Foster care
training
We offer full, personalised training, from teaching the basics to advanced courses, to help you develop your skills as a foster carer.
Tailored training to fully support foster parents
Fostering is an incredibly rewarding role, and it is important to have the right training to be able to meet the needs of a child and feel confident throughout your journey.
From the moment you apply to foster with Fosterplus, you’ll be part of an organisation that is constantly supporting you to grow and develop your capabilities as a person and a foster parent.
Our training combines a blended learning experience of online e-learning, virtual courses, and face-to-face training within in our local offices. The training we provide, both during assessment and throughout your fostering career, is highly extensive and includes a vast range of subjects - from the basics up to specialist and advanced topics.
The courses we provide are designed to be fully inclusive, and fit around our foster families. Through our blended approach, we enable foster parents to choose the training that works for them - such as the engaging format of in-person training, relaxed virtual training watched live over Teams, or the freedom of e-learning courses, taken at your own pace. We even offer 'twilight training', which is held in the evenings for foster parents who work but want attend training in person.
Courses are designed to be interesting and accessible to everyone, and don't involve exams or written work. With our experienced and supportive team, unrivalled resources and bespoke training, we’re able to create a tailor-made package to meet your needs, interests and availability.
The different stages of foster care training
We have a large programme of training courses for our foster carers, which fall into three broad categories.
Initial training
As part of the assessment process, you'll be invited to our three-day 'Prepare to Foster' training course, which will give you a basic and practical introduction to fostering.
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Mandatory training
Once you're approved as a foster carer, you'll attend a series of mandatory training courses over the course of two years.
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Additional & CPD courses
As well as our mandatory courses, we offer a huge programme of in-depth and specialist training, to develop your knowledge and skills.
Read MorePrepare to Foster course
You don't need any experience or training to apply to become a foster carer, as our supporting training programme will completely provide all the skills and information you need to foster.
During your assessment, you'll complete our 'Prepare to Foster' training course, where you'll learn all about the basics for fostering. This course takes place over 2-3 days and covers important topics, such as child development and safeguarding, and offers a chance to gain a real insight into the role.
In addition to meeting the Fosterplus team, you’ll also have an opportunity to talk to some of our foster parents at the course, so you can learn about their experiences first-hand.
If you have any questions about the process for becoming a foster parent, or would like more information on fostering, please get in touch with us.
Mandatory training courses
Once you become an approved foster parent, you’ll work through a series of key training courses over your first two years of fostering. These are highly informative and designed to support you and help you feel confident when caring for children. In addition to key aspects of child behaviour and psychology, our training courses cover vital topics that all foster parents need to know, including;
- Safeguarding
- First Aid
- Safer Caring
- Health & Safety
- Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
- Protecting Rights in a Caring Environment (PRICE)
- Medication & Health Care
We know that families have busy lives, especially when fostering, so we've carefully tailored our training programme in order to make it accessible for everyone, and easy and convenient to complete. Nearly all of our courses offer both in-person learning as well as virtual and e-learning formats, so our foster families can benefit from a personalised and flexible approach.
Specialist training
As well as our mandatory training courses, we have a huge programme of specialist CPD (continuous, professional development) courses available. These tend to cover very specific topics, such as;
- Understanding Neurodiversity
- Disability Awareness
- Wellbeing
- Mental Health Awareness
Some foster parents choose to attend these because they’re relevant to a child in their care - others because they’re simply interested and want to develop specialist knowledge or skills. Our foster families are free to design their own tailored training programme, so you’re welcome to take part in as many courses as you choose. They all help build your understanding and develop your career.
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The fostering process
The process of becoming a foster parent takes around 4-6 months, with our team supporting you at every step. If you're thinking of fostering, or you'd just like to discover more, read more about the steps involved, from application through to approval.
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Support for the family
With Fosterplus, you'll be connected to the support you need 24/7/365. This ranges from a dedicated social worker and local team, regular support groups and events for the whole family, and an out of hours service.
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Successful matching
Our extensive matching process ensures children are placed with the right families and, over many years' experience, we've developed an outstanding reputation for quality matching and excellent outcomes for children in care.
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Can't find what you're looking for?
By phone
One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
Enquire online
You can get in touch by filling out our online enquiry form with any queries that you may have.
Your local team
Find contact details for your local office team. We’re always happy for you to pop-in and chat.