Your first foster child

There’s zero pressure and if the fit doesn’t feel right at first, we’ll wait until it does - for everyone. We’ll pair you and your first foster child together as soon as possible after you’ve been approved.

During the assessment process we’ll get to know you really well. This will help us to match your skills with the needs of a young person to ensure your first fostering experience is a good one.

We always aim to get the best possible fit between foster carers and the young people who need a safe and loving home. 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 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 have stability, a sense of family and a place that feels like home.

We’re here to listen to what you want to say and to any preferences you may have. We’ll discuss your family and experiences during your assessment and together we'll identify the foster children who could be themselves in your home. We believe that it’s important to empower our foster carers and work collaboratively with you and involve you in decision-making to ensure you have the necessary resources and skills to meet the needs of the children and young people you care for. Factors included in the decision to place a child or young person with you will include the age of the child, whether they have any additional needs and your preferred type of foster care arrangement, such as long-term or short-term.

We’ll share with you all the information we have about the child or young person, which we get from the local authority. It’s vitally important that you understand the young person’s history and any trauma, abuse or behavioural issues they may have so that you can manage this in the best possible way. You'll already have had the training you need to do this. We wouldn't place a child with you that you don't have the skills and training to manage. We would gather as much information as possible before a young person comes to live with you and discuss everything with you in advance. Sometimes it’s possible to get to meet the young person before they come to live with you, giving you both the chance to get to know each other. It would only be in an emergency situation, where we have limited time to gather this information, that we may not have the whole picture. We would still share what we do know with you and continue to gather any missing details.

Big Welcome is an online foster carer profile to help welcome a young person into a new home. Going to live with a new family in a new home can be quite daunting for a young person. We aim to give as much information as we can to both the young person and their new foster carers. As a foster carer with Action for Children Fostering you’ll be invited to create a profile during your assessment. This profile will be shared with professionals and the young people you may be paired with. This helps the young person get to know a bit about you and your wider family and friends before they move in with you. Find out more about Big Welcome.

With Action for Children Fostering you’re never alone. Whenever you need guidance or reassurance, we’re there for you. We believe the support we give to our foster carers is second to none. Once you’re an approved foster carer with us, you’ll be allocated to a local fostering team. You’ll have a dedicated social worker and around the clock support from the fostering team. We have a wealth of experience, training and understanding behind us to be able to provide you with the best possible solution and support for whatever you need. We’ll tailor that support to make sure it’s truly shaped around you and your life. Most of our services have a ‘buddy system’ where new foster carers are paired up with more experienced people so that they have additional support, someone to talk to and can ask for advice when needed. Many of our carers say that talking to others and sharing their experiences is invaluable. Find out more about our support.

Welcoming a new foster child into your home is an exciting time for everyone. We’ll help you make sure you’re fully prepared for their arrival. The young person will, naturally, be apprehensive on their first day and we’ll give you some tips on how to break the ice and make your home as welcoming as possible. We’ll also help you with preparing the young person’s bedroom and talk about what they’ll need you to provide for them such as basic toiletries and child friendly foods. The importance of a spare room.