About us

We have foster teams across England so you will be able to speak, confidentially, to a fostering professional local to you. Our teams cover the North and North East, North West, London and the South East, the South West and the Peninsula.

We provide foster care for short term, long term, parent & child, planned breaks, short breaks for children with disabilities, siblings, caring into adulthood, and unaccompanied children and young people seeking asylum. To find out more about the services available in your region, visit our regional services page.

We work jointly with local authorities to provide therapeutic counselling for the young people who have come into the care system. We protect and support children and young people by providing practical and emotional care and support. We strive to ensure their voices are heard and campaign to bring lasting improvements to their lives.

We understand that moving to a new home can be scary. Action for Children Fostering continually strives to develop ways to make a child or young person’s transition less daunting.

Our charity, established in 1869, is now one of the largest children’s charities in the UK. We have over 7,000 staff and volunteers operating in 16 locations to provide national support for the care and protection of over 670,000 children every year.

If you would like to change a child’s life for the better – become a foster carer.

We’re proud to be a member of the Fairer Fostering partnership which is a group of charitable and not-for-profit fostering agencies who work tirelessly on behalf of children.

The Big Welcome is an app designed to help a young person learn about a foster family before moving in. Each foster carer can create a profile to share with a child or young person – and give them the best welcome possible.

My Time in Care is a video series about life in foster care told by care-experienced young people. It offers reassuring advice to young people moving into or already in foster care.

• Always putting children and young people first.
• Making sure that children and young people are protected from harm.
• Encouraging children and young people to maintain and develop family contacts and friendships.
• Making sure that children and young people have a say in decisions related to their care and plans for their future.
• Ensuring that our services recognise and address individual needs and value differences related to culture, disability, gender, ethnicity, language, religion and sexuality.
• Making sure the identity and self-esteem of young people is valued and promoted, that their ethnicity, culture and religious background is accurately recorded, understood, respected and preserved and that they are supported and encouraged to develop skills to deal with all forms of discrimination.
• Ensuring that children and young people with any disabilities receive services which maximise their potential and that they are able to lead as full a life as possible.
• Listening to the views of children, young people, their families, foster carers, short break carers and staff to help us plan and run better services.

• A safe, welcoming and inclusive service, which will value, respect and listen to you regardless of your sexual orientation, race, gender, gender identity, disability, age, religion or belief or community background.
• Equality of opportunity to any training and personal and professional support to help you develop your caring skills.
• Support and guidance to help you challenge any discrimination, prejudice, bullying, harassment or victimisation.

We find safe and loving homes for children and young people who can’t live with their families, both short and long term.

The answer is probably "yes". Answer 10 simple, quick and easy questions to begin your journey.