Has anyone on here had any experience of fostering children?

I've been thinking about it for a while and have got the info from Sheffield Council, so I know it will be a long approval process, but I'd would like to get the views of people who have actually done it before.

Do you get a lot of support or training after you become a foster carer? I know you get some training before approval but not sure about after.

Any insights/ views on this gratefully received.

Hi - my husband and I were approved as foster carers in March this year.

It is a long process - we applied in July 2004, did the intro course in Nove 2004 but didn't actually start the application process til Oct 2005 (they did come to us in April 2005 to start it but I was ill at the time so they said they would wait - didn't realise they meant for 6 months!)

We are doing respite care at the moment as I am working part-time (you can do it full-time if you work within school hours as you are not allowed to send foster children to child minders, etc) and so have children during the summer holidays when I was off with my own son and also on weekends.

So far so good - you do get your own social worker to give you support and they also have support workers now, which are great! They have support groups once a month and there's loads of training you can go on, although you only HAVE to do 3 sessions per year.

I am thinking of giving up work and doing it full time but thought I would do respite for a while and check it out and see what we think.

Hope this helps!

My wife and I have been fostering for almost 4 years now, and have seen 7 children through our doors, ranging from weekend respite for other carers, through to our current situation, with one girl who has been with us for 2 1/2 years, and the other one just over a year.

We foster for an independent agency called Foster Care Associates, who have offices around the country, Sheffield, Mansfield, and Doncaster are the nearest. Our journey started with an open evening at their offices in Sheffield in May 2002, and we were accepted in December 2002. It would have been a couple of months earlier, but we were trying to find a bigger house, with more bedrooms.

Agencies do take on the more difficult children, and the remuneration package does reflect this, but at the end of the day, it's not about money, it's about giving kids a helping hand to a brighter future. FCA pay their carers enough to allow one carer to be at home full time, but they do expect carers to attend four courses a year, which generally start late enough to get the kids to school, and finish early enough to pick them up again.

You might end up with a difficult child who screams, kicks, bites, scratches, and beats hell out of the walls.......but to take a child like that and see progress, even the smallest step is well worth the effort.

Other benefits to look at include 21 nights paid respite (time away from the children), birthday and christmas presents for the children, and also if you have biological children they get them too, a subsidised holiday per year.

I still can't believe that we've been doing this 4 years, and I really wish we had started much earlier!

i know some1 who is foster carer she has babies an there is short supply of them for babies she gets lots of support an advice i hold my hands up an congratulate people that do it amazing:clap:

What sort of money is involved in being a foster carer? I only ask because it is something my husband and I are interested in,but at the moment I work odd shift patterns so wouldn't be able to do it. The only way I could do it is if I were able to afford to give up work.

My wife and I have been fostering for almost 4 years now, and have seen 7 children through our doors, ranging from weekend respite for other carers, through to our current situation, with one girl who has been with us for 2 1/2 years, and the other one just over a year.

We foster for an independent agency called Foster Care Associates, who have offices around the country, Sheffield, Mansfield, and Doncaster are the nearest. Our journey started with an open evening at their offices in Sheffield in May 2002, and we were accepted in December 2002. It would have been a couple of months earlier, but we were trying to find a bigger house, with more bedrooms.

Agencies do take on the more difficult children, and the remuneration package does reflect this, but at the end of the day, it's not about money, it's about giving kids a helping hand to a brighter future. FCA pay their carers enough to allow one carer to be at home full time, but they do expect carers to attend four courses a year, which generally start late enough to get the kids to school, and finish early enough to pick them up again.

You might end up with a difficult child who screams, kicks, bites, scratches, and beats hell out of the walls.......but to take a child like that and see progress, even the smallest step is well worth the effort.

Other benefits to look at include 21 nights paid respite (time away from the children), birthday and christmas presents for the children, and also if you have biological children they get them too, a subsidised holiday per year.

I still can't believe that we've been doing this 4 years, and I really wish we had started much earlier!

Good for you! It’s a pleasure for me to read something about someone who is doing some good in the world — and you’re doing the best — rather than someone who’s always moaning and groaning. Best of luck to you. You’re doing a very difficult job in fostering difficult children; a job which with all the will in the world I don’t think I could ever have tackled.

Me and the Mrs have been doing it since the late 80s fostered all sorts of kids some with a lot of problems and some with parents with lots of problems. Its great if you can cope with it and have the time and patience that the children deserve. I would recomend it to anyone it has been a very rewarding experience for us and we do it for the local authority. The recruitment process is slow because of all the checks and the training but it is worth it in the end just to make a difference to a child in need.

i have always wanted to foster, i have had 3 girls my self, i would love an house full of them. I only live in a 3 bedroom house, would this go against me. They are lots of children out there who just need a warm, loving and stable home. I keep looking it to it, i must take it further. Good luck to you all

Shihtzumad, as long as you have bedrooms, it is worth applying. Each child needs their own bedroom, unless they are very young siblings. The system is crying out for more foster carer, who can support children who are in need of a stable home.

I would enquire and see what they say :)

I have just applied with to be a foster carer. It is something we have always been interested in.

We have applied to be foster carers in Derbyshire for under twos. Shouting out for carers they say but put on hold at moment as not enough office staff to process referalls. Mad!!

Which agency are you going through jsmart?

ollie kitten Going through derbyshire council