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Types of fostering

Every child/ young person that needs a foster placement have differing needs and so the type of placement they may need will be different. Some types of fostering are what we call specialist fostering and will need foster carers to have skills and experience within these areas. At Beams we take to ensure we are matching our foster carers with the type of fostering that matches best with their skills, knowledge, and capacity. At Beams Foster Care we provide the following placement types for the children and young people we can for.

  • Short term/ task centred fostering – Is often needed when a child/ young person comes into the care of the Local Authority. This is always temporary until they can either return to their family or the court decides a more permanent Care Plan.
  • Long term/ permanent fostering – Is needed when the child/ young person is going to remain in care, often for the duration of their childhood. They need a foster home they can remain in, to ensure they feel secure and a part of family home.
  • Respite fostering – Is when a child/ young person is already in care and their foster carer needs a short break, this could be for a few days or 1 to 2 weeks. This is a valuable fostering task.
  • Siblings – Enabling siblings to stay together is something that Beams Foster Care prides themselves on, often siblings are separated when they come into care due to a shortage of fostering homes that can offer a home to more than 1 child.
  • Disability – Offering a foster home to a child/ young person with a disability, the tasks could be short term/ long term – this task often requires a 2-carer household.

Other placements that Beams Foster Care are looking to provide in the future are; if you are interested in providing these placements please get in touch with us.

  • Parent and child placements – This task is when a baby/ child is placed in foster care with their parent (mum or dad/ sometimes both) This enables the parent to be provided with support to help them learn the skills to parent their child.
  • UASC – Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children – these children are outside the country of origin and without a parent, they would often come from conflict zones from a range of countries. English is often not their spoken language.
  • Step down – This task is for when children living in residential care are seeking a fostering home to move to, their needs are often greater – this task often requires a 2-carer household.