Questions to ask before transferring fostering agency

Foster parents feeling unsupported is the most common reason we see people transfer to us here at Fostering People. Children in the care system have suffered a lot of trauma, loss and confusion in their short lives, which as you know, can lead to emotional, behavioural or attachment difficulties. Due to the nature of your work and how important it is that these kids can overcome their personal challenges, your fostering agency should provide access to professional support whenever you need it. Day or night, rain or shine, they should help with any problem, concern or question you have. If you’re not currently getting a high level of support, you should speak to other agencies about their support packages so you can draw some quick comparisons.

At Fostering People, we know that the more support we offer, the more confident you’ll be in your role. That's why we are committed to providing an exceptional level of foster parent support that you can tap into at any time. Our social workers live and work within our communities, and we put foster parents in touch with each other through regular meetings and events. The standard of our support is well regarded by local authorities and has been recognised by OFSTED and the Care Inspectorate, who have praised Fostering People for valuing and offering exceptional support to foster parents.

If you transfer to Fostering People, you’ll be glad to know that you’ll be fast-tracked through the system. You’re an experienced foster parent, so a lot of the information from your first assessment can be transferred. From start to finish, the process takes around 3 months. We’ll need to undertake our own checks and references, as well as a new Form F, but this is all done with you. Hopefully, this makes for a straightforward and stress-free process. Other agencies might have different timescales though, which is why this is an important question to ask.

Every case is reviewed individually, but if you’re unsatisfied with your current provider, you shouldn’t feel pressured to stay because you already have a child in your care. As long as all parties agree that transferring is the best thing to do for the child, you can continue caring for them when you transfer. To decide this, a Transfer Protocol Meeting will take place, where everyone involved in the child’s care will agree that your new chosen fostering provider can continue to meet the child’s needs, and that transferring won’t have a negative impact on their wellbeing or progress.

You might feel as though you’re not granted the opportunity to care for a variety of children with your current fostering service. This is why it’s important to ask about the types of fostering placements available, as well as the frequency of placements and the process for matching children with foster families.

At Fostering People, we have successfully tendered with every local authority in the areas we cover, so demand for our foster parents significantly outweighs the vacancies we have available. This means at Fostering People you can be confident that we’ll be able to match children with you, whilst always taking into consideration your skills, circumstances and preferences to ensure we match you with the right children and types of placements. Fostering People also have a specialist disability fostering service, which includes providing short break placements for disabled children who aren’t in foster care, but need looking after to give their families respite.

Your professional development is a huge part of your fostering career, so your provider should be actively invested in your training and giving you the chance to learn new skills. Even though you've been fostering for a while, there is always more to learn alongside mandatory training, helping to keep you up to date.

Our training programme at Fostering People is extensive, and we’ll work with you to identify the right courses, but you’re free to attend as many as you like. Choose from a wide range of specialist subjects, designed to suit the needs of our foster parents and children. For example, some of our specialist subjects include managing difficult behaviour, understanding self-harm and recognising the dangers of County Lines.

As with any career, your financial compensation matters greatly, and it should reflect all the amazing work you do for vulnerable children. When you’re speaking to different foster care agencies, don’t be afraid to tackle the question of allowances as it’ll be an important factor in your decision making. What you could receive varies between providers, along with additional benefits and other financial rewards too, so you’ll want to get the bigger picture. Here at Fostering People, we pay one of the best fostering allowances available that reflect your experience. Plus, we’ll do everything we can to surpass, or at the very least, match your current allowance.

Also, remember to ask if they offer any other perks for birthdays and Christmas, paid respite or access to high street discounts. We provide all this, and more because we want the children in our care to never go without.

Each fostering agency has a unique approach to foster care, and it's important to understand the agency's philosophy and values to determine whether they align with your own beliefs and goals.

That's why you should ask about the agency's approach to foster care, including their goals for children in care and their methods for achieving these goals. Another point to mention is the level of involvement of birth families and whether the agency prioritises reunification whenever possible.

We are an ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) aware organisation, and we use the PACE model, which we provide full training on. Being a therapeutic fostering agency, we understand that the children we provide care for have had significant trauma in their lives, which impacts their emotional, social and behavioural development. Sometimes this means they need extra support alongside the work of foster parents, such as access to a therapist. But we train our foster parents to support children in a therapeutic way, ensuring there’s a holistic approach to the child’s care. Being mindful and understanding of the reasons why they behave the way they do can lead to greater insight and positive change.

Everything we do is around delivering life-changing outcomes for these young people to get them back on track and on course to lead happy, fulfilling lives.

You want to know that the agency you’re choosing has received good Ofsted ratings and that other foster parents are happy there. We are extremely proud to be an Ofsted rated 'Outstanding' agency across all areas of our work and have been since 2013. This shows how committed we are to transforming the lives of children and how well we support our foster parents and staff. Ofsted is the gold standard of inspection in the fostering industry, so we pride ourselves on achieving the best results across our communities.