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Different Types of Foster Care

Are there different types of fostering?

Stirling Council needs all different types of foster carers who can offer different types of fostering from full time care to respite or part time care, one or two weekends a month.

Temporary Foster Care

Temporary foster care means full time foster care when a child or young person needs to be removed from their own family to be cared for temporarily for a period by foster carers. The length of time a child may need to be cared for can vary from a few days to a few months or indeed a year or two. Our first aim would be to return that child and indeed the majority of children in temporary foster care do return home.

Temporary foster carers not only care for the child but also work as part of the child care team to make plans for the child’s return home and often work with the child’s family, along with the social worker, to help achieve this aim.

Long term Foster Care

Long term fostering is for children who cannot return to their own home but who still have a very active link with their family and see themselves as having strong family ties. Long term fostering involves a strong commitment to a child or young person, often until they move to independence or return to their own family in their late teens.

Respite Fostering

The term respite can describe many different kinds of part time care. This can range from providing respite care every weekend to once a month.

We need respite carers who can provide respite for children who still live with their own families in the community. Often these families do not have a strong support system of their own but can continue to bring up their own children if they know that they can have a regular break once or twice a month.

Our existing foster carers sometimes require respite - either on an occasional basis e.g. for a family wedding or on a more regular basis perhaps monthly if they are struggling to provide full time care for a youngster with significant difficulties. Foster carers sometimes require respite during the school holidays, perhaps to let them go away for a week or two with their own children.

We also need disability respite carers. Families who have children with significant disability often require regular breaks to recharge their batteries and to allow the child to have new experiences. Disability respite carers are usually matched with one or two families to provide once a month care for a weekend for a youngster with disability. These arrangements often go on for significant periods of time. Full training and support is given to respite carers to ensure that they are confident in dealing with the youngster’s disability.