Every day, young people in Dudley come into care for lots of different reasons. You could change children’s lives by providing a caring and nurturing home as a Dudley foster carer.

There are many reasons why children come into care. It could be due to a family breakdown or because a parent or guardian requires temporary hospital treatment. Sadly, the main reason is because of neglect or abuse. TACT are recruiting foster carers in Dudley in order to provide safe and caring homes for vulnerable young people.

You don’t need any previous formal childcare or fostering experience as full and ongoing training will be provided. However, some experience of either working with or caring for children is preferable. What you will need is at least one spare bedroom in your home. You will also need to be over 21 years of age, and be a full time resident in the UK (or have indefinite leave to remain). If this sounds like something you could do, you could join our Dudley Fostering Team!

Watch Samantha, one of our West Midlands foster carers, talk about what it is like to be a TACT foster carer:

Why foster in Dudley with TACT?

TACT is the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity. This enables us to provide care for children on a national level. We reinvest any surplus income into providing more support and training for our foster carers.

TACT works in partnership with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council to provide caring and nurturing foster homes for vulnerable young people. By joining our Dudley Fostering team, you will receive training and support that is local to you. Because we reinvest our surplus income, we can provide additional support resources 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.

---

“After looking at various agencies, we gravitated towards TACT as it was a not-for-profit, meaning we knew the funding would be spent on the children and carers. Also, it being a charity was appealing to us.”

– Foster Carer (Midlands)

---

We are currently looking for foster carers in and around Dudley, in areas such as: Kates Hill, Lower Gornal, Dixons Green – and many other areas in the region.

We have a great team of staff within the Dudley area. Michelle Patterson, our area manager for the West Midlands, is truly passionate about making a difference to children’s lives. She manages our great team of social workers in the area – ensuring that our team of foster carers are fully supported. Michelle has been with TACT for over 12 years’, and has previously worked for other not-for-profit fostering agencies.

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

Dudley Fostering allowance

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

Our Dudley Fostering fees and allowances vary based on a number of factors. These include the type of foster care you are providing, the number of children that you care for, their age, and the complexity of their needs.

In addition to the fostering allowance, you will receive payments for children’s birthdays, holidays and religious festivals. 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 allowances you could expect to receive in Dudley when you have a young person placed with you:

 

Full training

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

The first course you will take is called Skills To Foster – which is delivered within the initial stages of the foster carer assessment period. The course is entirely virtual, and will be delivered over 3 days. It is facilitated by a TACT social worker, along with an existing TACT foster carer – and there will be plenty of opportunities to ask as many questions as you wish. The Skills To Foster course will also enable you to evaluate if fostering is right for you and your household.

When you become an approved foster carer with us, you will be 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.

24/7 support

When you become a foster carer, you’re not just left on your own. We understand how important a high level of support is, which is why we reinvest surplus income into providing more support for our fostering families.

You will be allocated your own Supervising Social Worker, who will provide most of the support and guidance you will need. We also have a dedicated out-of-hours support service, for total piece of mind. 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. Provided by your own Supervising Social Worker and our dedicated out-of-hours support service.
• Foster carer portal. An online community and support hub, where you will find information, advice, training and other resources to help you with your day-to-day life as a foster carer.
• Education service. Our service provides educational support and advice to help ensure that the children in your care receive the best possible opportunities.
• Health service. Our health service was established to provide the young people in your care with ongoing physical and mental health monitoring.
• Support groups. Our support groups operate all over Dudley and the West Midlands, providing you with a local outlet to meet other carers in your area, share experiences and knowledge, and even make new friends!
• Support for young people. Our Children’s Resource Workers provide the children in your care with additional support, activities and events in the Dudley 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 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

The are a number of reasons why existing foster carers look to transfer from their local authority or agency. If you are currently a foster carer in Dudley, we can provide a ‘fast track’ application process to ensure that the transfer to us is straightforward and stress-free.

Transferring to us with children already in placement is entirely possible – we would just need to ensure that the wellbeing of the child comes first. We would work closely with you and your existing local authority or agency to ensure a smooth transition.

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 Dudley today, and change a child’s life. Simply fill in the form on this page to get started!