Choosing a agency!

[danyul89]

I registered my details on a Facebook page and my phone hasn't stopped with different agencies contacting me, One came out at the weekend and another is coming Wednesday, I don't have a clue how you are supposed to decide which one to choose, The one who came at the weekend are only just established in December and the other is well established with a excellent OFSTED rating.

I foster for LA. Just bear in mind the age group that you want to foster. All children come into the care of the LA, and if they cant find a placement with their own foster carers, then they use foster agencies. Don't think that many babies are placed with agencies. I know in my LA, carers are having to wait quite a while for a baby placement. You would also need to think about which one is reasonably near to you, as you will have lots of training courses. meetings to attend etc, so distance could be an issue. Personally a well established agency sounds a better bet than a new agency? Good luck with whatever you decide.

We asked:

• do you have tier 1 status with nearby local authorities (ie. Are they on your local authority's preferred list of providers)
• where does the training take place?
• what training do you offer?
• where is the contact centre likely to be?
• what support do you offer to carers?
• what's your OFSTED rating and where can we find the report (usually on their website)
• how many children have you placed in the last year in this area?
• how many carers do you have in this area?
• can we speak to a carer from your agency?
• what kinds of fostering could we do / what do you specialise in?
• do you provide any financial assistance with set-up costs ie. new beds?

I'll come back if I think of more, ha!

P.S. please also bear in mind that there are not-for-profit agencies and charities like TACT and Barnardos in fostering too. We went with a non-profit agency because we thought it was more ethical.

I foster for fca and they are brilliant couldn't recommend them more although we mainly get teenagers ... but also get younger children