Fostering in Wales

Welcome to the ultimate guide on fostering in Wales, your resource for understanding the journey, rewards, and the critical role foster care plays in transforming lives. Fostering in Wales is not just an act of kindness; it's a commitment to the future of our children and society. With various fostering agencies in Wales, choosing the write one can seem daunting. That’s why we’ve written this detailed blog post where you can access information about how to begin your journey to becoming a Foster Carer in Wales

What is Foster Care?

Before we can delve into the specifics of foster care in Wales, it’s important to understand foster care entails, we have much more information on specific foster care topics such as fostering vs adoption throughout our website.

Foster care provides a home for children and young people who cannot live with their families due to various reasons, ranging from personal safety to family crisis. Foster carers offer a stable and loving environment, allowing these children to flourish. There are many different types of fostering, from Short Term, Respite, all the way through to more permanent Long Term placements and specialised provision such as Parent and Child. The various forms of fostering is designed to suit the varied needs of children across Wales.

Overview of Fostering Agencies in Wales

Fostering agencies like us at Family Fostering Partners play a crucial role in recruiting, training, and supporting foster carers. As an agency we want to be able to take as much of the weight and stress of fostering away from you, so that you can concentrate fully on looking after the children in your care.

To allow you to concentrate fully on fostering, we provide you with extensive training (provided locally) on a range of topics throughout the year, 24/7 support, generous financial remuneration, dedicated link worker who will visit you regularly, free membership of FosterTalk, fun events for you and your family, and much much more.

Becoming a Foster Carer in Wales

The journey to becoming a foster carer involves several steps, designed to prepare, and assess potential carers for the responsibilities ahead. Many who are new to fostering are nervous of the fostering assessment, it is by its very nature a thorough and detailed assessment. That said, rest assured that we will be with you to guide and support you throughout the process. We have written a detailed blog post on the fostering assessment and what to expect from it on our website.

Requirements for Fostering in Wales

The children that we help look after in Wales will all have a unique story and life experience, that’s why it’s so important to us as an agency that our foster carers come from equally varied backgrounds and experiences. There are no specific qualifications required to be able to foster, key things you need are a spare bedroom, and most importantly, the commitment to make a difference in a child's life.

Urgent Need for More Foster Carers in Wales

The need for more foster carers in Wales is both urgent and profound. With thousands of children and young people across the country requiring safe and loving homes. At Family Fostering Partners we work with every local authority to match children in Wales with foster parents who can meet their needs. That’s why we continue to need more people to come forward and become foster parents, whether you’re interested in offering long term care, or you’re keen to explore short term or respite placements. We’re always at hand to speak to anyone in Wales who may be interested in becoming foster parents.

Our Role in Fostering in Wales

At Family Fostering Partners, we’ve been a leading fostering agency in Wales for nearly a decade. We began our life in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire; however, we now cover the whole of South Wales including Ceredigion and Powys. Through our membership of the All Wales Framework we work with every local authority across Wales to help find families for those who require a safe and loving homes. Our staff all live locally, and we provide our training and support in the local community that our carers live in. Our recent CIW inspection report speaks for itself:

“(Family Fostering Partners) places children’s well-being at the centre of everything it does”

“Children are supported by foster carers who understand their needs and provide responsive care. They experience stability, warmth, and a sense of belonging.”

Starting Your Journey to Fostering in Wales

If you’re based in Wales and would like to learn more about becoming a foster carer, our friendly and local team are always keen to offer guidance and answer any questions that you may have. You can use our live chat feature to talk to us directly. Alternatively, you can visit our “Contacts Us” page to request an information pack, or you can call us on 0330 9948816.