Welcome To Wirral

You would do this by:

1. Providing day-to-day care, thinking about the particular demands of children separated from their families.
2. Taking part in implementing the child’s care plan, which is drawn up with the child, his or her parents (usually), the child’s social worker and your own supervising social worker. This will specify with agreement the tasks for you and other people involved in supporting the child, and will often include facilitating contact with parents and others who are important to the child.
3. Promoting the growth and development of the child or children, with particular emphasis on health and educational achievement.
4. Respecting each child as an individual, listening to their views and helping to build their confidence, self-esteem and identity.
5. Encouraging each child to have a positive understanding of their origins, religion and culture.
6. Assisting and supporting each child and their parents and other people significant to the child to sustain and develop relationships.
7. Providing an environment where each child is kept safe from harm and abuse and making sure they know how to get help if they feel unsafe for any reason.
8. Working as part of a team, with children’s social care staff and other professionals including schools and health workers, within the guidelines, policies and procedures set by the Local Authority and nationally.
9. Attending meetings about the child, sharing information and keeping careful written records about the child’s progress, which contribute to care planning.
10. Taking up appropriate training opportunities and recognising the benefits of continued training.
11. Dealing responsibly with confidential information.

What support will I receive?

You are not alone

In order to carry out the responsibilities of a foster carer, you and each child will receive the support of professionally qualified social workers.

Supervising social worker

You will have your own supervising social worker who you will get to know through the assessment process before you become a foster carer. They will make sure that you feel able to ask for advice and help when you need it, by ringing the fostering service team or talking to your supervising social worker during their regular visits to you at home.

Your supervising social worker will attend meetings with you as necessary, usually until you feel confident about attending without them.

Your supervising social worker will guide you through the processes and give you any information you need.

Wirral foster carers

You do not work in isolation; Wirral foster carers have a support network (Wirral Foster Care Association) which provides you with advice, support and friendship as and when you need it. Other foster carers are doing similar tasks to you and understand when ‘the going gets tough’. They will raise issues on your behalf if you so wish. They also arrange regular meetings and social activities for carers.

For further information about the Wirral Foster Care Association look at their website: www.wirralfca.co.uk.

Social workers

Each child has a social worker who visits the child regularly, discusses issues with you and also visits the child’s family. They are responsible for the child’s care plan. They also co-ordinate all the services and arrangements for the child, to enable you to carry out your tasks.

Teaching support

Some children and foster carers receive help from a team of qualified teachers. They go into schools to discuss difficulties some children have, to find ways of overcoming problems and to help prevent exclusions from school. They also, on occasion, give individual tuition to young people whilst excluded from school. They provide invaluable support to children, young people and their carers and work hard to ensure every child receives an education. Some children will always be in between educational placements and may need occupying at home during the day.

Support workers

Support workers carry out many tasks, helping children move to foster care and settle in with carers, or helping children and their parents or relatives improve their relationships, encouraging parents to learn skills to enable them to look after their children and much more. Not all children in foster care will have a support worker; they work where there is the greatest need.

Training

All applicants to become foster carers are required to attend initial training to prepare people for fostering. People attend the training from all backgrounds, and some have never attended a training course before. The training is planned so that everyone who attends will be made to feel welcome and will learn about all aspects of fostering.

Foster carers are encouraged to attend further training to develop skills in fostering and can obtain a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Child Care which allows them to progress and receive higher fees.

None of our training requires previous qualifications and the NVQ assessment is based primarily on your knowledge and skills in working with children, not on academic ability.

Financial support

We pay a fostering allowance for each child which covers the daily costs of caring for that child or young person.

In addition foster carers are rewarded through the payment of a fee that recognises the skills they have.

There are three bands of fees. Foster carers will move to higher level bands as they gain skills and experience and can demonstrate quality in the care provided.

For more information on fees and allowances – see 'guide to the payments of foster carers'.