Types of fostering

  1. Task centred
  2. Permanence / long term
  3. Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE)
  1. Parent and child
  2. Family and friends carers
  3. Staying put

5. Family and friends carers

If a child cannot live with their parents then we will try to find a family member, or family friend, who can care for the child.

Sometimes these carers will become 'connected foster carers' and sometimes they will gain a Special Guardianship Order (see glossary of terms).

Family and friends carers provide safe and loving homes for children whilst having some additional support from the local authority.

Connected carers can continue caring for a child up until their eighteenth birthday and beyond this should the child wish to remain in the care of the carers. Connected carers have access to the same training and support from the fostering service as mainstream foster carers, the only difference is that they already knew the child, or children, that they were going to be assessed to look after.

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