Become a foster carer
Step 1: Contact Us
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer or would like to find out more, please complete our dedicated e-form:
Becoming a foster carerEnquiry e-form
A social worker will get back to you within two working days to discuss your reasons for wanting to foster, experience and space available within your home.
Step 2: Home Visit
When you are ready, a social worker from the fostering team will visit your home. They will see if your home is suitable for fostering and talk about you, your life experiences as well as your family.
Step 3: The Skills to Foster preparation group
This is a compulsory three-day group course which we run four times a year. It gives an understanding of fostering, why children come into care, as well as your role and responsibilities as a foster carer.
Following this course, a joint decision will be made by the trainers and you to see if fostering is right for you. If you go ahead, you will move on to the formal assessment process.
Step 4: The assessment
A social worker will visit your home at least every week. You will talk about your background, your experiences of education and employment, and your lifestyle.
This will include religion, culture and day-to-day living, as well as your skills around caring for children and young people.
During this time, we will carry out various checks on you and anyone in your household aged 16 and cover. These will be made with your local authority, police, NSPCC and your doctor.
We will also request references from people who know you well and can comment on your ability to care for a foster child. This process can take up to four months.
Step 5: The fostering panel
Once the assessment is finished, your assessment report will be presented to the fostering panel, you will have a chance to read this beforehand and raise anything you may disagree with.
The fostering panel advises the council on the suitability of people who apply to become foster carers.
The panel will decide whether or not to recommend to the council your approval as a foster carer, but the final decision rests with the Assistant Director of Safeguarding and Social Care.
Once you have been approved as a foster carer, you will continue to receive support from your allocated supervising social worker who will visit you at home and carry out your annual review.
You will also receive mentoring from an experienced foster carer who can support you through your first foster placement.
The department will send you a newsletter every 4 months with useful information about training, events, policy and practice.
Contact
Email fosteringrecruitment@haringey.gov.uk or call us on 020 8489 3754 to find out more about fostering for Haringey.