Types of Placement

As a foster carer you can be approved for one or more types of care. This will depend on your choice and also on the skills and experience you have. All foster carers may be contacted at any time and be asked to offer emergency care.  

Emergency foster care is used when ‘out-of-hours’ social workers feel it is essential to look after a child away from home suddenly. Social workers will contact the family the next day and consider whether it is safe for the child to return home or if a short-term foster placement is needed. The local authority will start working with the family to help them tackle any problems they have in caring for their child.  

All our fostering schemes include children with or without disabilities although ‘short breaks’ are specifically for children with disabilities.  

We are looking for foster carers who can provide any of the following types of care: 

Short-term care 

Children from 0­-18 years can be placed with short term carers; you may choose the age range you want to be considered for. Foster carers on this scheme build up their skills and knowledge of caring for children and sibling groups who become looked after either in an emergency out of office hours or in a planned way.

These carers may have little information about the children at first but are often a vital source of information about the children as they get to know them.  

Short term foster carers therefore identify needs of individual children and, in discussion with the social workers, decide the best course of action, or best resource available, to meet those needs.

Short term foster carers often have children placed who are involved with the child protection procedure and also care proceedings going through the court process.  

Mainstream foster carers are often involved in the contact that children have with their family and friends and should report back to the social worker issues of importance which arise out of contact. 

Short term foster carers work closely with rehabilitation plans to improve the chances of a child returning home to their family. Where this is not possible, short term foster carers can be a bridge to a permanent family or become that permanent family if it is appropriate for the child and the foster carers. 

Short term foster carers prepare children for any future move. This preparation is vital to the success of any future placement. 

Permanent care 

Permanent foster care is a long-term commitment to a child or siblings. The children become very much part of the foster family, although may still have contact with their family of origin.  

The foster child needs to feel secure and loved and is, therefore, involved in family life as any other member of the household. This includes going on holiday, attending family celebrations, etc. 

Permanent foster care is vital for many children who need to have stability and a sense of belonging and know the foster carers are committed to them throughout childhood and beyond. 

Sometimes during the child’s childhood permanent foster carers decide to apply for a residence or special guardianship order. This can increase the child’s security within the family and increases the carer’s ability to make decisions in respect of the child without the local authority. A residence and special guardianship order gives the foster carers shared parental responsibility.  

The parental responsibility is then taken between the foster carers and any other person who has parental responsibility in respect of the child, but not the local authority. This order overrides the care order in this instance. It is presently departmental policy that foster carers can continue to receive financial support. 

Short breaks for children with disabilities 

Children with disabilities may be given a break with families who will give them time, attention and fun, for a few days each month, usually at weekends. Training is provided if medical knowledge is needed. This service is extremely valuable as it supports parents to continue caring for their child. It recognises that caring can be a full-time task and parents can benefit from a break. 

Family link care 

Children and parents may need to be given a break from difficult family circumstances that may arise due to a crisis or other stresses that the family are under. The breaks are usually at weekends but are sometimes during the week depending on the availability of the carers. Foster carers are linked with children for up to 12 months and may care for them once or twice a month. This is an extremely valuable service which relieves the stress on families and helps them to stay together long-term. 

Parent and Child 

Parent and child/children foster care is for children and their parents, either mother or father or both together, who are in need of support with, or assessment of, their parenting skills. This may also involve more than one child. This may arise were there are concerns for the welfare of the child due to the parents care of the child, and are often court directed assessments. 

In some circumstances the parent is a looked after child. Foster carers would provide support for a young parent and their child, in these circumstances the baby would not necessarily be in care.  

Treatment foster care programmes 

For children and young people with complex emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties, Wirral has developed two complementary intensive fostering programmes: 

  • Fostering Futures
  • Maintaining Futures

Both these programmes offer the following: 

  • A single placement for the young person with the foster carer
  • An intensive package of support from the Child Mental Health Service, education services and social care services
  • Short-term placements aimed at achieving change with the child/young person within a timescale of 6-18 months before a planned move
  • 24 hour, seven days-a-week support for the foster carer
  • Training and development opportunities
  • An opportunity to work as a member of a team making a real difference to the quality of a child’s life

As these placements are intensive the children or young people need foster carers, at least one of whom is available full-time and who do not have other children or young people under the age of 16 living in the family home. 

Do you think that you could provide one of these forms of care for a child or children from Wirral? We hope you do! We don’t deny that fostering is challenging and demanding, but with care and support, children’s lives can be changed forever - and the key to this could be you.