The Support You Get

Fostering is not something we hand you and step back from. This page sets out who you have around you, what happens when something goes wrong at two in the morning, and how you get a break.

Your social worker

You are allocated a qualified social worker who supervises you for as long as you foster with us. How often you meet, and where, is agreed between you — early visits are usually in person, and some later ones may be online.

Supervision is a regulatory requirement, so it is not optional, but it is also the main place things get sorted out.

You tell your social worker about anything that has changed for you, and anything about the children that has not already been shared. They go through your file and the children’s, fill in whatever is missing, and give advice where you want it. It is also where training needs and extra support get identified.

If there are children placed, your social worker will usually spend some time with them separately. That matters — children need a chance to say what they think to someone other than you, and you are expected to make that possible.

Where there are two carers in the household, the second carer is expected at some of the supervision and training too.

If something important happens, tell the child’s social worker and your own straight away. Supervision is a rhythm, not a queue — anything urgent goes up the moment it happens.

Your social worker will also ring from time to time, informally, just to see how you are.

At least once a year there is an unannounced visit — your social worker arrives without arranging it first. That is a legal requirement, not a sign anyone is worried. They will look round the home, including the fridge, the cupboards and the bedrooms, and talk to any children who are in.

Managers are in direct contact with carers and children, not just with staff, and records are audited regularly.

You, the children, or any professional working with you can ask to speak to the Registered Manager at any time — by phone, video call or in person. You do not need a reason. The details are in our Statement of Purpose.

Help at any hour

When a child lives with you, you are caring for them around the clock, the same as any parent. A settled child sleeps through. A child who is not settled may not, and you stay with them until they are.

You are not on your own with it. You can call children’s services and Sparks at any time — there is no hour that is the wrong hour. Both will give you support and advice.

If a young person goes missing, you work alongside children’s services and the police until they are home.

Where a child is unsettled, or something significant has happened, you are expected to tell both services straight away rather than waiting, and to write it up as soon as you can and send it to the child’s social worker and your own.

Training

Training at Sparks is not a box of courses you work through. Most of it is reading, discussion in supervision, and specific learning arranged around the children you are actually caring for.

Before applying, read through the main pages of this website. That is the grounding, and it stays useful afterwards.

After approval you read the core policies, which are the working guide to the role. They are reviewed annually, and the learning in them is picked up again in supervision rather than left on a shelf.

You are invited to face-to-face first aid and de-escalation training, particularly where the children in your home make it relevant.

Completing the TSDS within your first year of approval is a legal requirement. Your supervising social worker works through it with you — it is not something you are left to do alone.

Other training follows the children. If you are caring for a child with developmental delay, you will be asked to do training on that.

It can be face to face, online, reading, or a proper discussion in supervision. If you can evidence the learning, it counts as training — record it on your training record.

There is a £50 a month allowance for every carer and household member towards courses, books, or meeting other carers and staff.

The second carer is expected to have read the policies and procedures on the main pages and the core policies, and to attend at least one training event a year.

Other carers and families

Some of the most useful support does not come from us. It comes from people doing the same thing.

Carers meet each other through training and support groups, online and face to face. We also invite carers and their households to regional events alongside staff — meals, celebrations, the ordinary sociable things.

Children are encouraged to meet each other too, and to tell us what they think, whenever that can be arranged. If there is something you and the children would find useful, say so — we would rather build round what helps you.

We run a Facebook group that is open to anyone interested in fostering. There are also groups only approved carers can join, and we encourage you to be in them — independent support matters, and it should not all come through us.

You can register with FosterTalk, and join any other fostering association you want to.

One thing to hold in mind wherever you post: information about the children is shared on a need-to-know basis, even inside the agency, and our templates and policies are our own.

Taking a break

Every parenting role is tiring, and more so when a child has been through a great deal. Children in foster care generally have a higher level of need than their friends do — that is in the nature of why they are in care. Looking after yourself is not a luxury on top of the job; it is part of doing the job well.

It does not have to be elaborate. A conversation with a friend, dinner out, the gym, a book — whatever settles you. The point is that you are better able to meet a child’s needs when your own are not running on empty.

For a longer break — a trip away, or something personal to deal with — you need a backup carer who can look after the child.

That can be a friend of yours. What matters is that the child knows them and trusts them, so that a few days there feels comfortable rather than like another move.

All backup carers have a police check and a short assessment, so that we know they are suitable and clear about what is expected.

Settle a child in first. If you are planning to be away in the next few months, that is a reason not to take a new child just yet.

Once a child is settled and the relationship has had time to build, we would expect you to think about taking them on holiday with you. There is a grant towards it, and a child should never be left feeling they are the one who does not get to come.

That said, after a hard stretch it is understandable to need time to recover, the same as any parent. Both things are true at once, and we would rather talk it through with you than have you push on.

You could be welcoming a child to your home soon

Apply to Foster Now

Or call 07920 097 834  ·  [email protected]