to young children’s needs.

The role

You will ideally have experience of looking after babies and toddlers, which might include:

• parenting your own children
• looking after younger family members
• childminding
• working in pre-schools or nurseries
• working as a reception teacher.

You will need to be able to provide a safe, stable home, with very high levels of care and nurture. You will also need to provide opportunities for stimulation to enable young children to learn and develop physically, emotionally, and educationally. You will become the baby or toddler's secure base, enabling them to develop a healthy, positive, safe relationship, so that they can recover from trauma while a more permanent plan is made for them.

You will need to have excellent interpersonal skills as you will be working closely with children’s parents or their adoptive parents if they're being adopted, to provide optimum opportunities to allow healthy and safe relationships to develop.

Babies up to the age of 2 years old can sleep in a moses basket or cot in the foster carer's bedroom but children any older must have their own room.

Reward and support

Foster carers will receive:

• fostering payments of up to £350.97 per week per child (based on an Advanced Level 3 carer looking after a 4 year old)
• two weeks holiday payment per year
• an allocated fostering social worker
• access to 24-hour support
• comprehensive training and development opportunities including an induction programme, ongoing training and qualifications to diploma level
• access to fostering support groups
• an allocated mentor during your first year of fostering
• membership to FosterTalk
• membership to the Kent Foster Care Association
• support from Virtual School Kent
• access to the Children and Young People's Council
• participation in appreciation and activity days
• payment for skills panel consideration to recognise training undertaken and carer’s abilities
• enhanced payments for caring for children and young people who have more complex behaviours.

Parent and child fostering involves placing a parent, who is experiencing difficulties with their baby or young child, in a foster home together with their child. It is also sometimes known as 'mother and baby fostering', although it can be for mothers or fathers.

This placement is often an alternative to a mother/father baby unit and is usually the result of a court referral. A baby's social worker may decide on this placement if the parent is not coping well and needs extra help but doesn't have an extended family. The parent might not necessarily be a young person.

The role

The foster carer helps and encourages the parent to develop their skills and occasionally provides parental care.

As a foster carer you would observe how the parent looks after the child and you will need to keep a record of their progress.

This can be a very complex and challenging type of care and requires a number of skills and qualities, including:

• assertiveness
• discretion
• confidence
• sensitivity
• 24-hour commitment.

Carers will ideally have past foster care experience or have worked with children and their families, perhaps in a social services, emergency services, teaching or youth services setting.

Reward and support

Our new offer to foster carers for parents and children includes:

• enhanced rates of pay up to £1,126.51 per week (based on an Advanced Level 3 carer)
• two weeks holiday payment at the end of each 12 week arrangement or more. This is In addition to the 2 weeks all foster carers who 'Foster for Kent' receive
• eight hours day care per week
• fostering social worker support including regular supervision, access to out of hours support, specialist training, attendance at support groups
• all the benefits of being a foster carer with us (Foster Talk, Kent Rewards, Kent Foster Care Association etc).

We need foster carers to provide emergency placements for children and young people aged up to 18 years old who need an immediate placement, and where a direct placement cannot be made.

Placements would be a maximum of 10 working days.

The role

You would be expected to:

• be on a rota of 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off
• attend emergency meetings
• transport the child to school
• provide appropriate care and support for the child in what are usually traumatic circumstances
• produce an assessment or profile of the child at the end of the placement.

Reward and support

Each emergency bed scheme foster carer will receive:

• a continuous retainer payment of £250 per week for the full 8 weeks
• additional payments, reward and maintenance, when a child is placed which are paid at the higher rate regardless of the age of the child
• a complex needs enhanced payment in addition to the above when children are placed who have significantly higher risk taking behaviours
• six hours day care per month to support you to access professional development opportunities.

To find out more:

• come to one of our events
• call us on 03000 42 00 02
• request a call back.

Carers will ideally have previous fostering experience. Other specialist childcare or social care experience is also considered.

Short term fostering is caring for children aged up to 18 years old for short, focused time periods. It is also known as ‘task centred' fostering.

The role

Foster carers providing task centered care do not need any specific experience, just a love of children and young people and the motivation and commitment to help them achieve their potential.

You will provide a stable home where children and young people have opportunities to develop positive, safe relationships and recover from difficult experiences while a more permanent plan is made for them.

Task centered care can include looking after a child or young person for a couple of nights in an emergency, several weeks or months while their parents work to improve their parenting ready for their child to return to their care, supporting a child move on for adoption, or helping a teenager get ready to move onto independence.

Reward and support

Foster carers will receive:

• fostering payments of up to £543.22 per week per child (based on an Advanced Level 3 carer looking after a 16 to 18-year-old)
• two weeks holiday payment per year
• an allocated fostering social worker
• access to 24-hour support
• comprehensive training and development opportunities including an induction programme, ongoing training and qualifications to diploma level
• access to fostering support groups
• an allocated mentor during your first year of fostering
• membership to FosterTalk
• membership to the Kent Foster Care Association
• support from Virtual School Kent
• access to the Children and Young People's Council
• participation in appreciation and activity days
• payment for skills panel consideration to recognise training undertaken and carer’s abilities
• enhanced payments for caring for children and young people who have more complex behaviours.

Permanent fostering is where a carer or carers have been matched with a specific child, young person or sibling group and looks after them for an extended period - usually up to 18 years old, when return to family or adoption is not an option. We also support young people to remain with their foster carers up until they are 21 under a 'staying put' arrangement.

The role

Foster carers providing permanent care do not need any specific experience, just a love of children and young people and the motivation and commitment to help them achieve their potential.

You will provide a stable home where children and young people have opportunities to develop positive, safe relationships and recover from difficult experiences with the knowledge that their foster family have claimed them fully.

Reward and support

Foster carers will receive:

• fostering payments of up to £543.22 per week per child (based on an Advanced Level 3 carer looking after a 16 to 18-year-old)
• two weeks holiday payment per year
• an allocated fostering social worker
• access to 24-hour support
• comprehensive training and development opportunities including an induction programme, ongoing training and qualifications to diploma level
• access to fostering support groups
• an allocated mentor during your first year of fostering
• membership to FosterTalk
• membership to the Kent Foster Care Association
• support from Virtual School Kent
• access to the Children and Young People's Council
• participation in appreciation and activity days
• payment for skills panel consideration to recognise training undertaken and carer’s abilities
• enhanced payments for caring for children and young people who have more complex behaviours.

Disabled children's fostering includes looking after children and young people who have autism, physical impairment, learning difficulties, or complex health needs.

Our dedicated team provides full training and support to disabled children's foster carers, so no previous experience is needed. We also offer enhanced fostering payments up to £638.30 a week (dependent on the child’s needs and foster carers skills level payment).

Foster carers for disabled children can look after them on a task centered or permanent basis.

Short break foster care is where you offer short term fostering to disabled children to provide their parents with a break, in order to support them in maintaining the high level of care their children need. Short breaks can include occasional days, evenings, weekends or school holidays.

The role

Foster carers looking after disabled children do not need any specific experience, although if you do have skills in caring for children or adults with learning and/or physical disabilities, this will help when caring for these children.

A love of children and young people and the motivation and commitment to help them achieve their potential is important. As part of your role you are likely to need to support personal care alongside high levels of learning and emotional needs.

Reward and support

Foster carers will receive:

• enhanced fostering payments of up to £638.30 a week per child (dependent on the child’s needs and the foster carer's skills level payment)
• specialist supervision, training and support from our dedicated Disabled Children's Fostering Team.
• for short breaks foster carers, the ability to work full time providing care at weekends and during holiday times (this is often of particular in interest to teaching staff)
• two weeks holiday payment per year
• access to 24-hour support
• an allocated mentor during your first year of fostering
• membership to FosterTalk
• membership to the Kent Foster Care Association
• support from Virtual School Kent
• access to the Children and Young People's Council
• participation in appreciation and activity days
• payment for skills panel consideration to recognise training undertaken and carer’s abilities.

16+ foster carers provide a loving home, as well as emotional and practical support to teenagers as they move towards becoming young adults.

The role

Foster carers of children aged 16+ can, and often do, have other employment, as long as they have the flexibility to attend training courses and meetings and the young people they look after can have an increased level of independence.

You will provide a stable and safe home for a young person, who may be newly into care following family breakdown or disharmony. You will also provide teaching, guiding and mentoring about the life skills needed for adulthood. Although no specific experience is needed for this type of fostering, transferable skills from youth work, teaching, and community groups for example are often very useful, as these help develop good communication, negotiation and advocacy skills.

Reward and support

Foster carers will receive:

• fostering payments of up to £543.22 per week per child (based on an Advanced Level 3 carer looking after a 16 to 18-year-old)
• two weeks holiday payment per year
• an allocated fostering social worker
• access to 24-hour support
• comprehensive training and development opportunities including an induction programme, ongoing training and qualifications to diploma level
• access to fostering support groups
• an allocated mentor during your first year of fostering
• membership to FosterTalk
• membership to the Kent Foster Care Association
• support from Virtual School Kent
• access to the Children and Young People's Council
• participation in appreciation and activity days
• payment for skills panel consideration to recognise training undertaken and carer’s abilities.

Supported homes hosts provide accommodation in a safe family environment for 16 to 21 year olds who are either:

• leaving foster care and are not ready to live on their own
• who cannot live with their own families and need support to transition to independence.

The role

As a supported homes host, you will provide the necessary support to a young person by:

• helping them to manage their day to day lives
• offering emotional and practical support
• helping them to develop skills for independent living (like washing, budgeting and keeping themselves safe)
• encouraging them to choose alternatives to past unhelpful behaviours.

You will have a room to accommodate a young person, be emotionally strong and resilient and want to support them to build their self-esteem and confidence.

You will be able to continue to work, including in full time employment, with maximum flexibility to offer support to a young person while continuing with other activities.

Reward and support

Supported homes hosts will receive:

• standard payments of £154.50 per week for 15 hours support or enhanced payments of £257.50 per week for 25 hours support
• £309 per week per week for parent and child support
• a rental payment of either:
  • £72.10 per week from the young person, if they are not eligible to claim benefits
  • the Local Authority Housing rate for young people who are eligible to claim benefits.
• two weeks holiday payment per year
• an allocated accommodation officer
• access to 24-hour support
• comprehensive training and development opportunities including an induction program and ongoing training
• access to support groups for supported homes hosts.

You can apply to become a supported homes host from 1 February 2021.