LA or Agency? Going mad trying to decide!

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My husband and I have been wanting to foster for about 4 years but have been doing up our house and are now finally ready. After speaking to 2 agencys and the LA I am so confused about the best route to take!
We have 3 spare bedrooms so are able to take a sibling group and we have no preference re age/sex. We have 2 children of our own age 4 and 6.
Obviously the dilemma here is money, we would get paid more for 2 children with an agency than we would for 3 with the LA.
We are not 'in it for the money' before anyone says that but obviously we will be able to provide a better life for the kids if we do not have financial worries. But I am worried that we will be left empty with an agency.
Does anyone have experience of either or both and can anyone advise please?
Thanks in advance xx

I'm with an agency.
I only have one child through choice.
A lot of the carers in our agency have sibling groups as LA find them harder to place.

Sorry, just noticed the ages of your children.
Our agency prefers the children to be 2 years younger than your youngest so you would be looking at siblings under 2 years old.
If I were you I would think about it long and hard. If you foster babies they sometimes have lots of contact with parents and you have to make sure you can facilitate it.
The majority of children coming into care are very damaged and you would have to sacrifice time spent with your own children to spend with them.
I have been fostering for 8 years and we waited until our youngest was 13.
I'm glad we did as the children we have looked after have been very demanding and I have sometimes felt guilty for upsetting our family life.

Have been fostering for over 40 years.

Advice would be , as you have great facility's and are considering a vocational status would contact your LA for informal discussion as too which way too proceed as there are many areas of fostering.
Therapeutic , special needs, short breaks/rest bite and more.

We do similar for LA in 40 years never been without children, most have had great outcomes. Take your time.

Good luck

Thanks for your replies. We have had a lot of discussions with both and are really at the point where we need to decide now. Cassimin that is interesting what you say about the agency getting the sibling groups, I was thinking this might be the case. Nobody has ever said that the kids would have to be two years younger than ours?? In fact we have discussed having all ages but were told the kids would likely be over 6 with the agency.
I realise it will be taking us away from our kids but we want to do this full time so will be spending all our time with all of the kids as apposed to being out at work and we have been planning this for years and know it is what we really want to do. Plus my husband has a lot of experience working with children. Thanks again for advice. X

Must not forget ALL Looked after children are referred too AGENCY'S CHILDRENS HOMES., LA FOSTERING Via Local Authority's. Childrens Services. Most will prefer Children stay local will only use agency's as a last resort.

Children placed with an agency can be children the local authority couldn't place with their own foster carers. Could be more challenging, additional needs, sibling groups (harder to place anyway).

Be careful.

Nickers
I am with an agency and lots of the carers have sibling groups and children without problems.
We have a long term placement who came at 4 so nothing was diagnosed as they were too young.
They displayed no indications of what was to come.
Aged 7 diagnosed ADHD aged 9 diagnosed ASD.
They would now be considered hard to place.
Does this mean that had this child come into care now they would be rejected by LA carers.
I read a lot that children with difficulties are place with agencies as they cannot be placed in house.
Thank goodness for agencies then or what would happen to theses children?

My LA has no problem accommodating sibling groups they do struggle however with finding placements for teens as they tend to be more difficult to cope with, have had many sibling groups myself of up to 4 and prefer them.
With young children, you need to consider carefully about the age range you take as can have an adverse effect on your own children.
Agencies in my area tend to get the really challenging cases when no LA carers will take them. Placements with agencies are also very rare in my area, the last carer I met had only one placement in 7 years with an agency.

I am a carer with our local LA. We get a choice of placements generally good support from social workers but most importantly we have a fantastic local support group for carers we meet regularly and there have been times when my friends from this group are what kept me going. As well as being a great source of information. Fostering can be lonely sometimes, friends that went with an Agency left after 3 years as they had no such support group locally. Our LA is currently recruiting baby carers as there are lots of babies needing placements now.

We are with an agency and have lots of support, both from the agency and other Carers.
At one time it was true that the more difficult children tended to be placed with agencies but there is such a shortage of foster Carers, the local authority often have to use agencies as they are at capacity themselves.

I know you have said you have your own little ones and are prepared for the different problems foster children may bring and the logistics of being able to attend regular meetings etc but I am really glad we waited until our dc were about to leave home as there is no way we could have given them our time and attention and also dealt with the many problems we faced with the sibling group placed with us.

Have you already approached your LA?

I know different LAs and agencies have different policies but I’ve heard the 2 year age gap between birth and foster children is quite common.

I’ve also heard that if you have pre schoolers they would expect you to use full time childcare for them as you are expected to work full time as a FC.

I also wouldn’t want older boys in a house with younger birth DC due to the higher risk of sexualised behaviour.

I’ve also heard that if you have pre schoolers they would expect you to use full time childcare for them as you are expected to work full time as a FC what??? I don't understand what you are saying here!

It took me ages to decide whether to go with LA or an agency. I'm so glad I decided to go with my LA. I'm never without placements unless I choose and although I've had my issues they are very supportive now. The children with lots of issues often end up being put with agency carers. My friend is an agency carer and has had long periods without a placement. Any young children are brought back to LA carers as soon as one is available if they've had to use an agency carer.

I agree I wouldn't have older children with my younger own children. I did try it but my kids were being exposed to too much. I've fostered about 10 years now.

The old debate about LA's vs IFA's will always remain on going. I am a Registered Manager of an IFA, so there is a risk I may sound bias!!

However, do your research for both LA's and IFA's - read their latest Ofsted report which is available on line. There are good and bad in both, so I would advise seeing your local LA and if you are near a border, then try your neighbouring LA as well. See a couple of local IFA's as well. All will offer an initial visit and opportunity to share information and for you to ask questions. Then make an informed decisions.

This is not a light decision, so requires time to consider the ethos of the organisation and most importantly what is a good match for you and your children.

I would say if you think your LA is good and you will be well supported, go with them. It will make it more likely the child / children can stay in their own school and should make contact easier. If a child has to go 200 miles away when they get taken into care, the system is not working well. As foster carers we should want to help the system work as best it can for children. I believe that means locally based foser carers.
However, my LA is fantastic and I am well supported. It;s not the case everywhere.