Wondering if fostering is for me..

[Minnie91]

Hi, I'm 23 and working full time. Me and my partner live together with his parents & will be moving into our own place at the end of the year.

We've been considering moving into a 2 bed so we can foster children.

The thought of giving a child a stable home to live in & to give them the care they need is something I dream of!
I was just wondering if us being 23 would put the LA off? We also have a dog. Would that put them off too?

Thank you

We fostered with 2 dogs and it wasn't a problem, but we were very careful about not leaving the dogs alone with the children and giving them space that they could go to without being bothered by little folk.

As for your age, I'm really not sure. I think SS would probably prefer that you had been established in your own home long enough to have got to know each other well enough to know how the other would react to situations that may be thrown at you (we were asked lots of questions like that).

You won't be able to do it IMO if you both work full time. Its not like working while you have your own child, there are meetings with SWs, reviews, medicals, maybe counselling appts and sometimes frequent family contact that you have to schlep around for. Your age might be an issue but they will look at your life experiences too and probably not rule you out right away. As for the dog, that was ok but they can make a thing of it too as happened with friends who have been fostering 6 years without a dog incident then the LA suddenly got in a panic about their poor old dog. It is worth phoning the LA and going to the open evening to find out the basics. Good luck, if you think it is right for you then dip a toe in the water.

A fellow foster carer of mine has 2 dogs, 5 cats and a pet pig so 1 dog shouldn't be a problem :)
Roshbegosh is right, pop along to an open evening there's no harm in finding out more.
Where I work you aren't allowed to work at all as you get a professional fee as a wage. If applicants don't want to give their job up for whatever reason they can become respite carers and work weekends, its also a good introduction to fostering without the full commitment. I have only worked at one place so I don't know what rules different areas have but a foster carer must be at least 10 years older than the child being placed. Good luck x