Types of foster care

Emergency fostering placements are needed when children and young people need to be placed in emergency foster care, particularly when there's an immediate risk of harm at home. This can be where a child comes into care late on a Friday night or over the weekend. 

This is a type of short-term placement where a child is placed with a foster family to provide support to the current family whether it is a birth family, adoptive family, special guardian or foster family. As a respite foster carer, you could have placements which last as short as a single night, weekend, or up to a week or two during the summer holidays to provide a break for parents and carers’. In these instances, the respite family can be part of a regular routine for the child in care. 

Disability short break carers provide regular short breaks for a child or young person with a disability- the child may live with other foster carers or a family member. The breaks may be for one weekend a month, but generally are a flexible arrangement for the foster carers, the child and their family. There are children of all ages with a range of disabilities who need help. Many of our disability short break carers work full or part time as well as caring. We also have specialist disability short break carers who may care for more than one child or carry out this service on a full-time basis. 

This can be children from birth to 18yrs that come into care and are placed with foster carers while decisions are being made about the child. It's a very special, important role which usually involves close work with the child's birth parents to improve their relationship with the child, and preparing a child for a move to a permanent home. 

Long term fostering placements usually last until the child or young person reaches 18yrs and becomes a care leaver. This is when a foster child is unable to return to their birth family and adoption is not the right plan for them. The child may come from another foster carer’s home who they have been with short term. Children are placed into permanent care when they first need help– often they enter the care system with the expectation of returning home once the circumstances that led to them being placed into foster care have been resolved. If the decision is made that the child cannot return home, a court order is issued giving the local authority legal responsibility. 

Parenting doesn’t come easy and some of our parents may need a lot of extra support to teach them to parent. Our parent and Child fostering offers this and allows a foster carer to help guide a parent in caring for their own child, with the view that they are then able to independently parent.

Each year, many children come into care with their brothers and sisters and we need carers who are be able to care for them together so that they can continue to live together with their siblings. This type of foster placement is vital in supporting our children to stay together with their brothers and sisters when they are unable to live with their parents.