How to Become Foster Parents
- Fostering is such a rewarding thing to do, which is why we are thrilled you’ve decided to take the leap!
- Now that you’ve decided you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, let’s start a conversation…get in touch.
- So, how do you become a foster parent? What does the application & assessment process involve?
Now that you’ve decided you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, let’s start a conversation… get in touch.
Fostering is such a rewarding thing to do. It’s a great opportunity to help a child and do something that gives you such a lot of satisfaction. The next step on your journey starts when you call us.
Our friendly staff will have an informal chat with you. We’ll talk about you and your family, and we’ll tell you what is needed to be a foster parent with us. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask questions.
If wel like it’s the right time to proceed, we’ll arrange to come and meet you at home. This lets us get to know each other better and gives you and us a chance to ask more detailed questions. It also lets us look at the home you’d like fostered children to live in. Once we’ve got the information we need, and you’ve got the information you need, we can make a judgement together about if now is the right time for you to foster. If it is, we’ll invite you to make an application.

The next step is for us to start completing references and checks, including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check, so that we can confirm who you are and that we safeguard children and young people.
We will start your assessment and invite you to our training programme that prepares you for fostering.
The fostering assessment will be carried out by a qualified social worker who is experienced in assessing people to become foster parents. They will visit you around 8 to 10 times (and sometimes more) to gather lots of information and help you reflect on why fostering is right for you and your current circumstances.
Once the assessment and all of the references & checks are complete, we will invite you to attend our panel, which will meet with you and consider the information in the assessment.
If the panel recommend that you should be foster parents for the agency, there’s a final step, and this is for our Agency Decision Maker to decide if they agree with the panel. If they do, you will be informed that you have been approved as Foster Parents, and it’s time to start the process of matching you to a child or young person.
We know this sounds like a lot of information and a long process, but we want to get it right and make sure that we safeguard children and support you the best we can in such a big decision.
We know that foster parents feel the assessment process feels really quick once it’s started. We know it can seem intense, and we’ll work with you to help make it a positive experience.
We can’t wait to hear from you – get in touch so we can talk more about how you can start your fostering journey.