Types of Fostering

Also known as short break foster care, this provides valuable support to foster families who may be experiencing difficulties or simply need some time to rest and recharge. This type of fostering provides foster families with a short break, while a child in their care stays with their respite foster carer for a few nights. Generally, respite care takes place over the weekend and during school holidays.

Bridging placements are a type of short-term foster care which primarily involves temporarily caring for babies or very young children until reunification with the child’s birth family is achieved, or a more permanent arrangement can be made such as adoption or long-term foster care. It may also be the arrangement for older children who may move to a semi-independent or independent living.

Skylark foster Families provide a child or young person with a place to stay until they can return to their own family, or until it becomes evident that they need a more permanent foster placement or adoptive parents. We recognise short term foster care is more common with young children and is mostly to support the child in care while care proceedings or care hearings are happening to determine the young person’s future. Skylark Foster Carers will work in close partnership with Local Authorities maintaining family relationships and providing information relating to the child’s needs and progress upon request.

Skylark Foster families will offer a compassionate fostering arrangement where a child or young person lives with a dedicated foster family until they reach adulthood. This enduring commitment often spans several years, providing stability and a powerful sense of belonging for those children. We recognise the goal of long-term fostering is to ensure that children experience a secure, loving family environment throughout their childhood and beyond, developing a sense of continuity, commitment, identity, and security. Skylark Foster families will acknowledge that in making this commitment; they are also agreeing to support the child until they are no longer looked after, in that their commitment will extend into young adulthood.

Skylark Fostering recognises there are many children in foster care who have a wide range of conditions that impact their ability to engage in everyday activities, look after themselves and thrive. This includes sensory disabilities, learning difficulties and mobility difficulties. Skylark Fostering will support foster families to provide these children with a stable, loving home and help them to manage their physical, emotional, or learning disabilities and complex medical conditions. We also recognise that sometimes foster families can help support birth parents by providing regular respite foster care for this group of children. They may also require foster care on a permanent basis because their parents are not able to meet their complex needs, however, regular contact will be maintained throughout the arrangement. These type of arrangements can help achieve wonderful outcomes for children and their families.

Parent and child arrangements provide a stable family environment for young parents and their children during time-limited assessments, ensuring consistency and support.