Application and approval process

Once we've received your initial enquiry, we will arrange to talk to you over the phone on a day and time that suits you. We'll explore your interest in fostering, your home and personal circumstances. To help you get to know us, we'll explain how we work with you and the children who need foster care. Before you submit an official application to be a foster carer you will complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) form with the Foster with us team. You can expect this call to last around 30 to 40 minutes. Our first conversation is no obligation and will help us both decide if it's the right time to take your application further. 

We hold regular information events where you can meet some of the team, hear from foster carers themselves and learn all about the application process. You don't have to attend an information event to progress with us, but you may find it useful to hear about fostering in a group and meet others in a similar position.  

After you've completed your Expression of Interest (EOI) and if both parties decide to take your enquiry forward, a social worker from a local authority will organise a home visit. When they come to meet you, they will look around your entire home and meet you and your family members.

The initial visit gives us an opportunity to find out more about you, your values, motivation, and personal circumstances. It’s also a chance for you to ask questions about fostering or to speak to us about areas specific to your own situation.  

Following the initial visit, we will discuss whether both parties would like to progress to the next stage. If we both agree, you will officially move into the application process and start Stage 1. We will also talk through what else we think would help you to prepare for fostering. If we don't feel it is right for you to progress, we will be honest and open about the reasons why. 

During Stage 1 you will complete an application form. Your Foster with us team can support with this if needed. The form asks for detailed information about you, so make sure you set aside some time to complete it. It will also ask you to give consent for checks such as medical assessments and a DBS check. You will have to provide an overview of your life, including education, employment, house moves and relationships. You will also need to provide employment and family references. 

Once the information and results of the Stage 1 checks come back, you will start the formal assessment part of the process under Stage 2. At this point, a qualified and experienced social worker will come out to your home to talk more in depth with you and your partner (if you are applying as a couple). 

The assessing social worker will ask about your lives, backgrounds, how you were brought up, and what makes you the people you are today. 

The visits are planned in advance with you, and you'll know when the social worker is coming. The assessment is called a Form F and is like a lived history of you as a person and your experiences. Following each session, you will be asked to do some thinking and planning to contribute to the final assessment report.

The social worker will also want to talk to your children or other family members who live in your home, both with you and without you there. For applicants who are in a relationship, the social worker will meet with each of you individually as well as together during the assessment.

This is to help them to understand what fostering is, if they are on board, and any questions they may have. It is important that children living in your household are on board and understand what fostering means for them. 

The assessment helps us build up a good picture about you and your family. It will help us to make decisions about the ages and numbers of children you may be able to look after, and what needs you could confidently meet.

This may sound like a lot of checking, but it is a standard requirement across all fostering agencies. It is all about making sure that as local authorities we are acting in the best interest of children.

During this process you will start your fostering training. Your first introduction to fostering is some pre-approval training, designed to help prepare people for fostering. You'll find out more about what is involved, the role of a foster carer and the team of other professionals you will join. You'll gain an understanding about the needs of children who have come to be looked after. You'll learn skills to support children and young people and how to manage and maintain links with birth families.

The training will provide you and your assessor with information for your home study assessment. It will help us assess your understanding of how to meet the needs of looked after children. This course is run over a series of sessions depending on the needs of each group. If you're part of a couple, you both have to attend.  You may also wish to bring along older children (16+) and young people.  
 

Once your fostering social worker has gathered all the information needed to complete their home study assessment report and make their recommendation, you will have to attend a fostering panel. The panel is made up of people who have experience relevant to fostering or looked after children. Panel members will read the full assessment report and consider any questions or matters they need to check. Together they will make an informed decision as to whether they agree to approve you as a foster carer, but any queries will be provided by your Social Worker and fed back to the panel. 

Your attendance at the panel is so the panel have an opportunity to meet you, hear about how you found the assessment process and to talk about your desire to foster. And don’t worry your Social Worker will be there every step of the way.

The support available to you doesn't end once you have been approved. Your social worker will continue to offer advice and guidance throughout your career with us. You will be invited to training and support groups where you can start to build relationships with other foster carers and more professionals, so you truly feel part of the fostering community. You might also want to explore joining the Mockingbird programme. 

Once a child is matched with you, your social worker will continue to support you and help you understand the individual needs of the child in your care. You will also start to work with other professionals such as children's social workers, service managers, health professionals, teachers and Independent Reviewing Officers. This team of professionals will work with you to meet the best interests of the child in your care.