Short-Term Fostering - Five Rivers Child Care

What is Short-Term Foster Care?

Short-term fostering means giving a child a safe home when their parents or primary carers can no longer safely look after them. This type of fostering is sometimes referred to as temporary foster care.

Short-term fostering allows you to help a child during a time of significant change and uncertainty. You will help the child understand their situation and adapt to the changes they are going through. You will also provide stability during this difficult time. You may only spend a couple of weeks with them, but the impact you have may last a lifetime.

How Long is Short-Term Fostering?

Many people ask us ‘how long is short-term fostering’. The answer isn’t always clear-cut. Temporary foster care arrangements can range from just a single night to a few weeks, to several months, or sometimes longer.

As a Short-Term Foster Carer, your role is to support the child until they can go back to their family or find a more permanent home.

Short-Term Foster Care Support

Short-term foster care allows social workers and professionals to assess a young person’s situation. This gives them time to make plans for the young person’s future care. Temporary foster care helps children cope with disruption in their life. It helps them transition to long-term care or return to their family. The stability a Foster Carer can offer children in these situations is invaluable.

We provide training and round-the-clock support to ensure you well prepared to support a child on a short-term basis.

Find out more about Foster Carer training and support.

Short-Term Fostering Pay

Not only is short-term fostering incredibly rewarding work but Foster Carers are also financially compensated. Foster Carers receive short-term fostering pay in the form of a professional fee and a generous fostering allowance.

As a guide, most of our Foster Carers receive approximately £459 per week, per child. Sometimes our Foster Carers earn higher pay for specialised fostering, such as parent and child fostering or respite fostering.

Find out more about Foster Carer pay and allowances.

child in temporary foster care baking cookies

Is Short-Term Fostering for You?

Learn more about short-term fostering by reading Kerry and Tracy’s story. Together the couple have welcomed over 20 children on a short-term basis.

If you are able to provide a home for children and young people who need care and support when faced with uncertainty and disruption in their lives, we would love to hear from you.

Our friendly Carer Enquiry Team are happy to discuss the support, training and other opportunities Five Rivers provides.

Want to learn more about fostering? Get in touch

Give us a Call to Learn More

Making the decision foster can feel like a big commitment. Register your interest for a no obligation chat about whether short-term fostering could be for you.

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