Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to 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?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
Reasons for a child to be taken into Care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
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
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?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
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
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: 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
Foster Care in TV and Film
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
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
Celebrating our Children and Young People
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
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
There’s an overwhelming demand for foster carers in the UK. So, if you’re considering fostering for the first time, you may have a number of questions about how to get started. Choosing a foster care agency might not even be on your radar, but it can make a huge difference to how supported you feel as a foster carer, how much say you get in the care of your foster child and the pay, benefits, and discounts you’ll receive when you start your career in foster care. In this guide, we’ll explain what you should consider when choosing a foster care agency.
There are a number of different foster care options out there, including your local authority. There are also lots of choices when it comes to independent foster care agencies and the benefits of choosing these may vary. Ultimately, whichever foster care agency you choose will have the child’s well-being at the forefront of its priorities. However, your decision will impact your overall fostering experience.
Independent foster care agencies and local authorities can vary in size, which can impact the level of support available to you. Here at Capstone Foster Care, our size means we’re able to offer help to children across the country. But also benefit from being able to offer personal support to our children and carers. Our social workers also have a small caseload, allowing them to be there whenever they’re needed.
When deciding on which foster care agency to use, checking the location they serve is important. Some foster care agencies, like us here at Capstone, operate nationally, with offices in the North, South West, South East and the Midlands. Whereas other agencies are focused on the local area like Excel Fostering, who are specialised in the North, and Foster Care UK in the South East. Choosing a foster care agency with offices in your area will help improve your chances of having a foster child placed with you.
You should also find out about what support is available to your foster child from the foster care agency. For example, Capstone Foster Care offer a wealth of support for your foster child.
Our social workers have smaller caseloads, serving a maximum of 12 families, whereas in local authorities, social workers can be responsible for up to 30 families. By allowing our social workers to have fewer cases, they can really get to know you as a fostering family, and dedicate their time to you and your foster child’s needs.
We also offer specialist clinical support services for the children and young people who need it most. Our MATTs service is unique to Capstone and is a specialist service which offers mental health services to your foster child at the point of need.
Our support workers are also here to work with your foster child in order to support their growth and development, both academically and personally. From when they enter your care, until they leave care and beyond, we provide exceptional support. With a focus on specialist support to young people leaving care through our own Capstone Care Leavers Trust.
Feeling supported within the fostering community is key to achieving success in your fostering career. Without adequate support, fostering can sometimes feel like an isolated experience. Here at Capstone, we’re proud of the support we offer to our foster carers, both in terms of creating a welcoming community and providing helpful advice and valuable resources for our foster carers.
If it’s your first time fostering with us, you’ll benefit from a tailored induction program to help prepare you for fostering with us. We also provide 24-hour care, 7 days a week, meaning there’s always an expert you can reach out to when you need extra support or advice. You’ll also have your own dedicated placement officer, placement plan and social worker, maintaining consistency within the team involved in your fostering experience, ensuring you’re working with a team that knows you and your foster child.
An additional benefit of fostering with Capstone includes membership with FosterTalk. This is a specialist service that provides you with bespoke advice, including legal and financial advice. It also supplies you with benefits like discounts on goods and services.
As a foster carer with Capstone, you’ll become part of our fostering community, where you’re able to meet up with other foster carers in a similar position to you with our regular support groups, open for both you and your family to attend. You’ll also benefit from access to our carer area on the website for more guides and support.
Don't just take our word for it, here's what our foster carers have to say about the support we have available to them:
" The staff at Capstone are quick to follow up on any queries or questions. They are friendly and supportive"
"They give great support when needed. There is always someone at the end of the phone when calling. Love my social worker"
When choosing foster care as a career, it’s important to look for a foster care agency that is able to invest in your training and development in order to provide the best possible care for your foster child.
Continuous development is something that is extremely important to us at Capstone Foster Care, and our team of professionals deliver training across a range of subjects. New foster carers will be required to attend the Skills to Foster training course in order to develop the tools needed to succeed as foster carers. We also provide specialist training for foster carers providing therapeutic foster care or MATTs, ensuring you’re able to form a positive and supportive relationship with your foster child.
Here's what our foster carers have to say about our MATTs therapy;
"They give great support when needed. There is always someone at the end of the phone when calling. Love my social worker"
While making a difference in a child’s life through foster care is an extremely rewarding career, it’s not without its challenges. Choosing a foster care agency that appreciates you and rewards you for your hard work and time can make all the difference in providing motivation through more challenging times.
If you choose Capstone as your foster care agency, you’ll benefit from rewards in the form of social events and 14 days paid holiday a year. You’ll also benefit from special recognition for your achievements such as length of service.
Finally, being rewarded financially for the work you do in caring for your foster child will differ depending on which agency you choose, as well as the type of foster care you provide.
Capstone offers a competitive fostering allowance. For more advice about how much foster carers get paid, see our guide.
Ready to choose Capstone as your foster care agency? Or just want to find out what it means to foster with us? Contact our knowledgeable team today for more information.
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.