Find out about the process of becoming a foster carer with Sutton Council.

Who can foster

We welcome people from all walks of life to foster. You can be:

  • any age (over 21)
  • single, in a relationship, married or divorced
  • working, not working or retired
  • any ethnic or faith background
  • from the LGBTQ+ community

Your unique experience could make all the difference to a child’s life. We’ll help you to find suitable fostering for your circumstances.

We need carers for children of all ages, but particularly need people who would like to care for teenagers, sibling groups and disabled children.

Checks for foster carers and homes

We need to make sure that vulnerable children have a safe and loving foster home. We follow a process to check potential homes and foster carers to make sure they’re suitable for foster caring.

Before we can approve you as a foster carer, you and your family will need to be formally assessed. This process can take up to 16 weeks.

Register your interest in fostering

The first step is to contact us to tell us you’re interested in fostering.

How to contact us

Online

Register interest online

Telephone

020 8770 5563

Email

fostering.duty@sutton.gov.uk

We’ll get back to you within 24 hours to have an initial conversation with you.

Home visit

Once you have more information, we’ll arrange an initial home visit for you to meet with one of our supervising social workers. 

This will give you a chance to ask more questions and let us understand your individual circumstances better in person.

Assessment

Following the initial visit, if you’re ready to progress to the next stage, we’ll send you an application form. We can support you with completing the form.

Stage one checks

We’ll complete several checks and references on you and your household. This includes medical checks and a DBS check for everyone over 18 in the home.

Stage two assessment

An assessing social worker will visit you and your family in your home multiple times to consider your suitability to foster.

The social worker will put together a report at the end of this stage detailing the discussions you have had and their recommendations regarding your suitability to foster. 

We aim to complete the report within 16 weeks.

Skills to Foster workshop

During the fostering assessment you will be asked to attend a 3 day pre-approval course which will give you the basic knowledge and skills you need to begin fostering. This is part of your assessment process.

Panel and final assessment

The social worker’s final report about your suitability to foster will be presented to our fostering panel. The panel will decide if they recommend you to become approved foster carers.

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