The type of fostering that’s right for you will depend on your experience and personal circumstances. There are several different kinds of foster care:
Long-term foster carers look after a child or young person who is not able to go back to their birth family and is not going to be adopted. They will usually have some contact with birth relatives.
With fostering on a long-term basis there is sometimes the need to foster a group of brothers and sisters, helping to keepthe family unit together.
A child could be as young as seven when they move into a long-term placement and it will usually last until they are 16-18 years old.
Downolad our Long Term Fostering leaflet (pdf, 3.53Mb)
Short-term foster carers can look after a baby, a child or a group of brothers and sisters while plans are made for their long-term future. They could go back to their families, be adopted or move into long-term foster care. They will usually still have contact with their birth families.
A short-term placement could last from a few days to to over a year and we may not know at the beginning of the placement exactly when the child will move on.
A little time can make a big difference.
There are lots of reasons why some children and young people need foster care. The one thing they have in common is that they need care and support.
Disabled children and their families need this help and support too, through short break care.
Short break care gives disabled children the chance to have a great time outside their family. It also helps them to become more independent and form friendships. At the same time their families get a regular break from the demands of caring for a disabled child.
Short-break foster care can be for a few hours, a day, a week or even just overnight. Allowances for short-break carers depend on the age and needs of the child.
We need short break foster carers who are able to provide:
Download our Short Break Fostering leaflet (pdf, 189.97Kb)
Fostering teenage childrenFoster carers provide a secure and loving home for teenage children who cannot live with their birth families.
Sometimes the child may have a disability or complex needs which their family cannot cope with.
There are many teenage children who need foster care.
Being a young person is an exciting part of life that can come with challenges Foster carers need to have the patience and time to be able to talk and young person.
Fostering children and young people from your community.
We need foster carers for children and teenagers of all backgrounds. It’s very important for them to have foster carers who understand their culture and traditions. That’s why we need foster carers from all of Newcastle’s communities.
Download our Fostering Teenagers leaflet (pdf, 295.43Kb)
Supported LodgingsThe Supported Lodgings Scheme aims to give young people, aged between 16 and 21, good quality accommodation together with the security and support that living with a responsible adult can offer.
There are lots of reasons why young people need supported lodgings. It could be that they have experienced a family breakdown or have recently left full-time care and are not ready to live on their own.
The scheme provides a stepping stone for young people to help them learn the skills to live independently.
Whatever your age, ethnicity or personal circumstances, providing supported lodgings could be for you.
You do not have to own your home or be employed. You can work full time and still provide supported lodgings.
You need to be willing to spend some time with a young person and provide emotional support when needed. The young person could be staying with you from two weeks to up to two years.
Most of all you need to have commitment, patience and the ability to share your home with a young person who needs your support. Providing supported lodgings is different from other types of care because you will not be legally responsible for the young person.
We provide all of our supported lodgings workers with a full package of financial and professional support.
We pay an allowance of £134 per week to cover the expenses of caring for a young person and the time you spend looking after them.
The Supported Lodgings scheme workers will:
Download our Supported Lodgings leaflet (pdf, 252.18Kb)
We need foster carers from all of Newcastle’s communities.
Our foster carers provide secure and loving homes for children and teenagers who cannot live with their birth families. There are lots of reasons why children cannot live with their families but the one thing these children and young people have in common is that they need care and support.
Some of the children or young people who need foster care are from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. To help them to go on to have a happy and fulfilling future, it is very important for them to have a foster carer that understands their culture and traditions.
BME foster carers can offer a wealth of support to children who may have been separated from, or have little contact with their own community.
Download our 'Fostering children and Young People from your Community' leaflet (pdf, 225.57Kb)
Download the leaflet in other languages: French (pdf, 2.3Mb) | Polish (pdf, 2.31Mb) | Russian (pdf, 2.33Mb) | Urdu (pdf, 2.7Mb) | Bengali (pdf, 2.51Mb) | Farsi (pdf, 2.68Mb) | Chinese (pdf, 2.38Mb)
Page last updated: 23 April, 2012
