Fostering in Northern Ireland. Local authority vs private agency

[KLHL777]

Hi,

My husband and I are considering fostering. We have kids of our own, but have never fostered before. I would really love to hear of people's experiences of fostering with the local authority vs private agencies. How do the two differ?

We are very much open to either, and while it seems to be that private agencies pay more (which is always nice) we are more concerned about support, and how approachable and easy to work with they are. We aren't getting into it to make money. It needs to be the right fit for our family.

Any pearls of wisdom would be great, especially if you've had dealings with fostering agencies in Northern Ireland.

Thanks

Hi KLHL777,

I don’t live in Northen Ireland, rather the West of Scotland. Myself and my partner have been fostering with an IFA for nearly three years now and would strongly recommend them in terms of support, communication and transparency......I know that my IFA does also operate in your part of the world and would happily pass on their details if you want to PM me.

When we decided to foster we actually contacted the LA and IFA on the same day and by the time we had a home visit and various other phone calls from the IFA we had no response from the LA which we thought was a good test as to how we would be treated going forward. We have our own social worker as foster carers and he has 10-12 other carers on his case load. I can txt, call or email him and I’ll get a response within an hour if not immediately.....when he’s not on duty their is out of hours who I have never had a negative experience with....yes, I do have issues with how some things are done within the IFA but if I had nothing to moan about it wouldn’t be life would it? Again, feel free to PM me if you want more info or have other specific questions and best of luck going forward!

Looking at careful do your home work on IFA's., Know of some gone into liquidation or taken over, by large offshore private equity Co.
Profits from UK LA's and UK Taxpayers going too offshore private pension funds. , including Canadian Teachers Pension fund'
See www. corporate watch fostering., for details.

I would strongly recommend a LA if you want younger children.
IFA’s tend to get the older and harder to place children.
Every LA is different but my social worker is fab, she has 5 other foster caters and again will email me back pretty much within the hour if I’ve gotta a question, or if it’s urgent and I ring her she’s always available.
Just do your homework before deciding x

We've been fostering in NI for 4 years, with an IFA, very happy with the level of support and communication.
We have a very professional approachable SSW, supervising social worker. Happy to discuss if you'd like to pm me.