Support We Offer

Once you are approved

Foster Care Group Wales offer an extensive package of support to all our foster parents from the first day of approval throughout your fostering career. The following is some of the support services we offer:

  • Access to an on-call worker 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
  • 14 days paid holiday/respite every year
  • Regular supervision and support visits from a qualified social worker
  • Membership of Fostering Network with access to information, training, legal advice and confidential counselling services.
  • Support to attend meetings from your supervising social worker
  • Access to regular support group meetings with other foster parents
  • Annual events in recognition of carers contribution
  • Regular consultation to help improve the service offered by the agency
  • Being treated as part of the professional team of the agency
  • Regular organised events for children placed
  • Training to assist develop your skills throughout your fostering career
  • Generous allowances and expenses

From the first call

From making that first phone call of enquiry, we will be with you every step of the way! During your application and assessment process your allocated supervising social worker will give you all the information you need about what fostering involves and will ensure that you are able to consider how being a foster parent will work for you and your family. You will have an opportunity to meet members of the agency and the fostering panel.

Training

FCGW recognise the importance of offering a range of training for carers. Before your application goes to panel, you will undergo ‘Skills to Foster’ training conducted by our experienced training manager. This will provide you with a general overview of the skills required from you as foster parents and will provide you with the opportunity to ask questions that you may have.

We have a highly knowledgeable and experienced team here at FCGW from a wealth of backgrounds, including fostering, adoption, child protection, psychology and counselling. All our training is tailored to meet the needs of our foster parents and a flexible package can be offered to fit in carers need to be available for children in placement. The training covers areas such as first aid, child protection, record keeping and internet safety.

In addition to the training delivered by our training manager, we also offer training by external training consultants.

As foster parents with FCGW, you are also provided with the opportunity to study the QCF diploma in ‘Health and Social Care with Children and Young People’.

Excellent Placement Matching

Foster Care Group Wales have an experienced and dedicated placement team who will work very closely with you to ensure they find the right placement match for the child/young person, you and your family. The Placement Officers have developed a good understanding of every foster parent’s family set-up, personality, strength and experiences and ensure that this knowledge is used when placement matching.

FCGW are also proud of the excellent relationships we have developed with the Local Authorities across South Wales helping us ensure that we work as partners to meet the needs of looked after children.

Rewarding the Hard Work

The role of a foster parent is rewarding and can also be challenging. As an agency we recognise that foster parents make a unique contribution to the lives of children placed and to celebrate all our carers’ contribution we hold an ‘Appreciation Day’ annually. We also use this opportunity to recognize and reward carers for the long service they have provided with FCGW.
We also recognise that all the family are part of the foster care so organise a ‘Family Day’ during school holidays where we invite all the carers, the carer’s children and the children in placement to different types of activity centres. You can find the activities we have organised by clicking on the events page.

Do you think that you have the ability and desire to be a foster parent and can use your experience in a demanding role or do you have a friend or family member who has discussed fostering? If so, please do not hesitate to call us for information and an informal chat with no obligation. We are here to answer any queries you may have regarding fostering, however big or small.

Would you like to make a difference to children and young people? If so, we would love to hear from you!! Call today on 02920 689849 or request a call back.

“Our SSW is excellent – very kind, supportive and very professional”