man and boy putting on shoes

What is fostering?

Fostering is a way of offering children and young people a home when their own parents are unable to look after them.

This can be temporary care while the family receives help and support through a particular crisis or event, or permanent care if it is thought that the children will not be able to live in their family home safely.

What types of fostering are there?

  • Task Centred (Short Term) - This can be from a few days to many months while plans for the child's future are established.  This type of fostering involves helping a child to either move back home or onto a permanent placement. 
  • Permanent (Long Term) - If a child cannot return to their family for any reason, permanent fostering can give them the opportunity to grow up in a safe and supportive environment whilst still able to keep in touch with their own family.  Usually we do not initially approve carers as permanent carers though some of our task centred carers have opted to offer permanent care to children who they have looked after and who cannot return home. 
  • Respite - This type of fostering gives parents and carers a short break when they need it.  This can be providing care for a child with disabilities to give parents time for themselves, or for other foster carers when they go on holiday or have their own family crisis.
  • Short breaks for families of children with disabilities - Carers must be able to commit to a minimum of 30 nights per year to the child that they are matched with.  The children needing this service have a range of physical or 'hidden' disabilities. Here, you can find out more about pdf icon Short Breaks Fostering [39kb] [Note: this opens into a new window].

Why is it important to have local carers?
All of the children that are in the care of London Borough of Sutton, are local.  This means that they live in Sutton, they attend school here and their family and friends are here.  Local foster placements help children to maintain important relationships with their families and friends and continue to attend the same school at a time in their lives when other things around them are unstable.

We need our carers to be able to take the children they are looking after to school easily, to meet family and friends or get to appointments or clubs so that as much of their normal routine as possible can remain in place.

girl with ball Will there be contact with birth families?
All looked-after children and their birth families are encouraged, here safe and appropriate, to stay in contact with each other. The amount of contact and who it is with depends on the plan for the child. For some children it can be several visits in a week and it may take place in your own home. Children may also have regular telephone contact with their birth family.  You will get support with these arrangements.

Do you have the qualities that those young people have mentioned? 
Then contact us using the Initial Contact Form.