How to become a foster carer

Call Foster with West London on 020 8753 1075 or join us to hear more at one of our information sessions. During this initial call we will provide you with advice and support you to make a decision as to whether it is the right time for you to foster.

If you are ready to progress with your journey to becoming a foster carer, an initial enquiry will be completed over the phone to learn more about you and your family. If you meet the initial screening criteria, you will be passed to the local authority you want to foster for who will book an initial home visit and a member of the team will visit you.

Attend our Skills-to-Foster 3-day course which will equip you with essential skills required to care for a vulnerable child or young person. Attendance at the course forms part of the assessment process and all applicants are required to attend. 

Depending on when the training course starts, you may be invited to attend the course before the assessment begins or during the assessment.

Once we have completed your initial enquiry and an initial home visit has been carried out, a decision will be made to progress to Stage 1.

Both you and your allocated worker will sign an Assessment Stage 1 agreement outlining the process involved. During the Assessment Stage 1 a number of checks, required by the government under the fostering regulations, will be undertaken which includes:

• your local authority
• probation
• finance
• employment
• education

In addition to the above, we will complete personal references and education checks for your children. You will be expected to undertake a health assessment with your doctor. We will need to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on you, your partner and any members of your household who are over 18 years old.

We will also agree on a timeframe for this work to be undertaken. You will be offered the opportunity to undertake Skills-to-Foster training at this stage.

Upon completion of Assessment Stage 1, you will be allocated a social worker to carry out an assessment of your background, life experiences and the qualities you would bring to fostering.

This is called Assessment Stage 2 of the fostering process. This will be reviewed halfway through by the principal social worker within the team to check any plans that need to be put into place.

You will be invited to a Fostering Panel that will assess your application alongside the government fostering regulations and make a recommendation for your approval as a foster carer and the final decision will be made by the agency decision maker shortly after.

You will be enrolled on our payment system and allocated a supervising social worker who will help you prepare yourself and your home for a child or young person coming into your care, and your life as a foster  carer begins!

After one year, you will go back to a Fostering Panel which will review your first year as a foster carer.