Each week, hundreds of children and young people in Solihull come into care, for a number of different reasons. It could be because of a long term illness, or conflicts within the family. Sadly, the most common reason why children come into care is because of neglect, abuse – or even both. TACT are recruiting foster carers in Solihull in order to provide these children with safe and caring homes.

No previous childcare experience is necessary to start your fostering journey in Solihull, 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 Solihull 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 Solihull 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 directly with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in order to provide well-matched foster homes for children and young people. Therefore, by joining our Solihull Team of foster carers, you will be making a real difference in your local area. As a fostering charity, we reinvest surplus income to provide additional support over and above what is required. Our dedicated education service, health service and online foster carer portal provide our carers with additional care and resources.

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 and training I have received from TACT is amazing. TACT is managed really well, and our social worker is fantastic.”

– Foster Carer (West Midlands)

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We are currently looking for foster carers in and around Solihull, in areas such as: Blossomfield, Monkspath, Shirley, Dorridge – and many other areas in the region.

We have a great team of staff within the Solihull 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 Solihull with full training, 24/7 support and a generous fostering allowance:

Solihull Fostering allowance

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

Our fostering service is funded and supported by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. As a charity, it is our job to allocate these funds to purely keep our fostering service running. Part of this funding is paid to our Solihull Fostering team of carers, the actual total of which is dependent on the type of fostering undertaken, the number of children cared for, their age and complexity of their needs.

Our Solihull Fostering team will also receive additional payments for children’s birthdays, holidays and religious festivals. In addition to the 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

Whilst you don’t need any previous training to make a fostering application, some experience of caring for children would be advantageous. Our full training will ensure that you are fully prepared to care for children in your home.

The first training course you will take is called Skills To Foster, which is taken within the foster carer assessment period. 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. Some training will be delivered remotely, whilst other courses will be face-to-face.

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

24/7 support

It is essential that our foster carers and the children they provide care for receive full 24/7 support. When you begin fostering for us, you will be allocated your own Supervising Social Worker who will provide any day-to-day support. For piece of mind, we also have a dedicated out-of-hours support service. We also reinvest surplus income into providing some additional support networks for our fostering families. 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 provide day-to-day support, 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.
• 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 Solihull and surrounding areas, providing you with a local outlet to meet other carers in your area, and share experiences and knowledge.
• Support for young people. Our Children’s Resource Workers provide the children in your care with additional support, activities and events in Solihull.
• 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 currently foster in Solihull, and you are looking to transfer from your current fostering provider, we can provide a ‘fast track’ application process to ensure that the transfer to us is straightforward and stress-free.

If you already have children in placement, then the best interests of the child(ren) will always come first to ensure stability and consistency of care. We would work closely with you and your existing fostering provider.

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