Why foster?

When you get in touch with us either by phone on 0300 131 2797, by email at info@lafosteringse.org.uk or through our contact form, you will reach a friendly team.

If you are looking for more information, want to chat over your personal circumstances or discover the types of foster care with our team or an existing foster carer, or are ready to apply to foster, we will be happy to help you.

At this stage we will ask a bit about you, why you want to foster and how you feel a foster child will fit into your life. We will ask some questions about your home, your family, what you do and your experience of children and young people.

We will also aim to answer any questions you have to help you decide if you want to go onto the next stage.

A member of the fostering team will visit you at home at a time convenient for you. A home visit will last about an hour and a half to two hours and will include a look around your home and garden. The home visit is about getting to know more about you and your family and assessing if you and your home are able to provide a safe and caring environment for a foster child.

It is also an opportunity for you to get to know more about fostering and Foster Portsmouth and what we can offer you should you decide to become a foster carer with us. As everyone in the household is involved in the decision to foster it is important to involve your children and wider family at an early stage.

The home visit is a good place to talk about how fostering might affect your own children and to answer any questions your children may have. The home visit will answer any questions and explore any concerns you have such as any health issues or previous contact with social services or the police. Together we will decide whether or not to continue with your enquiry to the next stage of the assessment process.

We will make sure that both you, and we, are happy to proceed.

Checks and reference will be taken up to make sure all foster carers are safe and suitable to care for vulnerable children. These include:

– Disclosure and barring service (formally CRB) checks on anyone in the house over the age of 21
– Local authority residency checks for the last ten years
– A medical report from your GP
– Written references from at least two personal referees
– Educational references for any children in the home
– Ofsted
– References from current and previous employers if working with children or vulnerable adults
– References from previous foster care or adoption agencies
– Enquiries to local authorities and their child protection records (including previous involvement with services for children or vulnerable adults
– Ex-partner checks (with your permission)
– A full safety check on your home including pets

We will talk to you about the checks and references we need to undertake when we visit you and as part of the assessment so you will have plenty of opportunities to talk to us about any questions or concerns you may have.

Your assessing social worker will visit you and your family at home a number of times over a few months to speak to you and collect information about you and your life. Your assessor will talk to you about your childhood and past relationships, work history, health, family and personal interests.

Your social worker will want to understand about your life experiences, attitudes, your family, your support network and your skills and abilities in looking after children in order to assess what you can offer a child in need of a foster home.

All of this information will be detailed in a report called a Form F and your social worker will make a recommendation about your suitability to foster and the age and number of children you could look after.

You will be asked to read and comment on the report. If you have already been a foster carer or have professional skills and experience in caring for other people’s children we will aim to fast track your assessment by completing stage 1 and stage 2 concurrently.

After completing the report your assessor will help you prepare for the fostering panel. This is a group of fostering professionals who will consider your assessment and make a recommendation regarding your approval as a foster carer. You will be asked to attend the fostering panel along with your assessing social worker.

Taking into account the fostering panel’s recommendation Portsmouth’s Agency Decision Maker will make the final decision about your approval and the age and number of children you can look after.

If your application is not successful you will be told the reasons for this by your social worker and given the opportunity to appeal against this decision.