Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
How to choose a foster care agency
Can I choose who I foster?
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Foster Care Budgeting Tips
Becoming A Foster Carer
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Can you foster if you smoke or vape?
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
What can disqualify you from foster care?
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
How do DBS Checks Work?
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
What is the difference between residential care and foster care?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
What is Kinship Care?
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
How does therapeutic fostering work?
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Types of self-harm
A Guide to the Foster Care Handbook
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
What is an EHC Plan? A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
Fostering LGBTQ+ Youth
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
What are the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services?
10 tips for foster children's education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother's Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children's bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father's Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
FosterTalk Membership with Capstone Foster Care
Supporting foster children's contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Movies About Foster Care
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
Why Foster Parent Wellbeing Matters
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Young People Charities
Wondering if you can foster and still work? The answer is yes. But remember, flexibility is key to ensure you’re available whenever your foster child needs you. To give you some insight, we’ve broken down everything you need to know about fostering whilst working full-time. Whether you’re a single foster carer or a fostering family, our team at Capstone Foster Care is here to help you transform lives.
Yes, you can work full-time and be a foster carer. In the UK, full-time employment often involves working 35+ hours per week, but recent flexible working legislation has made it easier to make arrangements that allow you to foster alongside your existing career. Remember, flexible working legislation means you:
Scheduling your hours around caring for your foster child, whether you work from home or only work during the hours they would be at school, means that fostering and working full-time is absolutely possible.
However, that isn’t to say that fostering isn’t a full-time career in itself. With its own set of expectations and responsibilities, the children in your care deserve your time, affection and attention whenever they’re in the family home.
Yes, you can foster and work part-time. Part-time employment instantly offers foster carers far more flexibility. Freelancing and consultancy work is also popular for those looking to continue their existing career and generate some additional household income while transforming the life of a young person in care. Again, there are no rules or prejudices against working whilst fostering, but your commitment to your foster child should always take priority, so it’s important that prospective carers (and employers) understand this.
As a foster carer, your primary role is to provide a safe, secure and supportive environment for a child in need. That goes beyond creating a loving home. It means meeting their needs, no matter the day or time. So, if you are considering balancing full-time work alongside foster care, you must also be able to fulfil the following responsibilities:
Support your foster child or children with their daily routine, providing healthy meals, clean clothes and promoting their overall health and wellbeing.
Take your foster child to school, follow their education closely and help them with homework when needed.
As part of maintaining their daily routine, you will also be responsible for taking your foster child to their extracurricular activities and health-related appointments.
Attend regular meetings with social workers and other members of the child's support network. You will also have the opportunity to attend meetings with fellow foster carers in your region.
Immerse yourself in regular training and development, with the option to attend specialist courses in addition to your mandatory training.
Arrange meetings and contact with their family, supporting reunification where appropriate.
Nurture their development, teach them important life skills, and create fun and lasting memories together.
Yes, you can foster independently or as a couple and still work. However, in both instances, the children in your care should always be your priority, so it’s important to consider how work can fit around their lives, and not the other way around. So, we’ve broken down how fostering can work alongside your career, whether fostering as a couple or as a single parent.
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Couples |
Single Carers |
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Flexibility |
Fostering as a couple offers you greater flexibility as you can share your responsibilities, making it easier to balance working and fostering. |
As the sole foster parent, it’s really important that you’re always available to meet the needs of your foster child, which can make full-time employment challenging. |
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Responsibilities |
Each foster family will have a primary foster carer who is usually responsible for their foster child’s daily routine, from doing the school run to attending medical appointments and meetings with social workers. This allows the secondary foster parent to work full-time, should they wish to do so. |
Being a single, working foster parent means your role and/or employer must be flexible enough to allow you the time to not only fulfil your day-to-day responsibilities as a foster parent, but also be present for the child in your care. Part-time employment is often better suited for those looking to foster independently. |
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Career Goals |
Regardless of if one or both foster parents work, your priority as a couple should always be your foster child. Remember, you’re on this journey together and it’s together you will be raising a young person in care. |
Whether you enjoy working or simply want to top up your income, don’t forget, your primary career goal should always be to become the best foster parent possible. You, with the support of the wider Capstone family, have the ability to transform the life of a child. |
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Support Network |
With the support of your partner, you will have consistent help within the family household, allowing you greater flexibility to choose whether to continue working alongside your fostering responsibilities. |
As a single foster parent, we encourage you to lean on your close friends and family to help you juggle your responsibilities as a foster parent and an employee. |
At Capstone Foster Care, we understand each fostering arrangement is different. We’re committed to making your fostering experience as positive and rewarding as possible, so we will always take your individual circumstances into consideration.
Whilst you can’t apply to be a part-time foster parent, you can become a respite foster carer. Respite placements, otherwise known as planned or short breaks, are short-term arrangements that allow foster parents to take a break whilst their foster children gain new experiences and meet new people under the safe care of another foster parent.
Spanning from as little as two days to two weeks, short breaks are always arranged in advance, allowing you to adjust your schedule ahead of time, offering a fantastic introduction to fostering that may allow you to balance your existing job whilst still supporting children in need.
Considering fostering alongside your career? Our helpful team are always eager to get to know new people, answer any questions and discuss whether fostering is right for you. Fill out a contact form below or call us on 0800 012 4004 for an informal chat with a member of your local team.
Yes, fostering is a full-time career. When you become a foster carer, your first responsibility is to the child in care, which is a 24/7 job. However, you may not always have a foster placement. That’s why it’s crucial to understand that whilst fostering is a vocation from a financial perspective, payments are reliant on whether you have a placement, which is subject to demand and suitability. So, unlike a contracted full-time job, an income solely from fostering is not guaranteed.
Yes, each foster carer requires training before fostering. Whilst you don’t need any prior experience to become a foster parent, all our carers have mandatory training before being paired with their first foster child. Even families with their own children may see a notable difference in the needs of their foster child. This is why it’s essential that our carers immerse themselves in training and development courses to provide the best support for the foster child in their care.
At Capstone Foster Care, we offer additional training beyond our essential ‘Skills to Foster’ course to ensure our carers always feel equipped with the tools to support their foster children. We’re also available 24/7, so should you ever need us, we’re on hand to offer our help and guidance.
Yes, like any other job, you will receive payment for your time, skills and experience. However, unlike traditional employment, you won’t receive a fixed salary paid in monthly instalments. Instead, we pay you a regular fostering allowance to ensure that both you and your foster child can live comfortably. Your allowance accounts for:
These fostering allowances also do not impact other benefits you may receive, such as housing benefit or working tax credits. Learn More About Foster Pay
At Capstone Foster Care, there is no hierarchy amongst our foster carers. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t receive pay rises or further develop your skills.
For example, if you decide to specialise in therapeutic foster care or parent and child fostering, you will be able to expand your knowledge and skillset, allowing you to facilitate specialist arrangements with higher allowances. However, we also regularly review our fostering allowances to ensure all our foster families have the financial support they need to provide stable, nurturing homes.
Yes, all our foster parents are granted 14-night paid holiday allowance to be taken together or separately. At Capstone, we understand the importance of taking time to refill your own cup, so you can be your best self for your foster children.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
