Children in care

We offer a range of high-quality, flexible and innovative services right across the UK that are responsive to local needs, and which meet the complex and diverse requirements of children and young people in care or the edge of care.

Helping the most vulnerable and hard to place children and young people, we work in partnership with commissioners, professionals and their families to support children to overcome the disadvantages of not living with their birth parents.

Action for Children is a registered adoption agency and also provides fostering schemes. Our intensive fostering services act as an alternative to custodial sentences for young people, challenging their behaviour and often enabling them ultimately to return to their birth families.

We also run a growing number of small residential units for children and young people, as well as several residential schools, which are able to provide a good education and social support for children with special educational needs. We also provide specialist services for disabled children.

We are ambitious for children who cannot live with their birth families, and passionate about helping them to enjoy the same life chances as other children and young people. Action for Children believes every child has a right to a safe and supported childhood, where they are empowered to achieve their own positive outcomes.

• Fostering - we offer a range of placement types and specialise in helping children and young people who have encountered severe disruption or emotional trauma
• Adoption - we are able to offer a wide range of assessments, support packages, training and counselling services. We find caring adoptive families for children of all ethnic backgrounds and ages, disabled children, sibling groups and older children
• Family-based short breaks
• Schools - offering a range of packages from day placements through to 52-week care
• Residential care - range of residential short breaks and residential permanent homes for those unable to live with their families and who need a supportive home leaving care and edge of care support
• Leaving care and edge of care support
• Records and support - we provide access to records and support for former care residents and their families, former child migrants and their families and adopted adults and birth relatives of children who were adopted

Read our report, Backing the future, that shows how investing now to promote children's wellbeing benefits us all.