Becoming a Foster Carer
To become a foster carer, individuals must meet several key requirements that are designed to ensure they can provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for children.
Here are the general criteria to become a foster carer with Skylark Fostering:
Age: You must be over 21 years of age. There is no upper age limit for fostering as long as you are healthy enough to care for a child.
Residency: You must have a legal right to work and reside in the UK. This includes being a UK citizen, having indefinite leave to remain, or other permission to reside permanently.
Accommodation: You need to have a stable living arrangement. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to own your own home; you can also rent. Importantly, you must have enough space to accommodate a child, which means a spare bedroom for a fostered child.
Health: You should be in good health both physically and mentally. A health assessment, undertaken by a GP, is part of the application process to ensure you can meet the demands of fostering.
Background Checks: All prospective foster carers must undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to ensure there is no history of behaviour that would harm children.
Training and Assessment: Candidates must complete a preparation to foster training course, and undergo an assessment process involving interviews, home visits, and the provision of references.
Financial Stability: While you do not need to be wealthy to foster, you should have stable finances to support you if for example you wish to take a short break from fostering. Skylark Foster Carers receive a very generous fostering allowance that allows fostering to be a financially viable career.
Support Network: Having a good support network, either through friends or family can be really beneficial.
Character and Suitability: This includes demonstrating patience, resilience, flexibility, and the ability to provide a nurturing environment. Foster carers need to work with various professionals and support the children and young people through potentially challenging behaviour and circumstances, so good communication skills are also important.
Writing and IT skills: Foster carers will be required to maintain accurate written records which are completed online. So a good standard of writing skills and familiarity of using a computer are also necessary skills.
Our friendly team is here to discuss any queries, and you can contact us on info@skylarkfostering.co.uk
If you are already a Foster Carer and are interested in transferring to Skylark Fostering please see our page for existing foster carers