There are many things to consider when enquiring into fostering but one of the most important decisions is choosing who to foster for. Local Authorities (LA) assess and approve foster carers through the council to look after children needing homes in that specific local area. Independent fostering agencies (IFA), like Focus Foster Care, recruit, assess and approve people from various areas and work closely with several local children’s services to find the best placements for children. Focus Foster Care is an independent fostering agency helping children from many different villages, towns and cities in the West and East Midlands and surrounding areas. However, we are not the only Independent Fostering Agency in this area, so why should you choose to join our family of foster carers and not foster with a different agency? This blog post highlights the reasons to choose Focus Foster Care if you are considering a career in fostering

Fostering with Focus Foster Care

Focus Foster Care was first registered with Ofsted in 2017. In terms of age, we are still a young agency; we have steadily grown over the last few years and continue to actively seek new foster carers to join our team. Our team works from our registered office in Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire and we are aiming to recruit more people across the West and East Midlands to join our family. We say family because that is how we feel about everyone involved with our agency – our staff, our foster carers and the children we look after together.

Benefits of fostering with Focus Foster Care

* Friendly team – We have a small team of dedicated staff. Our smaller size makes it easy for our foster carers to get to know us all and will hopefully result in relaxed and comfortable communication between our foster carers with all of our staff.

*Competitive rates of pay – People should become foster carers because they are dedicated to helping and supporting vulnerable children through difficult times in their lives. A job in fostering is about so much more than a monthly salary but we do understand that people need to make a living. We offer competitive rates of pay for our foster carers, people joining our team can make on average £20,000 per annum per child in their care.

* Experienced staff – Although our agency is still fairly new, Focus Foster Care is made up of a group of people who have years of experience in the fostering industry. Our registered manager, Kevin Reynolds, and our developer and business manager, Sarah Meadowcroft, have over thirty years’ experience of fostering in local authorities and independent agencies, as well as experience in the charitable sectors. Our social workers, Emma and Fiona also have several years’ experience. New foster carers are in the best of hands and our team can draw on their collective experience to help carers deal with difficult situations when they arise. We are confident that someone in our team will be able to answer any questions you may have about fostering.

* Foster family events – Peer support is extremely important in fostering, no one knows what you’re going through quite like another foster carer. A few times a year, usually in school holidays, we arrange local days out with all our foster carers, their looked after children and any of their own birth children too. These events are a good opportunity for the children to play with other children in a similar situation to themselves and make new friends. Also, these outings give our carers a chance to chat and our team are there too to join in the fun.

* Dedicated support – All our foster carers have a monthly supervision meeting with their assigned supervising social worker. Our foster carers are also able to contact one of the team any time of day, any day of the year. We provide 24 hour telephone support for our foster carers and you will always be speaking to someone who knows you and the children in your care. Fostering is not a 9-5 job and we understand that challenges can arise at any time when caring for vulnerable children. We are here for our foster carers whenever they need us. Supporting our carers with any problems they have, helps them to feel more confident and equipped to support their foster children through any difficult situations.

Fostering is unlike any other career and it takes someone really committed and special to be an exceptional foster carer. We are currently looking for those exceptional people who are capable of offering the best care possible to local children in need of a loving and supportive family. The wellbeing of the children and young people we look after is at the centre of everything we do at Focus Foster Care and we are looking for people who share our ethos. If you are interested in joining our family, please get in touch with our team.

To find out more about fostering and how to become a foster carer with our independent fostering agency, please read the following pages on our website:
Types of foster care.
Who can foster?
How to become a foster care with Focus Foster Care.
Fostering – frequently asked questions.
The benefits of fostering with Focus Foster Care.