Thinking About Fostering
What's holding you back?
Becoming a foster parent is a truly life-changing and rewarding career.
Not only will you be opening your home to a child in need, but you’ll have the unique opportunity to provide a safe and secure environment to vulnerable children, offering them a nurturing childhood and paving the way for a positive future.
If you’re thinking about fostering a child, here is everything you need to know.
What are the fostering requirements?
When you make the decision to become a foster parent there are a few requirements you need to be aware of...
- You must be over 21 years old
- You must have a spare bedroom that’s always available to a child
- You must have the legal right to work in the UK
- You must be passionate about making a life-changing difference for the children in your care
We often get asked how long do people think about fostering before doing it, and the answer completely depends on each person’s situation.
You don’t need any experience or qualifications to apply, as you’ll receive all the training you need from us. It doesn’t matter what your relationship status is, your sexual orientation, or your ethnic or religious background.
The children in our care come from all walks of life, as do our foster parents, and building a diverse community of foster parents is essential to meeting our children’s needs.
At Orange Grove, we’re dedicated to building long-lasting relationships with our children and our foster families. We offer a nurturing approach so foster parents feel cared for, listened to, and supported throughout their journey.
It can take, on average, four to six months to go through the application and approval stages to become a foster parent, including a standard six-stage fostering process. This includes your initial enquiry when you first start thinking about fostering, a home visit, a foster care application form, an assessment, fostering panel and approval, and finally matching you with a child.
We understand that the process is in-depth and can feel somewhat intrusive, but your team of social workers and specialists will be with you every step of the way and are always on hand to answer any questions you might have.
Fostering allowances
It’s important to us that our foster parents feel appreciated and valued because the work you do truly matters. When you foster with Orange Grove, you’ll receive allowances and rewards, including a generous foster allowance for every night a child spends in your care. This allowance covers the cost of caring for a child in need and a professional fee to reflect your time and dedication.
We offer different foster care pay scales depending on your experience, training, and the age of the child in your care, with the opportunity to receive up to £444.57 a week.
You will also receive two weeks of paid respite per year, a £100 annual bonus birthday allowance for your child, and a £100 annual festival allowance for your foster child. As well as this, you will join our foster parent rewards platform which includes discounts at big retailers, travel agents, cinemas, gyms, and much more!
Types of foster care
There are different types of foster care you can explore when considering “I’m thinking about fostering.”
At Orange Grove, we offer many types of placements to meet not only our children’s needs but our foster parent’s requirements too.
While some children and young people might need a safe home for just a few nights, there are others who will need a foster home for months or even years. As well as the length of time needed for children in care, there are opportunities to foster children of all ages, children with disabilities, and siblings.
Whichever road you choose to go down, you will always receive the highest level of support and training from our team of specialists, so you will feel supported and confident throughout the placement.
Here are some of the different types of fostering we offer:
- Emergency fostering - when a home is needed for a child or siblings with very short notice and often for a short amount of time.
- Short-term fostering - this can be anything from a couple of nights to up to two years.
- Long-term fostering - when a stable, loving home is required for at least two years or until the young person is 18.
- Parent and child fostering - when a foster parent provides a home to a young expectant mum or a vulnerable parent and their child.
- Respite care - this can be for a night or two and offers respite to one of our foster parents.
- Fostering siblings - offering a home to siblings in need of care to prevent separating them and causing further anxiety and stress.
- Teenagers - offering a stable and caring home to one of our teenagers in care.
- Children with disabilities - opening your home to a child with physical, mental, or educational needs.
- Asylum-seeing child - when an asylum-seeking child arrives in the UK without a parent or guardian.
Thinking about fostering young children
Fostering children and young children is all about improving their lives and helping them to feel secure and loved in a safe environment.
Fostering young children can be anything from a newborn baby to a child on the brink of becoming a teenager. You’ll be performing a valuable job nurturing a young child who might have come from a very difficult situation, providing them with the love and care they desperately need. This important relationship can create a life-long bond, whether your child is with you for a few days or a few years, making fostering life-changing for everyone involved.
Thinking about fostering teenagers
There are many teenagers living in foster care who need the love, support, and guidance of a foster parent to prepare them for independent living. Teenagers in foster care are going through all the trials and changes of a typical teen, but with the added issues of a difficult past that required them to go into care.
While fostering a teen can bring its share of challenges, there are so many wonderful reasons to foster a teenager. Unlike younger children, teenagers are more independent and self-sufficient. They are also, mostly, in full-time education, and as a result, often need less hands-on supervision than younger children.
When you choose to foster a teenager, you can help them develop life skills, stay on top of their education, help them deal with difficult emotions, and provide stable continuity in their life, making a huge difference.
Thinking about fostering siblings
In many cases, placing siblings together can be a real challenge. But, why are siblings separated? It can’t always be the easiest to place two or more siblings in the same home, whether it’s due to space or the challenges of welcoming more than one child at a time into a home. But research has shown that placing siblings together in foster care helps create a successful placement, and forms a positive outcome for the children.
When siblings are separated, it can break bonds and remove crucial emotional support, causing the children to feel isolated and anxious. Keeping siblings together can be a hugely rewarding experience for foster parents as well as the children, allowing the children to grow confidently together, making it easier for them to adjust to being in a new home (as they will be together), and creating a unique and loving family unit.
Foster with Orange Grove
Orange Grove was founded in 1996 by two social workers who believed that building strong relationships held the key to successful fostering. By getting to know the children in our care and treating our foster families as individuals, we have the opportunity to not only find loving and supportive homes for our children but also to provide unparalleled personal support and training for our foster parents.
When you choose to foster with Orange Grove, you will receive a generous fostering allowance and multiple rewards, ongoing training and development, and around-the-clock support from social workers, family support workers and other specialists, so you’ll never be alone. Most importantly, you will be making a difference in a vulnerable child’s life, and providing them with a positive experience to give them a brighter and happier future.
Whether you’re thinking about fostering a child, or just want some more information, then fill in the form below or give us a call to chat with one of our friendly team members. We’re here for you every step of the way.
Generous payments and rewards
Receive up to £23,118 per child, plus birthday and religious festival allowances, an exclusive refer-a-friend scheme, and more.
Ongoing training & development
As well as our hands-on induction course, Skills to Foster, you’ll receive ongoing training to help you become an extraordinary foster parent.
Around-the-clock support
You’ll be introduced to an entire network of support, including your own dedicated social worker and other foster parents. You'll also have access to a 24/7 helpline, so you're never alone.
We truly believe the outcomes of our children would not have been possible without the continued help and support of Orange Grove
Richard - Reading
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Ready to start your fostering journey?
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One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
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