THE ROLE: Newcastle City Council are looking to recruit people and families to the role of foster carer. We welcome enquiries from anyone who has the willingness and enthusiasm to change a child’s life for the better. We recruit suitable candidates from within a 50-mile radius of the city. Previous experience of working with children in any setting is advantageous but not essential.
THE TYPES OF FOSTERING:
Mainstream Foster Care: Children and siblings between the ages of 0-18 who require a safe and stable homelife. This could be for a short time while they are waiting for adoption or until their birth families are ready to accommodate them again or on a long-term basis.
Build A Future: A scheme aimed at supporting young people who are currently living in children's residential homes or who are complex adolescents on the cusp of requiring residential services.
The service supports these young people by placing them in a specialist foster placement, with a dedicated support network, providing them with a safe and therapeutic environment to grow and develop into well rounded adults. A weekly payment of £750 is available whilst a child is in your care and 24/7 support is on hand whenever you need it.
Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities: This gives children with disabilities the chance to have enjoyable experiences outside their family. It also helps develop independence skills and offers the chance to form new friendships. You might care for a child who has nursing or medical needs, including sensory problems or a child with challenging behavioural needs. Short break care can be for a few hours, an overnight stay, a weekend or a full week.
Supported Lodgings: This scheme aims to give young people aged 16 - 21 good quality accommodation together with security and support that living with a responsible adult can offer.
As a supported lodgings carer, you will be there to help young people learn the skills to live independently. You will need to provide them with a room of their own and two meals a day but the aim is to teach a young person how they will look after themselves once they leave full time care.
We pay you £156 per week to cover the expenses of caring for a young person and the time you spend looking after them.
Parent & Child: This is a specialised fostering placement. The task for a foster carer is to teach a teenager or young adult the responsibilities of parenting. While you will accommodate a baby, as well as the parent, your focus lies with teaching the parent how to interact, feed, change and meet the emotional and developmental needs of their child.
WHAT WE OFFER YOU: At Newcastle City Council, we appreciate the challenges around foster care, but with the right support and dedicated team around you, together we can make an extraordinary difference to the lives of children. That's why we offer the following support to our carers:
· 24/7 Telephone Support - there is always a duty team to contact, day or night, including a support and advice service offered by a team of experienced carers
· Your own experienced Supervising Social Worker who will be your first point of contact once approved and will conduct regular supervisions. The child has their own social worker
· A generous fee and a substantial allowance for the child & car mileage
· We have a dedicated Placements Team to match our children with the right fostering families
· You will have access to an experienced Child Psychotherapist
· Access to dedicated Resource Workers who can support children in your care in and out of the home
· A comprehensive training package & professional developmental opportunities
· 28 days respite care
· A community of foster carers who can support and advocate for you, as well as regular opportunities to attend foster carer support sessions hosted by a team manager
· F.U.N (Fostering Under Newcastle) is a dedicated foster carer charity, run by foster carers. They provide a calendar of engagement activities for you to enjoy
As well as this, should the child or young person have additional health, educational or social needs, there's support from other specialised areas like education and health. We do all we can to help you care.
Find out more at https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/fosteringadoption/fostering-process