Types of Foster Care

Guide to Foster Care - Part Two

Every child in care has unique care needs. So, it follows that there are different types of foster care. Some children need a fostering placement for a few nights; others require longer. All children have unique care needs.

The fact that there are different types of foster care is significant if you’re an aspiring foster carer because one kind of fostering may suit you, or your family’s lifestyle, skills and experience more than others.

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Fostering Placement Types

Local authorities classify types of foster care in a variety of ways. You will hear different fostering agencies using different names to describe the same type of foster care. Here’s a summary of 10 common placement types.

Short-Term Foster Care

Short-term fostering is when foster carers look after a child for a short period. If the plan is for a child to return home, this is usually, weeks or months, but can be longer.

Some children need this type of foster care for a specific reason, such as an ill parent. Others are placed on a short-term basis because they need support through a difficult transitional period in their lives. According to how things progress, they might go on to remain with a foster family long-term.

Of the different types of foster care, short-term foster care is the one used most often. It is helpful if a more suitable long-term plan isn’t in place. For example, during care proceedings, or while a child is waiting for an adoption placement.

Long-Term Foster Care

When a child moves to long-term foster care, the plan is for them to remain with their foster family for many years. It could be until they become adults and leave care or move on to independent living. The aim is to provide a safe, stable environment where they have the opportunity to realise their potential.

Although it’s called ‘long-term foster care’, the emphasis isn’t on the duration. The term relates more to the long-term plan for the child’s upbringing (permanence).

In 2015, new regulations and statutory guidance came into force in England. These introduced a legal definition of long-term foster care. A range of options for permanence exist, and this new definition reflects the importance of foster care as one of those options.

Remand Fostering

Remand fostering is where the court remands children to the care of trained foster carers. Placements are often short, with carers working alongside youth offending teams. In Scotland, they don’t use this type of foster care.

For many young people, remand fostering provides an alternative to being in custody. In some cases, the local authority plans this type of placement, but they are often needed at short notice too.

Short-Breaks

Short break placements enable parents (or carers) of children with special needs to have a break from their (often demanding) schedule. These can help the long-term stability of a child’s regular placement with carers or family.

Short breaks foster placements are usually for a limited time. Plans are often put in place for a child to stay with a specific family on a regular basis which involves the short breaks foster carer working closely with the full-time carer or parent.

Emergency Foster Care

Emergency placements are a type of short-term care. They occur when a child needs somewhere safe to stay due to unforeseen circumstances. They can happen at any time of the day or night. So there will often have been little or no planning.

There are a lot of situations that can lead to a child or young person needing emergency foster care. For example, if something happens to a child’s parents – leaving no one to care for them. Or if there’s a safeguarding issue that poses a risk to a child.

Parent and Child Foster Placements

Parent and child placements are a specialist area of the fostering service. They are for young parents and their children. In most cases, it’s a mother and her baby, but that’s not always the case.

This type of placement is helpful when a parent needs extra support. Though in some cases, it could be that the parent and child need a safe place to live. The three most common uses are:

Private Fostering

Private fostering is a bit different from most other types of foster care. It’s an arrangement made privately between a parent and a carer.

A ‘privately fostered child’ is defined in the Children Act 1989 as:

A child under the age of 16 (18 if disabled) who is cared for by someone who is not their parent or close relative for a period of 28 days or more.

‘Close relatives’ are defined as:

Kinship Fostering

Kinship Fostering is an arrangement whereby the local authority has legal responsibility for a child. They then place them with a family member or a friend (a connected person) who is a foster carer for that child. Kinship care can be a private arrangement or formalised through a legal order.

Fostering for Adoption (FfA) Placement

This placement type puts a child with foster carers who are also approved, prospective adopters. In such cases, the local authority has clear evidence that adoption is likely to be the outcome.

During this type of placement, a local authority will be seeking a placement order or parental consent to place the child for adoption.

Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

This type of foster placement is for children who arrive in the UK without their parents or carers. Many of them need support while they go through the process of applying for permission to stay in the UK. And in some cases, while they prepare to return to their country of origin. In recent years there has been a significant increase in demand for this type of fostering placement.

More about Types of Foster Care

Most local councils provide information about these and other specialist foster care placements. You can find your local council here. Independent fostering agencies also provide information about the various types of foster care on their company websites.

Types of Foster Care is the 2nd part of the 6-part Guide to Foster Care. Part 3 looks at the Foster Care System and how it works.

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