Choosing to become a foster carer or a fostering family is a big decision to make.
It is essential that foster carers are provided with high levels of support so they feel valued, respected and never feel alone. For us, it’s all about foster carers feeling part of the Foster Wales Swansea team, all working towards providing better outcomes for local children.
Providing carers with the best support possible contributes towards children in foster care having better futures. That is why we place so much importance on the support we provide our carers with.
Below are a series of questions that people often ask about the support they will receive from us.
how much support do you get?
As Foster Wales Swansea foster carers, you will receive an abundance of support to help you in your role.
- Foster carers have a dedicated supervising social worker who supports them and their family every step of the way. They will also have regular meetings with their carers to ensure everything is okay or to assess if any additional support is required
- During office hours, a member of the team is available every day to provide guidance and support
- Access to support workers
- Carer support line – Outside of office hours, a member of the team is available to provide carers with guidance and support
- Each night after 11pm, carers can access the emergency duty team
- Training – we have an extensive training calendar for our carers to help boost their knowledge and skills
- We provide our carers with competitive financial allowances to help them care for a child or children. We also give additional allowances for birthday, Christmas and holidays
- Retainer fee – if carers are available to foster and are not caring for another child, they we pay a weekly carer fee until they are matched to a child
- Various support groups are available for the whole household, including a group for carers’ own children
- New and experienced carers can access our buddy scheme which is where carers support each other
- Our carers have access to an independent advice and mediation worker
- We pay for our carers to be members of The Fostering Network, the national fostering charity
- We provide events throughout the year so foster families can meet each other and extend their network of support, or simply just have some fun
- MAX card- each fostering household receives a MAX card which provides discounts on visitor attractions and days out across the UK
- Passport to Leisure (PTL) – each fostering household can get a PTL card which gives discounts at local leisure and cultural venues across Swansea
- Recommend a friend scheme – if any of our approved foster carers recommend a friend who then go on to be approved, they will receive a reward of £500.
Do foster wales swansea offer anything different in comparison to other fostering agencies?
Foster Wales Swansea is the council’s not-for-profit fostering service.
Every child in Swansea that comes into care and requires a foster placement, is our responsibility. We approach our in-house foster carers first and foremost.
Only when we can’t place a child with our own carers, do we then approach Independent Fostering Agencies to see if any of their carers have a vacancy.
Out of all the new fostering placements needed in 2021/2022, 81% were placed with our in-house foster carers.
Importantly, the social workers for the children and young people work in the same department as Foster Wales Swansea so the teams work extremely close with each other which ensures that children are placed at the heart of everything we do.
In addition, the children placed with our carers will be local to them, which is crucial for continuity in their life and for their stability.
what training will i receive?
Regular and extensive training will take place throughout your fostering journey.
Our Skills to Foster preparation training discusses the foster carer’s role and what to expect. The training will help you make an informed decision about whether fostering is right for you.
Once approved as a foster carer, you are required to attend 15 hours of training a year, as a minimum.
There are several mandatory training courses that carers must attend but there is also an array of diverse and specialist training courses to help foster carers extend their knowledge base.
Ultimately, we want our foster carers to feel confident, knowledgeable and be the best they can be for their foster children.
All training courses we offer are free and delivered locally and online.
get in touch
If you can open your door to a local child or young person and offer them a safe and loving home, then please get in touch for more information or to make an enquiry.
