What's it like to be a Foster Carer?

"At 56 I found I had little purpose in life. After spending most of my life in a caring role between my own children, agency/residential work and caring for my disabled husband, who sadly passed away not long after terminal diagnosis. A year later I completed the comprehensive fostering training and assessment process and became a registered foster carer. That was almost 3 years ago now. I have amazing help and support from great friends and family, as well as my own worker from the Fostering and Adoption Team. I am hoping to become a permanent carer to a 6-year-old who's lived with me for almost 3 years. Life is anything but quiet but definitely fulfilling."

All our carers need to be committed to providing high quality care and support to vulnerable children and young people. You'll be helping ensure the child is cared for in a safe, stimulating environment so they can grow and thrive as individuals and as part of a family. 'Stickability' is important for our children and young people.

No two days are the same for a foster carer but some of the things you may be doing are: working closely with other professionals in health, education and social work as part of the team around the child; helping children explore their interests and talents; listening to children's views and advocating for them; encouraging them with school work; helping them to understanding their emotions; supporting them to have positive relationships with the people who matter most to them including family members and friends; attending training course and support groups with other foster carers; regular supervision and support with your allocated worker from the Fostering and Adoption Team.

What Support Will You Receive?

We know how important it is that foster carers get the right preparation, support and training. At Dumfries and Galloway Council you will have an allocated worker from the Fostering and Adoption Team who will meet with you regularly, at least monthly, but more often if required.

"After 13 years of being a foster carer with Dumfries and Galloway Council the support received from the Fostering and Adoption Team has been second to none, we are well looked after and made to feel appreciated"

We know that peer support is really helpful when you are fostering so we hold regular support groups and have introduced a buddy system for newly approved foster carers. We believe that you can never stop learning about children so we expect carers to complete required training in Child Protection, First Aid and Safer Caring prior to having a child living with them. You would also have access to our annual programme of face-to-face training courses as well as online training that can be accessed at any time. We will also pay for you to be a member of Fostering Network which provides foster carers with legal support and protection as well as other training and development opportunities. We work closely with our Looked After Children's Health team who offer psychological and medical support to foster carers and children. We provide any furniture that carers need for children's bedrooms and pay a weekly allowance which is based on a child's age so foster carers aren't expected to pay for anything. In addition to the weekly allowance we are introducing a fee-based scheme for foster carers from April 2022. See below for more information on allowances and fees.

Allowances for 2024