Remand Fostering

Most young people who are in trouble with the law can be safely dealt with in the community without resorting to being in custody, which can be damaging for them and increase their chances of reoffending. For young people in care this is means identifying foster carers who are trained to care for young people on remand. At Capstone Vision we aim to break that cycle by offering young people a stable family environment where they have the time and the support to re-think their lives.

To provide these specific placements, we need carers who are able to look after young offenders on a short-term basis, sometimes just overnight. Placements can be made with very little notice, maybe on the same day. Alternatively, placements may be made on a more planned basis, for example for young people leaving custody. In this situation, every effort is made to arrange pre-placement meetings which could involve the carers visiting the young person to begin to develop a relationship before release. Remand carers always have the right to decline a placement if they feel it isn’t going to work for their family.

In a family, one adult will be nominated as the main carer and, once approved, needs to be at home all day during a placement. Your job is to befriend the young person, provide them with their own room, and take a non-judgemental approach to their offending behaviour. As a remand carer you will always be supported by others in the team around the child including social workers, YOT (Youth Offending Team) workers, teachers, and health professionals.

When the young person is due in Court, you’ll help to make sure they attend. You may also need to attend the Court, police station, or solicitor’s office with the young person to give details of their progress. Other responsibilities include developing your knowledge and skills through our training programme and attending support groups

Remand foster caring is an extremely rewarding way to assist some of Britain’s most vulnerable young people