Flwoer or other foster carers

[hertsnessex]

Can anyone tell me if you are accepted for fostering can you be age specific over a child i.e. baies, toddlers, teenagers etc?

Thanks,

Cx

[hertsnessex]

I meant FLOWER!

[jofeb04]

Hiya Herts,
A friend of mine fosters babies, and another only foster teens!

HTH

[mummyBop]

Yes, but don't expect them to take any notice!

We were approved for two 5-10 year olds and got three different placements:
12 month and a 24 month old brothers
a 5 year old (but with some issues we'd specifically excluded)
A family who were 3,4 and 6 when we first met them.

Bop

[hertsnessex]

blimey!!!

I guess it depends what is needed in your area and if you are willing to take children out of the age range preferred.

I wouldnt like to take on teenagers, but would love to foster babies, but I am guessing lots of foster carers love having babies aswell!

[poshtottie]

Herts, I have also thought about fostering for some time now and I would prefer to foster babies, only because this is my area of expertise.

[Flower3554]

Sorry, herts only just noticed this,

When we first started, many eons ago, we requested babies only. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that babies were like hens teeth and they already had a list of "baby foster carers" so we would only get one if these carers were full.

We agreed then, to take any children in the 0-5 years bracket and this we did for many years. In this time we did foster a few new borns but our placements were mainly older children.

A few years ago I became increasingly tired of taking 2 3 or sometimes 4 older children at a time and not enjoying the process much, my heart is with the babies.

I had a long chat with my link worker and told her I would from now on be only accepting newborns. Her response was the same as above but I stuck to my guns and we've never looked back. We have almost always had a placement, we have 2 at the moment so as for my not getting babies pffft

I would say if you're just starting out it may be difficult to ask for a specific age but it depends how busy they are.

Hope this helps.

[hertsnessex]

Thanks Flower. I really want to do this, and have consdered it for 2+yrs now.

I will let you know how I get on!

[Flower3554]

Please do herts, its a great "job" most of the time. Good luck

[poshtottie]

Well I made the first step today and called my local authority. Had a long in depth telephone conversation and they are sending out an information pack.