Fostering
General Enquiry Form Moray Fostering Handbook
Join foster carers from across Moray to provide a stable home for a child/children from our area. Can you help? In return, we offer you 24-hour support, training, fees and allowances.
We're looking for homes for children of all ages, from babies to 18 year olds. We work hard to try and keep children in their local community and maintain contact with their families.
Foster carers come from varying backgrounds. We are looking for people who have time, patience and flexibility. To be considered you must be over the age of 21 and willing to work closely with social workers.
You can be:
- Employed / unemployed / retired
- Couples / single people
- With or without children
- All ethnic backgrounds or religions
- Home owners or tenants
People who have been charged and/or convicted of offences against children will not be considered.
Specific qualifications are not necessary. An interest in children, enthusiasm and good energy levels are essential. People who foster with us generally have a good sense of humour and can deal with a variety of issues with sensitivity. You must be able to gauge and understand the needs of a child who may have certain problems.
We will provide you with full training calendar and support to help equip you for the role.
Step two: You will be asked to attend the Skills to Foster preparation course, which runs over three Saturdays. The course looks in detail at why children come into foster care, keeping children safe, working with social work and families, record keeping and meetings.
Step three: A social worker visits at home over several weeks to prepare a report. A variety of checks are undertaken – health, police, references. The report uses the competency model to show that you have the skills needed to foster.
Step four: The report is presented to the Foster Panel who make a recommendation about your suitability as a foster carer. You will be invited to attend.
Step five: The recommendation from the Foster Panel goes to the Chief Social Work Officer who makes the final decision. We will notify you of the outcome within 14 days.
While the child or young person is living in your home, you will receive a fee and allowance to cover the cost of caring for them.
Weekly Fostering Allowances
Age 0-4 £142.86
Age 5-10 £162.73
Age 11-15 £202.58
Age 16+ £264.44
In addition to allowances for each child there is a fee paid to foster carers. The fee varies depending on the type of fostering you are offering and your skills and experience. These fees range from £85.96 per week to £200.61 for mainstream foster care and £444.07 per week for our specialist scheme.
All foster carers must attend a preparation course and participate in a thorough assessment to establish their suitability to be approved carers.
There is a range of support, training courses and training material available.
• Training leading to SVQ qualifications is offered to our foster carers. Carers can also access relevant Social Care Staff training courses.
• You will be part of an association of local carers who have their own support groups who meet regularly.
• You will have access to our large information resources.
• You will have access to 24-hour support and advice from our Out of Hours team.
• You will have a dedicated support worker.
Respite
Reasons that children may require a short break from home include:
• A parent is in hospital
• They take a regular break of two or three days to enable them to stay at home longer term
• Another foster carer needs a break or holiday
Emergency
• Children sometimes come into foster care without prior notice. Children will often arrive with few belongings, afraid and unsure what will happen. Foster carers need to be flexible to cope with the unknown and be supportive to a distressed child.
This could be because:
• Parents cannot be located
• An incident has happened that requires immediate investigation.
Short term
This could be anything from a few nights to a couple of months. Short-term fostering provides children with a safe place to live while our social workers work with their families.
Permanent
After working spending time working with a family, it is sometimes concluded that a child will remain in foster care until they are able to live independently. In these situations, we look for foster carers who can take a child for a number of years.
Contact Us
Fostering & Adoption Team
Rose Cottage
PO Box 6770
Elgin
IV30 9BX
01343 563568