‘I‘ve thought about being a foster carer but…’ 

Lots of people consider fostering but feel that the time just isn’t right to make such a significant commitment. Often families feel that their own children still need their full support, or they have other caring commitments to older parents and family members. Sometimes a lack of extra space at home, or demanding work responsibilities, can stop people from pursuing fostering full-time. It can also feel quite intimidating to take on such a big responsibility.

But increasingly, people do want to give something back to their communities and make a positive difference by helping children. If this sounds like you, fostering could still be the perfect choice, because being a foster carer need not be a 24/7 undertaking.

Foster care doesn’t have to be 24/7

Fostering services are looking for a wide range of different types of foster carer, including families who can foster part-time and offer ‘respite’ to long-term foster carers. It may be at the weekends, or just a weekend or two each month. Services also welcome foster carers who can help during school holidays.

Part-time foster carers play a vitally important role supporting full-time foster families. In many ways they allow the foster care system, always under pressure, to breathe. They can replicate the role of grandparents, or aunts and uncles, in giving foster children another welcoming and familiar place for them to go to from time to time.

When children live with their birth parents, going to stay with a grandparent or cousins is an important part of growing up, a source of many cherished childhood memories in later life. But in foster care, these opportunities can be very limited. Even a foster carer’s own extended family may not be in a position to help on a regular basis.

Few full-time foster carers enter into a commitment to their foster children expecting to need a break or requiring their fostering service to promise time off. But the realities of fostering, together with the demands of daily life, mean that it’s important to think about how children will be cared for when their foster carers do need time away.

Fostering part-time creates stability and safety for children in care

This is not just about giving foster carers a holiday or a leisurely weekend. There will be occasions when foster carers have other commitments when it will not be appropriate for foster children to be involved, such as medical treatment and recovery or a bereavement in the family.  It will always be best for children to stay with people they know well.

Part-time foster carers, or respite carers as they may be known, are especially valuable to those who look after children with disabilities or special educational needs. Having a trusting relationship with other carers who understand a child’s needs and who share a commitment to their wellbeing is a huge comfort. 

Part-time foster carers need all the skills and qualities of other foster carers. They must be available at weekends, and be open to commit to longer periods from time to time, such as during school holidays. Unlike Emergency Fostering, you’ll always be given advance notice of the foster families’ request for respite. The approval process is usually the same as it is for full-time foster carers; with the Skills to Foster course covering everything one needs to prepare for life as a foster carer and a detailed understanding of what is required. 

The approval process is robust: the fostering panel will seek assurance that prospective foster carers who will care on a part-time basis have the same skills, and are as committed to children and young people, as other foster carers. Allowances are paid that reflect this skill and commitment, comparable to allowances for full-time carers.

Part-time foster carers give young people in care an opportunity to sample different experiences and perspectives while building what could become a meaningful lifelong connection that endures long after they have left care.

Many part-time carers step up to become full-time carers when their personal circumstances change. By this point they have gained confidence and experience, together with an understanding of the care system. Their insight is invaluable as they prepare for the next stage of their fostering lives.

If you’re interested in supporting foster families in your area, why not get in touch with your local council?