Fostering in the East Midlands
Interested in fostering in the East Midlands with Foster Care Associates? When you join Foster Care Associates East Midlands you will be joining an aspirational, safe and supportive fostering provider who has been Ofsted rated 'Good’.
Welcome to Foster Care Associates East Midlands
We cover the whole of the East Midlands area including Leicester, Leicestershire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby, and Derbyshire. We are part of the FCA Yorkshire and Lincolnshire region, which has been established for over 20 years.
Within our Yorkshire and Lincolnshire region, we have six separate support teams, each with a locally based office; this helps us provide that local community feel with the social work teams themselves all living locally to the foster families they support.
Covering such a large area means we work directly with the 20 local authorities within our region, which means our foster families are always in high demand and kept very busy; we receive around 300 referrals every month for children and young people in need of a safe, loving and happy home.
When you foster in the East MIdlands with Foster Care Associates, you will be joining an Ofsted Outstanding fostering provider.
By Phone
One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
By Email
One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
Visit an office
Foster Care Associates, Suites F8 and F9, Brightfield Business Hub, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU
Benefits of working with FCA
24/7 advice service
Excellent ongoing training
Access to your local fostering team
Competitive payments
Local support groups
Local social activities and events
Meet foster parent Sharon from Lincolnshire who has been fostering for 3 years
Sharon, a FCA foster parent from East Midlands shares her fostering highlights and advice for anyone who is considering fostering.
“I’d say go for it. If you enjoy a challenge and to nurture and to see things go right, then that’s what fostering is about. These children need your support, they need your love and it’s worth doing.”
How do Foster Care Associates offer support in East Midlands?
It’s our positive and inspirational attitude that makes fostering with us such a rewarding vocation. Our team of expert fostering professionals will provide you with the highest levels of local advice, training and support. You’ll be instantly welcomed into the fostering family and well looked after too, we will make sure you never feel alone.
- 24/7 local support: including monthly local support groups, therapeutic groups and for all foster parents to access.
- Team Parenting: a regional and national network of childcare experts who may work with each child or young person to look after every single area of their well-being.
- Training and Development.
- Independent advice with a FREE membership to FosterTalk.
- A comprehensive events and activities calendar.
- Online support: Access to a portal to read about everything that is happening at Foster Care Associates, plus access to discounts to a range of high street stores.
- Foster Carer Appreciation Day.
Here to support you
The support package we offer values the work of our foster parents and the positive contribution they make to the lives of children and young people. We recognise that appropriate support combined with a generous fostering allowance for the families who foster is vitally important to ensure a successful placement.
All of our foster parents have access to the following:
- Supervision and support from a qualified and experienced supervising social worker which includes regular visits and frequent telephone contact. Your allocated supervising social worker will be committed to personally getting to know any foster child you are caring for.
- A level of financial support that values the skills of foster parents and the needs of the child.
- Access to a member of staff 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days a year.
We pride ourselves on being a learning organisation and are proactive in helping both our foster parents and staff team to develop their skills and knowledge. We are committed to providing high quality training that is accessible and relevant. Our foster parents and staff are expected to take responsibility for their own learning and demonstrate ongoing personal and professional development.
In addition to training we also hold a regional fostering conference. Here at Yorkshire and Lincolnshire communication is important, we ensure our foster parents, children and young people receive regular newsletters and video blogs keeping everyone updated with what is happening in the region.
Our local support groups are held monthly and have crèche facilities. Our support groups enable foster families to come together for a couple of hours to share ideas and fostering experiences and they are a great opportunity to build friendships and support networks with other fostering families.
Having fun with FCA East Midlands
We know the importance of having a fun, our comprehensive events and activities calendar represents this and is provided at the beginning of each year.
Events include:
- Hello and welcome initiatives to welcome all children and families to the FCA family.
- Children’s Forums with a very enthusiastic ‘Children and Young Persons Representative’ group of young people volunteers.
- AQA certificate programme.
- Consultations, careers advice, workshops and career recruitment events.
- National Big Sing Off choir competition – hugely popular!
- Fun activity days out, such as co-karting, theatre.
- National photography competition.
- Christmas parties, Halloween parties, Diwali events, Eid celebrations – indeed, if there’s a good reason to celebrate something we will.
We have our own Participation Service who are dedicated to engaging children and young people with opportunities to have their voices heard in the development of new policies and practices that they feel are important to the experience of being fostered. They also help children and young people gain new experiences, skills and most importantly, to have fun.
Since its establishment the whole participation agenda, achievements, and outcomes have exceeded all expectations.
It has undoubtedly contributed to a much stronger child centred culture and ethos and is now connected to most if not all aspects of our work with children and young people.
Ofsted report
Statement of purpose
Foster parent satisfaction survey
One of the UK’s largest leading communities of children’s service providers
We know what it takes to reach the pinnacle of success in regards to delivering the best outcomes for children and young people across our community. 100% of all FCA, and the wider Polaris services are now Good or Outstanding.
We have achieved this by listening to our staff, foster families and children. If you want to join an organisation that takes pride in striving for excellence then contact our team today.
I love my foster parents.
They are like family to me. They don’t judge me. They love me and they accept me. They have opened their home and heart.
If you’re already a foster parent find out how to transfer to us
Find your next fostering event...
Meet the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire team
Caroline Petre
Office Manager
Carrie Robinson
Placements Manager
Melanie Murphy
Registered Manager
Jo Charity
Deputy to the Registered Manager
