Support For Success
Skylark Fostering's Comprehensive Care Approach.
Having over 40 years’ experience of working for fostering agencies, we are confident we know what foster carers need and what they appreciate.
Most agencies all provide a similar menu of support, but we aim to be unique in terms of the quality we provide as well as in our commitment to allocating time to prepare, organise and deliver. We ensure recent evidence-based research on the most effective methods of supporting children to heal and to feel safe is incorporated, so as to ensure our training remains up to date and is fully informed.
We remain committed to maintaining a child’s positive support networks, including both family and friends. This can be via emails, telephone calls, text messaging, social networking, letters, visits or overnight stays. Family time may be with parents or other adults known to the child but can also be with siblings who are in other fostering arrangements or with significant others.
We fully recognise that unless it is not deemed to be in the child's best interests, parents have a right to be involved in their children's lives. For the children their parents are important people whatever the circumstances. Along with other professionals, foster carers must work to the agreed care plan. If it is to work towards rehabilitation, this will mean using family time sessions to help the parents develop the skills required to adequately care for their children.
We offer excellent training to foster carers in managing family time which may be supervised by a Local Authority worker or unsupervised depending on the need, age and plan for the child.
Such sensitive work means developing and maintaining trusted partnerships with the placing Local Authorities, which is something that is vitally important to Skylark Fostering.
We fully recognise that by working together we can ensure all aspects of the child or young person’s Care Plan are adhered to, and genuinely successful outcomes are achieved.
These themes will run through all our strategies to support both foster families and looked-after children.
Support and Training: We are very proud to offer a range of quality training pertinent to the role of foster carers. We highly value face to face training as we believe this is also a great opportunity to meet other foster families and engage in conversations about the topic. However we also acknowledge the flexibility of on-line training – so we offer both!
Initial and ongoing training: There is a core group of modules everyone takes, but after that, there’s a wide choice of courses to meet your individual needs and interests as well as investigating further with regard to a particular child’s needs who you may be caring for. Our training is designed for everyone so you can be sure you’ll find it interesting and useful, and you will always be supported in your learning by your allocated Supervising Social Worker.
24/7 Support and Respite Care: Skylark offers round-the-clock assistance for any issues or emergencies that arise. We also recognise that from time to time foster carers may need to go away for a few days or have a family matter to attend to. For such events, your looked-after children can be cared for by another Skylark Foster Carer.
Regular Supervision: Our Supervising Social Workers support a maximum of 10 foster families—significantly fewer than many other agencies. This allows them to provide more dedicated support. You can expect weekly calls, bi-weekly visits, and monthly supervision sessions. This approach helps us proactively address any concerns early on, rather than merely reacting in crisis situations. You’ll have access to your supervision records online, where you can review and confirm that they accurately reflect your discussions.
Support Meetings: Joining other foster families for support meetings offers a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and insights. These gatherings are facilitated by our Registered Manager, who brings extensive experience to managing such forums. We also invite guest speakers to enrich these discussions with diverse perspectives. Meetings are hosted in a comfortable setting with lunch provided, making them both educational and enjoyable.
Social Events: We organise a variety of social events ranging from picnics in the park and trips to concerts or sporting events, to beach days and festive celebrations like Halloween, Chinese New Year, Diwali, and Christmas. These events are more than just fun days out; they provide looked-after children a chance to meet peers in similar situations, offering them comfort and a sense of community among those who share their experiences of being looked-after.
Fostering Allowances and Benefits: While the financial aspect will not be your primary motivation to foster, we understand its importance in ensuring you and your family, as well as the children you care for, are financially stable.
Rest assured, it is completely acceptable to inquire about the financial compensation for fostering, and we're here to answer all your questions.
Our typical weekly allowance per child is approximately £450, which is mostly tax-exempt. To put this into perspective, fostering one child equates to an annual pre-tax income of about £30,000, and fostering two children amounts to over £60,000.
Additionally, we offer a substantial mileage allowance and provide all our foster families with a ‘Blue Light Card’ for discounts.
It's also worth noting that as a foster carer, you may still be eligible for means-tested benefits since fostering allowances are not considered income for these purposes.
This means you can also claim a number of benefits including;
‘Fostering Network’ membership; The Fostering Network is the UK’s largest and leading fostering charity, bringing together everyone who is involved in the lives of children and young people who are looked-after to make foster care the very best it can be.
Being a member means you can access a whole range of services, from member helplines that offer you independent advice on all aspects of fostering, from tax and benefits to delegated authority, to member discounts, a regular magazine and campaigns to improve practice that you can be part of.
More details can be viewed here; Foster carer membership | The Fostering Network
Recognition and Rewards: celebrating key milestones in your fostering career is incredibly important to us. Whether it is your first full year of fostering, moving a child on to their forever family or seeing them return to their family, completing your training, all these are real achievements and should be rightly celebrated. We will do so informally as well as holding special events where others can show their respect and regard for what you have achieved.
So come and be part of all of this! We will support you to be the best you can be and we will strive every day to be the best fostering agency there is!