The children and young people

Our approach always puts the young person at the front and centre of everything we do. We focus on offering stable, loving and secure fostering homes that will enhance children’s life chances. Many of the children and young people in our care have experienced trauma in their childhood. This could be due to abuse, neglect or exploitation. They need a lot of love and support.

Action for Children foster carers are trained in parenting techniques to give them the right skills to support young people's needs. Our training includes highlighting the importance of ‘connection before correction’ which will enable our foster carers to better relate to and understand the young person they’re caring for.

Our aim is always to find the best solution, in any given situation, that will help support the young person to achieve their potential.

We understand that trusting adults may be hard for a child or young person. We’ll work with our foster carers to help them build a relationship with the young person they’re caring for.

It’s hugely rewarding for the whole team when a young person feels that they can trust their foster carers and the wider team of professionals around them, to always put their best interests first.

“My life constantly has great stuff going on thanks to my amazing foster Mum and Dad. I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me”

Action for Children foster child

While their age can vary, most of our foster children are aged six and over. We often need to find homes for teenagers. When it comes to fostering, finding the right fit is an important part of the process. Every move in a young person's life has a detrimental impact. We place an emphasis on getting to really know our foster carers, exploring their skills and strengths and pairing them with a child or young person who will thrive in their care. This way we increase the chances of a young person finding somewhere they can experience stability, a sense of family and a place that feels like home.

Wherever possible, young people are linked with carers who have a similar cultural identity, values and beliefs. If the fit doesn’t feel right at first, we’ll wait until it does, for everyone.

Many of the children and young people who need a foster home have brothers or sisters. We also look for foster carers with more than one spare room to help keep siblings together. This is really important to give children and young people a sense of stability.

Many siblings end up going into different homes. It’s our priority to keep siblings together where we can. Do you think you could foster siblings?

Children and young people with a disability, special educational needs or complex emotional needs will be paired by us with foster carers who have the skills and training to manage these challenges. Find out more about fostering children with disabilities.

These children and young people need a caring, loving, stable home and we aim to provide it for them. Action for Children Fostering will give our foster carers all the specific training and support they need to help improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in society.

Fostering a child or young person with a disability takes an extra level of skill and commitment and can be very rewarding. We will give you all the specific training and support you’ll need. Find out more about our training and support.

“At Action for Children Fostering, we're focused on what young people with disabilities can do, not what they can't do.”