Training and support
Support
Local councils provide foster carers with excellent support and high levels of training. This includes a comprehensive range of courses including behaviour management, caring for children with disabilities and other specialist programmes.
Once approved, all foster carers work through a Training, Support and Development Standards (TSDS) Portfolio. This is a mandatory requirement for all foster carers in the UK and must be completed within your first year of fostering. Your local council will support you with training and advice to help you develop your portfolio.
Peer support programme
It’s important you always feel supported during this process. Local Community Fostering offers each foster carer applicant the chance to pair up with an experienced foster carer, who understands the challenges and rewards involved with fostering. Whether you’re new to fostering or transferring to one of your local councils, your foster buddy can check in and give you a good insight into what it is like to be part of a local council fostering family. We can pair you up with a buddy at any stage of the fostering application process, usually from the start of the Assessment stage. So, whenever you think you need it, your buddy will be there to support, guide and reassure you.
Mockingbird
Mockingbird, a global award winning and pioneering programme led by The Fostering Network in the UK, delivers sustainable foster care. It is an evidence-based model structured around the support and relationships an extended family provides.
The model nurtures the relationships between children, young people and foster families supporting them to build a resilient and caring community.
Led by a hub home carer and liaison worker, the constellation community offers vital peer support and guidance alongside social activities and sleepovers to strengthen relationships and permanence.
To find out about how your Council supports foster carers, click the logos below
We’re the choice for people from all backgrounds—single, coupled up, LGBTQ+, renting, or owning—who want to open their hearts and homes to local children and become part of a loved local community.
Fill out this short form and one of our team will reach out for an open and honest chat. Or feel free to call us on 020 8496 3437 or email hello@localcommunityfostering.co.uk.
You’re more ready than you think.