Short-term fostering

Short-term fostering is a temporary arrangement for children. We look for short term foster care when parents are unable to care for their child on a temporary basis, this can be for up to two years until a child's plan is finalised.

Children may also come into short term foster care while parental assessments are carried out or longer-term plans for the child are made.

Alongside meeting the needs of a child you are caring for, an important role for a short-term foster carer is to help the child maintain a relationship with their family.  This can be through taking them to see their family, virtual or telephone calls and sometimes sharing letters and photographs.  Children can need a lot of emotional support before and after these times and as a foster carer your support and understanding are essential in helping the child you are caring for with this.

We need short term foster carers for children of all ages, but we have a particular need for carers who can offer a home to more than one child, so we can keep brothers and sisters together where we can.  

In some instances, short term care can lead to longer term arrangements to give children a sense of stability and support.