Go to local site:
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Promotions

In the Shop

MySpace

Join the Supernanny team on Myspace! Click here to visit our page.

Myspace Logo

Fostering a child

Introduction

Could you foster a child? The Supernanny website brings you the basic facts to consider before making this important decision.

Supernanny Team Logo
12/10/2006
not rated
(Not rated)

Have you got what it takes to foster a child?

Looking after children who are away from their families can be a challenging yet rewarding role. To help you decide if fostering is right for you, the Supernanny team has some basic facts to consider. This is not a definitive list, and you should speak to the relevant fostering organizations in your community (see 'Want to know more?' below) before making your decision.

  • Fostering is not the same as adoption. Unlike adoption where you become the legal guardian of a child, fostering involves caring for a child for a matter of weeks – or maybe several years.
  • You will undergo screening and training before you can start fostering. Foster parents need specific skills and abilities to help children deal with some of the more challenging issues, and parents are expected to maintain high standards whilst children are in their care.
  • Foster parents receive some financial benefits in return for the care they give, but groups are lobbying the government to see foster parents given a proper wage, and all this entails.
  • When choosing a foster family, authorities aim to match families with their foster children as much as possible. Families are also selected by geographical location – as near as possible to the child’s home – so ask your local authority about the fostering needs in your neighborhood.
  • If the going gets rough, you won’t be alone – all foster parents have both a support worker and a social worker allocated to their case, so there’s always an experienced person to turn to.
Supernanny Team Signature
Supernanny Team

Was this article helpful?

Sign In to rate this article

Find Out More

  • National Foster Parenting Association is the only national organization that strives to support foster parents, while at the same time offering a consistently strong voice on behalf of all children. Their site walks you through how to become a foster parent, makes clear your rights, and outlines foster care licensing requirements state by state. 
  • Foster Club  was designed primarily for young people in foster care, but now answers questions for prospective foster parents. This is a great way to understand the fostering experience better as a whole.
  • FYI3, designed by Foster Club for youth transitioning out of foster care, is a dynamic online center that provides not only a forum for foster teens to share their experiences, but also offers a state by state directory of caseworkers, scholarships, emergency contacts, independent living programs, and news and legislation.
  • Aside from online training for foster families, Foster Care and Adoptive Community, provides a link to every state in North America, including Canada, that offers legislative news, subsidy information, children's care homes, and a telephone directory of statewide foster parenting associations.
  • The National Council for Adoption is a great place to start if you're considering adopting. It offers facts and statistics, member agencies, federal and state laws, and provides answers to your basic questions on whether adopting is right for you.
  • The National Adoption Center walks you through the adoption process, giving you the Ten Steps you'll need from launching the process of adoption to beginning life as an adoptive family. 

Related Links