Be a Foster Carer
Could you change the life of a local child?
Across the UK, thousands of children and young people need carers who can look after them while they can’t live with their own families.
Foster carers are people like you who are paid to look after someone else’s child when their family is not able to. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things every day. Foster care doesn’t just transform the lives of the young people who are fostered, it also has the power to change the lives of foster carers and their families.
Local homes for local children
Foster carers have already made a real difference to the lives of many children and young people from our area who have had very difficult starts to their lives. They have given them the chance to recover and the opportunity to achieve the things we all want for our own children.
Too many children who need care are being placed away from North East Lincolnshire because we haven’t enough
places for them nearby. Having local foster carers means that children can stay in the area, near their friends, their schools and the things that are familiar to them.
Over the last few years, many brilliant local carers have retired, or have children placed with them long term, and so our care places have reduced. The Council is looking for local people who have space in their life, their heart, and their family, to offer full-time time or short stay homes for children and young people from our area.
You could be a foster carer
There is no one type of person or family that is the ‘ideal’ foster carer, and the cared-for children are diverse with many different needs. All foster carers are paid a weekly allowance for each child they look after, but foster carers do not need professional qualifications.
Anyone over the age of 21 can apply. Foster carers don’t need to be in a couple and can have their own children or none, be renters, homeowners, employed, unemployed, older, retired and from all ethnic or religious backgrounds and sexualities.
North East Lincolnshire Council needs carers across the following areas: • Short term
• Short stay/respite
• Long term
• Children with disabilities
• Sibling groups
• Teenagers
• Supported lodging - 16 to 18 year olds.