Caerphilly County Borough Council is looking to recruit foster carers. Foster carers are amazing people who help the council look after children that are unable to live with their families for a variety of reasons.
When children are unable to live with their own family, the council looks to find a safe and welcoming foster home for that child to stay. Wherever possible, they try to find a home close enough to where the child has previously lived, so they can still attend the same school, leisure activities, and carry on seeing their friends and family.
Sometimes children need to be looked after for just a few weeks – but sometimes it’s much longer.
Caerphilly has many fantastic foster carers, however too often, the council doesn’t have enough foster carers to look after the children who need a foster home. That’s where you come in!
Caerphilly County Borough Council offer all their foster carers lots of support. Every foster carer has their own link worker, who is based in the fostering team, and every child placed with a foster carer has their own social worker… and even if the carers’ own link worker is not available for whatever reason, the fostering team runs a duty system, so there will
always be someone in the office if you need them.
There is also always someone that foster carers can speak to – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Caerphilly foster carers are never on their own.
Caerphilly also has a mentoring scheme, which means that any newly approved carer will be mentored initially for the first six months by an experienced carer. They are on hand to help, guide and offer advice and support to any new carer.
And then there’s the training! The council has a comprehensive training package available to all its foster carers, and what’s more, it’s free. The training covers topics such as first aid, child development, keeping children and young people safe, and understanding and managing difficult behaviour.
On top of all this, the council pays a fee to all its foster carers, which is dependant on skills and experience. The council also pays an allowance for the child, which covers the day-to-day costs of having another person living in your home, and anything they may need.
Caerphilly’s foster carers also have their own website, and have access to a private foster carer forum, where carers can look for, or offer advice to another carer. Carers will also get a laptop and printer for any child over the age of five years old who is placed with them in order to help them with their school work.
Sound like something you may be interested in? Why not get in touch and find out more about becoming a foster carer with Caerphilly County Borough Council?
0800 587 5664
www.caerphilly.gov.uk/fostering
Text ‘foster’ to 78866
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