FAQs

Local Authorities are ultimately responsible for the well-being of all children in public care. Advanced Foster Care works in partnership with Local Authorities to find the best possible family environment for the children in care.

As with any career, foster carers can choose who they want to work for.

As a foster carer with Advanced Foster Care, you receive free outstanding training,
earn £17.5k – £46k per year and receive individualised support throughout your application process and placements.

We support our carers by regular support groups, fun activities, out of hours help and we also pay extra annual bonuses.

In most cases, we will place a child in a home where he or she will have their own bedroom.
If children are placed with their siblings of the same gender or very young siblings, they may be able to share a room, if it is safe and appropriate.

This depends on the flexibility of the job and the needs of the children placed with you.

As a foster carer, you need to be available for the children in your care – as you would be with your own children. If your job is flexible or you work from home, you may be able to continue working. There are no hard and fast rules so talk to the Advanced Foster Care team.

There are different types of placements – long term, short term, respite placements or emergency, sibling groups or mother and baby placements. You can decide which type of placement would suit you best. It isn’t always possible to know at the beginning of a placement exactly how long the placement is likely to last for, so you will need to be flexible and understanding if the child’s circumstances change.

Yes, you can. You are more likely to have continuous placements if you are happy to take teenagers as well as younger children. Children’s emotional age sometimes doesn’t reflect their true age, which affects the child’s behaviour, learning and skills.

We will provide you with as much information about the young person and their background as possible, including any difficult behaviours and how to manage them. In emergency foster placements, information may be limited. But we always ask the appropriate questions and we will find out as much as possible about the child and their history.

Our role is to support you and this may include providing specialist equipment or training. Your social worker will explain the specific needs of the child before placement and support you in making the placement work – both for you and the child.

Whilst some children will enjoy having pets in the home, others may be frightened or may tease an animal. Any animals in the home will be considered during a Health & Safety check and a Risk Assessment to ensure that they do not pose a risk to the foster child.

Having a car can make your fostering placement much easier. If you have easy access to public transport and can take your child easily to school, meetings and visit their family then you won’t need a car.

Children come into care for a whole range of reasons, including a family member’s short-term illness or a parent’s depression or drug or alcohol misuse. Some children may have been abused or neglected. Where contact with birth parents, family and siblings is appropriate, children will meet their birth family during scheduled visits and activities.