Could Fostering Be Your Next Step?

I’m interested in fostering – how do I start?

There are some initial requirements to satisfy before a fostering application can be undertaken. They are:

1. You must be at least 21 years old. However, there is no upper age limit.
2. You must have at least one spare bedroom in your home (children in care need their own room).
3. You must be a full-time resident of the UK, or have indefinite leave to remain.
4. You must have the time and availability to dedicate yourself to fostering.

Whilst full training will be provided, we also ask that you have some experience of either caring for or working with children – even if this experience is simply being a parent yourself!

You may even have additional experience that you could bring to fostering. For example, you may have worked with, or previously cared for, children with autism, ADHD or Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Maybe you have experience of working with children with physical disabilities? Whatever your skillset, you will be able to bring that knowledge and expertise over into fostering.

Will I be paid as a foster carer?

Yes! Fostering is a highly skilled role, and our fees and allowances reflect this.

If you join our fostering 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 Recommend 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:

In addition, there are a number of tax benefits and reliefs aimed at foster carers – such as a fixed tax exemption of up to £10,000 per year. So you will not pay tax on the first £10,000 income you receive from fostering. You will also receive tax relief of up to £250 per week for each child in your care. Your income is calculated after expenses, which means in most cases it is only the foster carer fee element that is taken into account in the tax calculations.

Click here to make a no-obligation enquiry

What are the different types of fostering?

There are many ways to make a difference – and as a foster carer, you can stipulate which type of fostering you would like to get involved with. Here are some of the different ways that you can change children’s lives:

Short-term fostering
This is when a child’s future care is uncertain. They could be reunited with their family, moved to longer-term foster care or even adoption. Short term placements could last from a few days, a few weeks or sometimes a number of years.

Long-term fostering
When a young person cannot return to their family, for lots of different reasons, they need to be fostered long-term. This is a commitment to provide care to them until they are 18 years old, or even beyond.

Fostering teenagers
There is a huge demand for foster carers to care for teenagers, to help rebuild their confidence, help guide them through their life choices, and ultimately for them to gain their independence.

Fostering Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC)
Unfortunately, due to current situations in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and other conflicts around the world, the need for people willing to foster UASC or refugee children remains a priority.

Sibling groups
Keeping brothers and sisters together is so important, and can make a world of difference to those children’s sense of wellbeing, along with keeping them connected with their family.

Children with disabilities
By providing a safe and stable home to a child with a disability, you will be giving a young person the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential.

There are many more ways to care for children. Our enquiry officers will be able to talk you through the options that best suit you and your household.

Click here to make a no-obligation enquiry

Will I receive training?

You will receive full and ongoing training at TACT.

Our initial training is called Skills To Foster, and is taken within the foster carer assessment period. Not only does this provide you with a great insight into fostering, but it gives you a chance to meet other fostering applicants in your region. The training is delivered remotely via video conferencing (Zoom/Microsoft Teams), so you can participate from the comfort of your own home.

If you then become a foster carer with us, you will then 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.

Click here to make a no-obligation enquiry

What support will I receive?

We reinvest surplus income into providing more support to our fostering families, and 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 do what you do best: changing children’s lives.

This is what we provide – click on each option to expand it:

Click here to make a no-obligation enquiry

What makes TACT different from other fostering providers?

TACT are the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity, and we put children at the very heart of everything we do.

This means that we are able to reinvest surplus income into developing new innovative services, as well as providing our foster carers with more training and support.

Some examples of our additional services are:

• TACT Connect is an online, members-only community for people who have been cared for by TACT foster families. Young people can join when they reach 16, and TACT Connect will remain a place for them to turn for information, advice, guidance or support through the transition to independence and throughout their adult lives.
• Our dedicated Education Service ensures the very best educational outcomes for our children and young people. We offer support in such areas as educational meetings and Personal Education Plans (PEPs), assessments, classroom observations and assistance with any strategies within the school environment.
• We offer a number of foster carer perks, including a number of exclusive memberships and special offers – many of which are available via our Foster Carer Portal.
• We are currently in the process of developing a specialist Health Service, that will provide support, advice, training and advocacy in relation to the health of our children and young people.

In addition, we advocate for young people – actively campaigning in order to instigate positive change within the care system.

If you would like to do something that is rewarding, challenging – whilst making a difference to children’s lives, you can make a no-obligation enquiry using the form below. Our Enquiry Officers will then be able to contact you to talk through fostering with you in more detail, and how you could change young people’s lives.

We are a charity, so we place no pressure on anyone to continue with an application. Fostering needs to be the right choice for you.