You may have been thinking about fostering in Northamptonshire for a while, or it may be something that you’ve only just discovered. Whatever stage you are at in your fostering journey, we’re here to help.

Every week, hundreds of children and young people in Northamptonshire come into care for a variety of reasons. It could be because of conflicts within the family home, resulting in children needing to be temporarily removed while that conflict is resolved. Or it could also be due to an illness, meaning that a parent or guardian is physically unable to meet the needs of their children. Unfortunately, it could also be because of abuse or neglect. TACT are recruiting foster carers in Northamptonshire to provide safe and caring homes to these young people.

No previous childcare experience is necessary in order to start your fostering journey in Northamptonshire, as full training will be provided. To start the application process, you just need 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 Northamptonshire Team!

Why foster in Northamptonshire 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.

TACT work closely with Northamptonshire County Council to help provide foster homes for children and young people. By becoming a foster carer with TACT, you will be making a difference to young people’s on a local level.  As one of the leading fostering charities in Northamptonshire, we reinvest surplus income into providing additional training and support over and above of what is required. For example, our support networks include 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.

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“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)

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We are currently looking for foster carers in and around Northamptonshire. Some of the areas we cover are: Kettering, Wellingborough, Corby, Towcester – and many other areas in the region.

We have a great team of staff within the Northamptonshire 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.

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

Northamptonshire fostering allowance

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

TACT are funded by Northamptonshire County Council, and we ensure that this funding goes a long way. When you join our Fostering Northamptonshire team, the actual fostering allowance that you receive will vary, depending on certain factors. For example, it will be dependent on the type of foster care you provide, the age and number of children that you care for, and the complexity of their needs.

Our Fostering Northamptonshire team 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 allowances you could expect to receive when you have a young person placed with you:

 

Full training

You don’t need any previous training to become a foster carer, although some childcare experience is preferred. Our training will ensure that you are fully prepared to care for young people in your home.

When you apply to become a foster carer with us, the first initial training you will take is called Skills To Foster. This is taken within the foster carer assessment period, and is delivered remotely. Once approved, you will then be allocated a full training programme to further your skills and help you make a difference to the lives of children and young people in Northamptonshire.

We even provide specialist training in order to help you care for children with specific needs or requirements.

24/7 support

At TACT, we reinvest surplus income into providing you with more support, ensuring that there is always a helping hand at anytime. When you become a foster carer for us, you will be allocated your own Supervising Social Worker, who will normally provide all the support you need. However, we also have a dedicated out-of-hours service for further piece of mind. We also provide a number of additional support networks.

This is what we provide:

• Full 24/7 support. Support is provided by your Supervising Social Worker and our dedicated out-of-hours support service.
• 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 in Northamptonshire and surrounding areas, and provide a local outlet to meet other carers in your area, share experiences and knowledge, and sometimes 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 in and around Northamptonshire
• 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

If you are currently a foster carer in Northamptonshire, and you are looking to transfer from your current agency or local authority, we can provide a ‘fast track’ application service to ensure that the transfer to us is straightforward and stress-free.

You can transfer to us with children already in placement, but we would just need to ensure that this is in the best interests of the child(ren). We would work closely with you and your existing fostering provider to minimise disruption to the young people you care for.

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