Already Fostering?

Fostering means accepting a child as part of your family when they have to be away from their own. It could be for a night, a month, a year or several years. At the heart of all fostering is a dedication to make a difference – to change the course of a child’s life.

Foster carers mean a fresh start and a new family, but this doesn’t mean erasing the past – the important bonds foster children have with their biological families are maintained, too.

Preserving friendships, familiar places and everything that matters to the child is central to what we do. That’s why we will always prioritise keeping children in their local community, if it’s the right thing for them.

As a local foster carer you have an important role: to make sure the child feels safe, supported and happy. Our role is to support you, in every way we can.

The typical foster family… doesn’t exist

We celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of our foster families. There’s no typical foster family – the truth is, fostering is about meeting the individual needs of each child in our care. Each child needs something different. That’s why, if you decide to become a foster carer your circumstances can’t be compared to anyone else’s. Your story is what matters most.

Foster care and adoption might be fundamentally different, but they share some common values. Kindness. Compassion. Stability. A safe harbour, when it’s needed most.

The legal definition

The way fostering and adoption differ is even clearer when you look at the legal definition. With adoption, you become the legal parent of that child. You have full responsibility for them, they take your name, they are a legal part of your family.

With fostering, the child remains the legal responsibility of the Local Authority and you work together, sometimes with their biological family too. As a foster carer, you care for and parent that child on a short, medium or long term basis.

There are many different types of foster care, meaning there are many different roles available as a foster carer. Fundamentally though, the core of every foster carer’s role is the same: to provide a safe and supportive home for a child or young person in need.

Foster carer roles and responsibilities, carried out with passion, can change a foster child’s life.

Foster care meaning

By definition, foster care is the care of a child by someone who is not their legal parent, usually for a limited period of time.

There are, however, several different ways that you can foster, and with different types of fostering come different skills and requirements that are needed from you and your home.

What is foster care?

The three broad categories of foster care are short-term, long-term, and specialist.

Short-term fostering can mean taking care of a child for any length of time from a day through to a year. It generally means you’re willing and able to step in whenever your foster child needs you, as well as helping us to find a long-term home for them if they cannot return to their birth family.

Long-term fostering is about offering a permanent home to a foster child, but not adopting them.

Specialist fostering could be part of short or long-term fostering. It might involve sharing your parenting skills with the foster child’s birth parent, fostering a young refugee, or a child with more complex needs.

You can also help a young person aged 16-21 bridge the gap between living in care and independent living, and more.

How does fostering work?

The fostering assessment process can be somewhat lengthy, but that’s because we take great care to make sure every foster child is welcomed into a safe and happy home.

A lot of foster carers will focus on fostering a particular age range, like babies or teenagers. Foster carers can also care for multiple children at once, usually up to three. There can, however, be exceptions for situations involving large groups of siblings – wherever possible, we’ll aim to keep groups of siblings together when they enter foster care.

What do foster carers do?

Your role as a foster carer is to support the child in your care, however they need it. As their day-to-day carer, you’ll need to advocate for their wellbeing both emotionally and physically, as well as support them with their education, and help your foster child to maintain a relationship with their birth family too.

Many children in the foster care system come from traumatic backgrounds or have had negative past experiences at home. This makes it extra-important that foster carers are patient and understanding people who are keen to learn new parenting skills.

On the admin side of things, you’ll be asked to keep records and attend regular meetings with us.

What is a foster parent?

It’s simply another name for a foster carer. Some people prefer ‘carer’ as it represents the professional side of the role and it is distinctively different from ‘birth parent’. However, others prefer to use ‘parent’, especially if they are fostering a child long term.

It’s someone who provides short or long-term care to a child in the foster system, giving them a nurturing environment where they can simply be a child.

A safe and supportive foster family can turn a child’s life around. By fostering through Foster Wales, we can work together to be that difference, and give children in Wales the environment they need to grow up happy and healthy. It’s an incredibly rewarding experience to see a child flourish in your care.

Everyone’s journey is different. Fostering is a decision to make a real difference to the lives of children in your community. It might take a little while to get you there, but the first step is the most powerful.

What can I expect?

From our first talk to your official green light, the process of becoming a foster carer can take up to six months. Every step of the way, we’ll be with you.

We’ll get to know you and your family. Find out what you’re passionate about, and most importantly, who you are. It’s not just your home and your community that matter to us. We care about you as an individual. We work to match you with foster children who’ll fit into your family and your way of life. To make the best matches – and build the best possible futures – we need to know everything that we can.

It all starts with this. A message. An email. A phone call.

Foster Wales is the national network of Local Authority fostering teams across Wales. We’re not a distant organisation that doesn’t understand your world, we’re a collection of dedicated experts from your community. So, if you’re asking how to get into foster care, the answer is simple.

Get in touch with your local Foster Wales team and we’ll guide you every step of the way.

Next steps

Once you take that first important step, we’ll guide you through the rest of the process. At the start, it’s all about getting to know you.

There’s no typical foster child. There’s no typical foster family, either.

Each child in our care has their own passions and personality. They’ve come from a unique set of circumstances, which have shaped their lives so far. We’re here to make sure their futures are different. Brighter.

Our foster children

From babies to teenagers, from brothers and sisters to young mums and dads, there are children across Wales right now who need that chance. That opportunity, to step onto a new path. That’s where foster carers can help.

Every foster family is different. Some welcome siblings together, others care for teenagers, and there are also foster parents who specialise in caring for children with unique needs. All sorts of children need foster care. Our role is to support each one. To find the family that’s right for them.

Siblings

We believe in staying local, and staying together. Maintaining sibling bonds is important to children, so it’s important to us too, and that’s why matching siblings with a foster family, together, is a priority. Building better futures is often about making the most of the important bonds that already exist, as well as forging new ones.

Teenagers

Caring for a teenager means listening, understanding, helping to make sense of the world – and their place in it. It’s about providing stability and security, from childhood and on towards adulthood.

Fostering is a commitment, and there’s nothing else quite like it. There will be times to cherish. Times when you can really see the difference you make. If there are also tough times, you’ll have our support to guide you through.

It could be for one night, two weeks, or maybe longer. But fostering will surprise you. It will challenge you. It will reward you.

You’re unique, with your own skills and strengths, and the way your foster family will look is unique too.

Matches – how it works

We work with you to match children with the right home.

It’s about listening to you, getting to know you, getting to know your family, your life, your home. We can then match you with the foster child who is the best fit for your skills and circumstances.

We care about making the best matches. And that’s because it’s simple: better matches mean better outcomes.

Just by thinking about it, you’ve got the basics to become a great foster carer. Compassion. Dedication. Curiosity.

We take the time and offer the expertise to help you build on those basics, to give you all the tools you will need.

What you’ll learn

You’ll learn how we work collectively, the rules that help guide what we do, and how to be the best you can be. With training courses and qualifications, you’ll never feel like you’re standing still.

When you’ll learn

We’re flexible, and that includes our learning and development framework. You’ll have access to varied learning opportunities at times that suit you. It’s not about ticking a box, it’s about growing every day. Some skills are general, some are more specifically suited to a particular child. We’ll give you whatever training and support you need, whenever you need it.

Money might not be the first thing you consider with fostering, but it’s an important question to ask us. It’s part of how we support you to provide the best possible care for our children.

Allowances

You’ll receive an allowance for every foster child in your care, and as a foster parent you’ll also receive an allowance too. It’s about taking care of the everyday, as well as helping create more special memories.

Other support

There are other benefits besides financial support which will enrich your fostering journey. We look at the full picture: emotional support, learning opportunities and expert guidance too.

It’s not just our time and expertise we give. As a not-for-profit, all our funding goes towards supporting the children in our care and making the foster experience the best it can be. That means 360-degree support. We’re here for you, in any way you need us.

Becoming a foster parent is a choice you make with your loved ones. It’s about growing your family unit by accepting children into your home. Supporting them. Caring for them. Your family are involved at every step and offer this support and care too. Because fostering is about connection and community. It’s not something you do on your own – you’re in it together, and we’ll be with you every step of the way. The support, training and rewards we offer in return are extended to every member of your household.

Children who foster

Lots of foster families are made up of both adults and children, who learn and grow from having foster siblings. It’s all about learning how to be there for one another. How to listen. How to care.