Social work support
Fostering is a journey and we make sure you won’t be taking it alone.
Whether you’ve been fostering for a few weeks or many years, you will need advice, support and guidance to ensure the best outcome for the children and young people in your care.
This is the role of your allocated qualified supervising social worker, who is your main point of contact. They have a broad range of knowledge and experience supporting you on your fostering journey.
The journey with your supervising social worker begins before you are approved as a foster parent, so you can make links and build relationships with your local fostering team and the wider teams within FCA.
We want everyone to feel they are part of our large fostering family, and we work hard to make it happen.
At FCA, we’re there for you every step of the way, responding to your needs as you would expect from a large and long-established foster care specialist.
We see fostering as a partnership, and we’re committed to making it work for everyone. We listen to children, and we respond to our foster parents, working together to provide an inclusive and supportive culture where everyone can achieve their very best. As a foster parent, there are opportunities to specialise in specific areas such as parent and child fostering and your supervising social worker will support you in this journey.
How our social workers support you
Support your supervising social worker offers includes:
- Regular contact with your supervising social worker, through monthly supervisions, phone calls or face to face visits for you and with your family and the children you care for.
- Identifying and addressing foster parent training needs to support your continued professional development, ensuring you have the knowledge and understanding to care for the child in your care. This can be through classroom, e-learning, readings, webinars and peer learning.
- Support in keeping a record of your child or young person’s journey with you through our CHARMS system.
- Support for foster parents to access resources and support services for children and young people.
- Attending professional meetings with foster parents and developing communication and advocacy skills.
- Providing a flexible approach to creating a supportive network of foster parents.
- Working with you to review any support needs you may have, for example respite.
- Linking you to the Buddy system to connect foster carers with other foster parents who have experience in a particular area.
- Encouraging you and your family to take part in the many activities and opportunities FCA provide.
Social work support for children and young people
Your supervising social worker is there to support you and your family. They develop and maintain supportive relationships with all children and young people who are part of the fostering family to make sure they are happy and safe.
All children within your household will be supported on their fostering journey and become an integral part of the fostering family. They will be encouraged to join in with activities such as the annual Big Sing Off Choir competition and the annual National Photography competition.
All children in foster care also have their own social worker, usually from the local authority or health trust. This dedicated social worker keeps in regular contact with the child carrying out visits and making planning decisions.
Other ways we support
Therapy Service
Our therapists will help you understand your foster child so that you can find ways of responding to their needs that will make all the difference to them.
Education Support
Helping to keep your foster child in school and achieving the best they can.
Children Participation Services
We ask children and young people to share their ideas and feedback on what really matters to them. We are proud to have local participation services that actively engages our children and young people.
Training and development
We are committed to providing high-quality training that is accessible and relevant to all of our foster parents.
Team Parenting
Our unique model of support that forms a close-knit team of professionals around you and your foster child.
We’ve built a really positive working relationship with our supervising social worker at FCA, who listens to us and has dealt with any issues we have had
Get in touch
Whether you’re ready to start your journey or just want to chat, contact our fostering team today and we'll answer all your questions.
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By Phone
Call a member of our friendly fostering team and they'll be able to answer all your questions