We’re looking for people to become foster carers and help make a difference in children and young people’s lives by providing them with a safe home while plans are made for their future.
We particularly need foster carers for teenagers and sibling groups who require a temporary home where they can all live together. We also need respite carers who can take children for brief, time-limited periods to support full-time carers.
What is fostering?
There are many different types of foster care, but all foster carers offer children and young people a safe, loving, and nurturing home when they're unable to live with their birth families.
Types of foster care
Some foster carers will look after children in emergencies. This usually means a child will stay with them overnight or for a couple of days. Others will look after children on a 'short-term' basis, which might mean a child stays with them for a few weeks or months until they can return to live with their birth family or move on to a permanent new home. However, many foster carers look after children for much longer than this - often for all of their childhood. Foster carers can choose which type of fostering is best for them.
Why do some children need to go into foster care?
If at all possible, children should be cared for by their birth parents. If that is not an option, their extended family is the first consideration (kinship care). In Argyll and Bute, we make every effort to help children to remain with their birth family and we support Kinship Carers to care for their extended family members.
If there are no options for the child to stay within the family, we will help them find a home with foster carers and, if necessary, through adoption. A family placement is the most appropriate type of care for most children.
There are several reasons why many children and young people can’t remain living with their own families and need a foster carer. For example:
- Hospitalisation or illness of one or both parents
- Inability of parents to cope/need for time out
- Parents who have drink or drug-related problems
- Abuse or neglect concerning the child
Who to contact about fostering
If you want to find out more about this rewarding role please give us a call at 01546 605517 or email our family placement team at fpduty@argyll-bute.gov.uk .
More information about fostering
Who can foster in Argyll and Bute? >
Find out the basic guidance on who can be a foster carer
Read some common questions and answers about fostering
Finance and support for foster carers >
Find out about allowances and support for foster carers
Our responsibility to foster carers >
How we assess prospective carers and support them once they become carers
Read comments other carers have made about their experience of fostering
If you are interested in fostering- what happens next? >
Find out what happens when you enquire about becoming a foster carer
Guidance and support for foster carers
Find useful information and guidance in our foster carer's handbook
Looking after a foster child >
Find out the basic responsibilities of a foster parent
Listening to children and young people >
Find out how to communicate with and understand children and young people
Find out what to do or who to contact in an emergency situation
Find out when a child plan is created and for what purpose
Placement endings and transitions >
Find out more about the placement and transition process