Are you currently working but would like to foster?
Have you been told that you can’t foster because you work?
Depending on your flexibility, you could foster whilst working!
Many children will require a foster carer to be at home full-time (pre-school in particular) due to the high levels of contact/family time, appointments, social worker visits etc, as well as being around to develop a positive bond with a young child. Young children may have experienced levels of neglect and trauma that could lead to longer term attachment issues if they do not have a regular carer to be able to bond with.
However, some older primary and secondary aged children who are settled in school can be cared for by foster carers who work part-time, as long as the work is flexible around the needs of the foster child including being available in the school holidays, and if the child is not well or not in school initially as have moved to a new area. These children will still need lots of quality time and attention from their foster carer but there can be good opportunity to role-model to children by seeing adults working and managing a family, which are skills that they can take forward for the future.
If you are working almost full-time or working from home, you could still foster older teenagers that are more independent. You would need to have the flexibility to be available for meetings, during the school holiday and for emergencies. Carers that are working these hours and have experience in working or caring for children or young people with disabilities, can also assist with regular respite for children with additional needs at weekends including longer bank holidays and school holidays.
You may or may not have a partner that you would share caring responsibilities with, but you definitely will need to have a reliable support network around you as a working foster carer.
If you are interested and not sure if you are eligible, please get in touch for a chat with our friendly team 😊
By Lynsey Dobbs, Senior Recruitment Officer
