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There are several different roles provided by foster carers and below you can find out what each one involves.

You may wish to be approved for several of the below and can discuss this with your named worker throughout your assessment, considering your skills, experience and own personal circumstance.

Long term placements

Many foster carers have a definite interest in providing placements for children, young people or sibling groups on a long term or permanent fostering basis, usually for the remainder of their childhood.

Bridging placements

This generally forms part of a longer-term plan for a child or young person. In these cases, foster carers work with the children or young people to prepare them for joining adoptive or long term to permanent fostering families or for moving to semi-independent or independent living.

Short term placements

Foster carers work with the child or young person and their families for a short period of time after which the child will either return home or move on.

Emergency placements

Foster carers are able to accept unforeseen emergency placements for individual children or sibling groups, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Parent and child placements

Placements for mothers and/or fathers and their child, where foster carers can provide guidance to parents and help them develop parenting skills.

Solo placements

Provide a higher level of support, supervision and care for children and young people whose needs are very specific and complex.

Remand foster carers

To provide these specific placements, we need carers who are able to look after young offenders on a short-term basis, sometimes just overnight. Placements can be made with very little notice, maybe on the same day. Alternatively, placements may be made on a more planned basis, for example for young people leaving custody.

Short break foster care

Very short term care for disabled children in order to help support a family. This may mean looking after a child, or sibling group for anything from a couple of days, weekends, to a week or two at a time, sometimes on a regular basis.

Mockingbird Fostering

This involves our foster carers being part of a group, using an extended family model which provides sleepovers and short breaks, peer support, regular joint planning and training and social activities.  Find out more about Mockingbird Fostering.