Fostering
What is fostering?
Fostering is about caring for a child in your own home when their own family is unable to care for them. Children sometimes need a few days or weeks of foster care, others may need longer while we help their family sort out any difficulties or until we can place them with extended family, permanent carers or adoptive parents. We provide good support to our foster carers including payment.
As the local authority we are responsible for finding foster homes for all the children and young people from East Sussex who need them. Most children are placed with our ‘in house’ foster carers.
If for any reason this is not possible we may approach an independent fostering agency. Children who are fostered are known as ‘looked after children’.
Children from all backgrounds need foster carers
What sorts of children are in need of looking after?
Looked after children can be all ages from babies and toddlers to teenagers. They may be on their own or with their brothers and sisters and come from all different social and ethnic backgrounds.
Looked after children may need foster families due to a crisis or because they have suffered some form of abuse or neglect. They all share the need to be looked after by someone who can give them a safe, secure and caring home.
