Becoming a Foster Carer
Becoming a Foster Carer
There are several steps involved in becoming a foster carer with CatholicCare. Each one is designed to assess your suitability as a carer and increase your knowledge and skills in caring for children who have been affected by trauma. These steps are also designed to ensure that we support you through the process and work out what is best for you and your family.
Ultimately, a foster carer’s role is to support and nurture children and young people, provide them with stability, and help them meet their full potential.
We welcome input from carers about the children and young people they would ideally like to provide care for. CatholicCare’s Recruitment and Placements Team is responsible for working with you to find a suitable placement match for both the child and your family.
We will only match a child if we believe it is in the best interest of the child and the family/carer they will be joining. We want the care arrangement to succeed, and CatholicCare will support you to ensure you have the tools, confidence, and information you need to do so.
As a carer, you will also receive an allowance, a dedicated care team, access to 24/7 on-call emergency support and social activities.
Our process consists of the following steps:
Fill in the form
Start your journey by completing our self-assessment tool/enquiry form.
CatholicCare calls
Someone from our team will give you a call. We will then catch up and fill out some paperwork together.
Final application
We will finalise your application and discuss some training options.
Assessment process
Once you have completed training there will be an assessment process that will help match you with a child or young person looking for a home.
Following these steps, when the foster care journey
commences, ongoing training and regular support will be provided to all carers.
CatholicCare essential criteria:
Kindness
Can you open your heart and your home to a child or young person in need?
Compassion
Can you make a difference in the life of a vulnerable child?
Nurture
Can you make a difference in the life of a vulnerable child?
Resilience
Can you stay the distance with a child through the really good and also the really challenging times?
Patience
Can you manage your own emotions when things get difficult?
For more information about the requirements of becoming a foster carer, please get in touch with our team.
