Opportunities and challenges

Join Action for Children Fostering and you’ll meet a whole new community of like-minded people. Our team of professionals are available 24/7 all year round, whenever you need us. We’ll also put you in touch with other foster carers, local to you, so that you have other people to talk to and share your experiences.

Being instrumental in the protection and development of a young person is an opportunity and a privilege. Knowing that your care has helped them to thrive is hugely rewarding. You can help transform young lives for the better and help them to reach their potential.

Our extensive training programme will provide you with new skills, knowledge and experience that will benefit many aspects of your life.

We look after you financially so that you can look after the young person in your care. Our fostering payments are generous and, along with the tax benefits you can receive for fostering, could have a significant impact on your current income.

We offer all aspects of fostering and will help you choose which type works best for you. This offers the opportunity to embark on a varied and rewarding fostering journey, potentially transforming many young lives.

Foster carers often have to facilitate contact between the foster child and their birth parents. This can be challenging but we’re here to give you all the guidance you need, to ensure clear communication and to understand boundaries.

Attachments can be made between foster children and their foster carers even in the short-term. It may be difficult for short-term foster carers to have many young people come and go from their lives in a short space of time. Being able to make a positive difference to many young people is incredible, rewarding and something to be very proud of. We will fully explore how this may impact you and your family and will provide you with training, support and techniques to help you.

Foster carers are naturally patient, kind and caring individuals. Fostering can be emotionally challenging if foster carers see their young person struggling with their emotions and behaviours. The young people in your care will have been through tough times and may have complex needs. Our therapeutic parenting training will give you all the skills you need to manage any challenging situation.

The needs of the young people who are fostered will always come first. However, it’s really important for foster carers to look after themselves too. Many have suffered burnout due to the emotional and practical demands of fostering. Action for Children Fostering aims to provide planned breaks for our foster carers to give them a well deserved rest. We’re always at the other end of the phone to support and care for our foster carers who have taken on such an amazing role to help vulnerable young people.