How do I become a foster carer?

The first step to becoming a foster carer is to contact us, either using the email links on this site, or by telephone, to request an information pack.  This will tell you lots more about fostering and about Hythe House Support.  It also includes an application form to complete and return to us.  If you need any help with this form, do give us a call for advice.

To foster, you need to be in secure housing, and have at least one spare bedroom.  Carers come from all walks of life.  Your marital status, background or sexuality will not bar you from fostering, and nor will your age, as long as you are over 21.  You may have experienced bringing up your own children, or if you have not had children of your own, are likely to have had experience of caring for the children of others.

It is important that you are honest in completing this form, particularly with regard to any convictions, cautions or reprimands you may have received in the past.  Sometimes these are not a barrier to fostering, but we do need to know about them at an early stage.

After completing the form, we will contact you to discuss your application, and if both sides wish to proceed, we will arrange to meet you and carry out a home visit.If these meetings are successful, an in-depth vetting and training programme follows before a foster carer can be recommended for approval by our independent panel.  This helps you to consider how fostering will affect your life and family, and helps us to decide which children would be the most suitable to place with you.

The application process can take some months, as it is so important to get things right.Training and support continue once you become a carer, so you’re never on your own.

If you are already a foster carer, we would be happy to hear from you.  Please contact us for a chat, in confidence, about what Hythe House Support offers.  We abide by the ‘Transfer of Carers: Protocol – April 2004’.
We look forward to hearing from you.