Early days

[Doobydoo]

Haloo

Have been thinking about fostering for 2 years. Now dc nearly 8 and 16 might be ready.But...do we go through local authority,Barnardo's or Action for children?What is the difference?I know someone who was with LA and did not find them very supportive.Advice hugely appreciated and thank you in advance.

We have found the agencies pay more, provide more support and are generally much more efficient than LA, while the LA are much more likely to keep you busy with placements as the agencies are expensive for them and used as a last resort.

Agencies are very expensive for the LA and so are used for very hard to place children, and often for as long as it takes for them to recruit LA carers.

They do pay significantly more. Depends why you want to do it.

As you have a young DC, you would, I assume, be interested in looking after younger children? These do not often go to agency in our LA - it tends to be teens.

We recently had a very difficult case, and the LA bent over backwards to help us and the children. My Supervising social worker is brilliant and the childrens SW have been lovely. But I have been very lucky, and I know of other LA carers who have not been as happy with their SWs.

You need to do local research. It varies hugely from area to area. You (should)get better support from private companies. I have heard carers singing the praises of their company and others complaining about the same company. Same with LAs. The children you get through private agencies tend to be more challenging as LAs want value for money. It is fairly straightforward to swap if you feel you have made a mistake. The children won't get moved if you change employer.