Types of Foster Care
The fostering journey is one that you need proper guidance on to keep it smooth and get exactly what you want. If you are planning to foster a child or a young person, it is important to know the different types of foster care.
This information is critical because it will inform the options that you have as you prepare to actualise your dream of fostering a child or young person.
So, what are the different types of foster care? This is a basic question that you are probably eager to know its details. Luckily, we have all the information that you need to know about the different types of foster care.
19 types of foster care you should know
You probably did not think that there could be this many different types of foster care. Well, let’s take you through a quick journey of understanding these types for your consideration as you purpose to foster a child.
Short-term fostering
This is where a foster carer provides a temporary stay for a child until a permanent solution is found for the child. You could stay with a foster child for a few days or months while the local authority or the foster agency is seeking a long-term placement.
Long term fostering
As a foster parent, you provide a safe and stable place for a child to stay on a long-term basis, until they reach the age of majority.
Short break (respite) care
As a foster parent, you will relieve parents or carers of their duty for a short time. It is a temporary foster care arrnagement that allows a child to learn new experiences while their primary carers get a break.
Parent and child placement
If you are a trained foster parent, you can live with a child and his/her parents. It is an opportunity for the parents to learn parenting skills that you will be passing to them during your stay.
Fostering a baby
Of the different types of foster care, fostering a baby is one that is demanding and has added responsibility. You will need some training or expertise in handling babies. You might want to consider fostering young children if you cannot foster babies.
Unaccompanied children
When you choose this type of foster care, you will take care of children who have entered the United Kingdom without their parents. Your fostering task is to take care of them while arrangements are made for their stay in the UK.
Fostering siblings
It is important that siblings are kept together during foster care. However, there is a shortage of parents who are accepting this added responsibility. You can consider fostering siblings and helping them to stay together during foster care.
Emergency care
This type of foster care will compel you to provide care for a child or a young person when unforeseen circumstances arise. The aim of this type of foster care is to provide a safe and stable place for a child for a few days until the emergency is sorted. Some of these placements become short-term placements.
Remand placements
This type of foster care is for young people who have ongoing court proceedings and need to be put in custody. As a foster carer, you will need specialised training to handle such children.
Step down fostering
It is a special type of foster care that targets children who have been living in residential care homes. The aim is to allow these children to start living in a home setting. Therefore, as a foster carer, you provide the home setting in which the young person will start re-adjusting back to home settings.
Fostering for adoption (concurrent care)
Do you want to eventually adopt a child after providing foster care? Well, this type of foster care allows you to provide care for children while decisions are made about their permanent stay. If a decision is arrived at that they can’t go back to their original parents, you become the adoptive parent.
Children who have been trafficked or sexually exploited
This is a specialist type of foster care where you take care of vulnerable children who have been previously exploited sexually or have been trafficked. You will need extra training and finances to handle these children.
Supported lodgings
Unlike the other different types of foster care, supported lodgings only require you to provide a stepping stone to a young person’s independence. Such young people have their own projects and you won’t have to provide care like a parent.
You will be making a big difference in the young person’s life who would have otherwise been homeless.
Foster placements for disabled children
Here, you will care for a child or young person with a disability. It means that you will need training on handling a child with a disability to provide good care for the child.
Fostering for sanctuary-seeking children
This type of foster care is when you provide care for asylum seekers who have been separated from their parents. The local authority will determine the duration of the foster care depending on the legal proceedings that will assign this child a permanent stay in the UK.
Private fostering
If you want to enter into a private fostering, you will make arrangements with the parent of the young person. Provided that you stay with the child for more than 28 days, the Children Act 1989 defines it as private fostering.
Kinship fostering (Connected Persons)
This type of fostering is when you decide to care for a child with whom you have blood ties or the parents are your friends. You can decide to have a private arrangement with the parents or foster via a legal order.
Fostering for adoption (FfA) placement
For this type of fostering, you have to be an approved adopter. You will stay with the child during foster care but there are prospects that you will eventually adopt the child.
Specialised, therapeutic, or medical foster care
You will be providing foster care to a child who requires specialised attention, which could be therapeutic or medical. Of course, you will need to have some background in the specialised care you intend to provide.
Getting started
Now that you know what the different types of foster care are, you should be comfortable enough to choose one that aligns with your ability and fostering goals. A decision to foster a child or a young person is a major one that makes a huge difference in both your life and the child’s life.
Therefore, you should not hesitate to provide foster care if you are in a position to do so.
