Why foster with Fostering Wakefield?
When you choose Fostering Wakefield:
- you’ll receive weekly payments plus a 70% reduction on your council tax bills
- you'll gain the knowledge and skills you need
- you’ll have your own dedicated link worker and a network of experienced foster carers
We encourage anyone interested in fostering with us to get in touch. Our friendly team will answer any questions you have and send you an information pack.
Training and development
When you choose to foster with us, you’ll get the right training from the very start. We’ll guide you every step of the way.
You’ll get a personal training plan developed by your supervising social worker. They will work with you to help develop your skills and achieve your training objectives.
Meet Kez, one of our foster carers, and hear the benefits of fostering with us.
Support and community
Individual support
Our carers all have a qualified link worker to support you. From the application process and throughout your fostering career. They will also visit you at your home to check in, usually every four to six weeks.
We have a specialist Emotional Wellbeing Team. They are on hand to help with challenging situations and your families' wellbeing.
The fostering team are also there to answer any queries or provide support at any stage of the process.
Support groups
There are a number of support groups for our foster carers. This includes a specialist induction group for carers in their first year. Which provides:
- an opportunity for you to meet other foster carers
- training on specific issues around fostering
- practical advice and support
Our foster carers are local people. We have a large network of foster carers across the district all supporting each other.
The Mockingbird Programme
Fostering Wakefield is one of the fostering services that are part of The Mockingbird programme. Our foster carers become part of a group who support each other, much like an extended family would. This model nurtures relationships between the children and the foster families. Supporting them to become a resilient and caring community.
A home hub carer and liaison worker lead each group of six to ten families. They offer support and guidance alongside social activities and sleepovers to strengthen relationships.
This model empowers families to support each other. The extended network of carers helps to:
- overcome problems before they escalate
- reduce placement breakdown
- increases protective factors around the children
A quote from a foster carer on our Mockingbird programme:
“Our home Hub carers are fantastic. They help us foster carers to learn, grow and develop. They also help the children to grow, learn and develop too. It is also a place where we can find advice or a friendly chat. Our hub members have all become friends and have lots in common. Our home Hub carers encourage us all to engage and on socials spend time with each of us. We are proud to be part of this hub and couldn't ask for better Hub carers.”
Why foster for your local council?
Being in care can be a very difficult time for children. When you foster with your local authority, you can offer a home in their local area with familiar surroundings. They can often attend the same schools and maintain their existing friendship groups. Making their transition and time in care much more manageable.
- you’ll become a part of a not-for-profit fostering service. We put the best interest of the children in the Wakefield District at the heart of everything we do
- our money goes towards ensuring the children in our care have somewhere safe to call home. We support you to provide that
- we want to keep children and young people in local care, near their birth families, friends and schools
- we will always try to place children with our own carers first and you’ll have fewer placement gaps
- you’ll become part of a local network of foster carers. Tapping into their experience and knowledge and support
Transfer to us
If you are already a foster carer and would like to transfer to Fostering Wakefield, call us on 0800 197 0320 or enquire online. Our fostering team will be in touch to take you through the process
When you transfer to Fostering Wakefield:
- you’re more likely to have children placed with you than with an independent agency
- we'll match payments from your current provider
- you'll also receive our extra benefits such as 70% council tax reduction
- our financial resources go into supporting children in the Wakefield district