Fostering in Derbyshire

Many of our foster carers in Derbyshire tell us that the main reason why they chose to foster was to change children’s lives.

Becoming a foster carer in Derbyshire would mean offering children and young people the care, support and encouragement they need to start rebuilding their lives. Many of these children will have suffered a period of upheaval. Having to leave their home in the first place is stressful by itself, but to have also experienced abuse, neglect or conflict within their family home can leave these vulnerable young people traumatised.

Unfortunately, hundreds of children in Derbyshire come into care every week, for lots of different reasons. It could be because of conflict within the family home, meaning that children need to be temporarily removed while that conflict is resolved. It could also be due to an illness, resulting in a parent or guardian being physically unable to meet the needs of their children. Sadly, it could also be because of abuse or neglect. TACT are recruiting foster carers in Derbyshire to provide safe and caring homes for these vulnerable children.

No previous childcare experience is necessary to start fostering in Derby, as full training will be provided. However, some form of childcare experience would be preferable. You may have worked with children in a previous role, or you may even have your own children. Whatever the experience you have, you will be able to bring this across into fostering.

To start the application process, you just need to be aged 21 or over, have at least one spare bedroom in your home, a caring and nurturing character – and lots of energy to provide a child with a secure and loving home. If this sounds like something that you could do, you could join our Fostering Derbyshire Team!

Why foster in Derbyshire with TACT?

TACT is the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity – enabling us to provide care for children on a national level. We reinvest any surplus income into providing more support and training for foster carers interested in fostering. We work closely with Derbyshire Children’s Services to carefully match children in need of a home with our wonderful team of foster carers.

As one of the leading fostering agencies in Derbyshire, we provide our foster carers with training and support that is local to them – to enable them to change young people’s lives. Because we reinvest surplus income, we can provide additional support over and above what is required of a fostering charity, such as a dedicated education service, health service and an online foster carer portal.

We’re more than just a fostering agency – we go above and beyond to look after our foster carers and the children they provide care for. Our TACT Connect service ensures that when children leave the care system, they have TACT’s support for life.

This is why 98% of our carers would recommend us to others thinking of fostering.


“The support we’ve received from TACT throughout our fostering journey has been outstanding. We’ve utilised the support of other foster carers and accessed support groups which have been incredibly helpful, while there is always someone from TACT at the other end of the phone whenever we have needed it.”

– Foster Carer (East Midlands)


We are currently looking for foster carers in and around Derbyshire. Some of the areas we cover are: Chesterfield, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton – and many other areas in the region.

We have a great team of staff within the Derbyshire area. Ramona Catarig, our area manager for the area, is truly passionate about improving the lives of children and young people. She manages our great team of social workers in the East Midlands – ensuring that our team of foster parents are fully supported. Ramona has over 21 years’ experience as a social worker, working in Local Authority Children and Young People teams and mainstream and therapeutic Fostering teams. She joined TACT in 2014.

This is Ramona, she looks after our Fostering Derbyshire team

 

“Leaving my Local Authority role to join TACT was a decision I thought long and hard about. I chose TACT, as the agency’s values and vision to improve the lives of children and young people were very much in line with my own values – and I knew that with TACT being a charity, any surplus made would be invested back into the services offered to the children and their foster families”

– Ramona Catarig

We provide our foster parents in Derbyshire with full training, 24/7 support and a generous fostering allowance:

Fostering Derbyshire allowance

Foster carers are highly skilled people, and our fees and allowances reflect this.

If you join our Fostering Derbyshire team, the total fostering allowance that you receive will vary based on a number of factors, including the type of foster care you are providing, the number of children that you care for and their age, as well as the complexity of their needs.

You will also receive additional payments for children’s birthdays, holidays and religious festivals. In addition to your fostering allowance, we also pay long service awards and a Refer a Friend fee (if you recommend someone who then goes on to be an approved foster carer with us).

Here are some examples of the weekly Fostering Derbyshire fees and allowances you could expect to receive when you have a young person placed with you:

These are our fees if you're thinking of fostering in Derbyshire

 

Full training

You don’t need any previous experience or training to become a foster carer in Derbyshire. Our full training will ensure that you are fully prepared to care for children in your home.

Our initial training is called Skills To Foster, and is taken within the foster carer assessment period. This training is run remotely, so you can take part from the comfort of your home. You are then allocated a full training programme to further your skills – helping you care for, and make a difference to, more children and young people.

We even provide specialist training in order to help you care for children with specific needs or requirements. We also offer specific Child and Parent fostering training, enabling you to provide care and guidance for a child and their parent(s).

24/7 support

We understand how important a high level of support is to our foster carers in Derbyshire, which is why we reinvest surplus income into providing more support for our fostering families. All our foster carers in Derbyshire are allocated their own Supervising Social Worker, who will support you throughout your fostering journey and beyond. Our Supervising Social Workers have manageable workloads, so that they are able to dedicate more time to you. After all, the better we support you, the better you will be able to provide the care and guidance required to change children’s lives.

This is what we provide:

  • Full 24/7 support. Your Supervising Social Worker will usually provide all the support you need, but we also have a dedicated out-of-hours support service for total peace of mind.
  • Foster carer portal. An online community of TACT foster carers and a place to find information, advice, training and other resources to help you with your day-to-day life as a foster carer.
  • Education service. Our specialist service provides support and advice to help ensure that the children in your care receive the best possible educational opportunities.
  • Health service. Our health service was established in order to provide young people in your care with ongoing physical and mental health monitoring.
  • Support groups. Our support groups operate all over the country, and provide you with an outlet to meet other carers in Derbyshire, enabling you to share experiences and knowledge, and even make some new friends!
  • Support for young people. Our Children’s Resource Workers provide the children in your care with additional support, activities and events – all within the Derbyshire area.
  • Supporting your own children. We understand that your own children play an important role in the fostering household. As such, our Children Who Foster events in Derbyshire provide your own children with an opportunity to socialise with other young people who make an amazing contribution to fostering.
  • Peer support. Sometimes, peer-to-peer support may be available. These work by pairing newly approved foster carers with experienced TACT carers to provide another level of support.

Transferring to TACT

We understand that there are a number of reasons why people who are already approved foster carers may look to transfer from their local authority or agency. If you are currently a foster carer in Derbyshire, we can provide a ‘fast track’ application process to ensure that the transfer to us is straightforward and stress-free.

You can even transfer to us with children already in placement. In all situations, the wellbeing of the child will always come first, so ensuring stability and consistency continues for the child or young person is something we would work very closely with you on.

If you are interested in finding out more about transferring to us, simply select ‘I am currently a foster carer’ on our form. We will then be able to talk you through the process in more detail.

A fostering charity that goes above and beyond…

  • Our foster carer perks include a number of exclusive memberships and special offers – many of which are available via our Foster Carer Portal.
  • Our TACT Connect service ensures that our care leavers continue to receive help, support and guidance even after they have officially left our care.
  • We advocate for young people, actively campaigning in order to instigate positive change within the care system.

Start your fostering journey in Derbyshire today, and change a child’s life. Simply fill in the form on this page to get started!