Could we foster?

[taytotayto]

We have 2 children, aged5 and 3. My husband and I are thinking of fostering. I work part time. Could we do it?

[scarlet5tyger]

You need to contact your LA (local authority) as all are different, but I know with mine you would have to foster younger children than your youngest birth child. That means 0-3 year olds. My own LA have plenty of baby carers and are no longer recruiting for that age group. (The adverts about being desperate for foster carers are true, but for teenagers or sibling groups).

My own LA would also insist on you being at home full time if you were fostering pre-school age children.

As I said, all Las are different though, and there's also agency's.

[wonderpants]

Just to add to Scarlets post, you need a spare bedroom and to be able to manage financially with one person at home 24/7 with no fostering income. In our LA there seems to be about a 6 month wait between placements, and you get no income despite being 'on-call' for a placement.

[Mummypenny]

Hi, we go to panel in just under 3 weeks. We have two children 5 and 2 (3 in june) and a matching preference of 0-7 year olds. It's not for all families with young kids of their own just as its not for all people with teenage kids or no kids at all. Only you know what is right for your family. Best advice would be to contact your LA as all have different criteria.