Emergency fostering places children into temporary care especially when there is an immediate risk to their safety at home. It may be there is an illness in a family or one or both parents are suffering from physical or mental health problems. This can often happen with only a few hours’ notice.

These placements might last a few hours or days but in some cases, they become long-term. If you provide this kind of foster care, being prepared for a phone call at any time of the day or night is essential. We will always attempt to get as much information as possible before a child is brought to your home.

This is the most common type of fostering; providing a home on a temporary basis. You will be given more information about a child or young person’s circumstances before they are placed. Some children are able to return home reasonably quickly whilst others will need a more permanent arrangement.

These placements might last weeks, a few months, or up to two years. A child will have a short-term fostering plan set out whilst in your care. Compared to other types of fostering, you are likely to have more contact with a child or young person’s birth family whilst the local authority and social workers make the necessary assessments.

It can be difficult when the child you have been caring for goes home or moves on to a permanent care arrangement, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you made a hugely positive difference to a child’s well-being at a crucial period in their life.

This is where a child or young person will live with their foster carer until they reach adulthood. The benefits for a foster child are considerable: growing up in the same family provides security and stability.

As a foster carer, you will be committed to providing a loving, safe home for a child or young person until they move on to independent living. Many carers develop strong attachments with the children they have looked after and remain in long-lasting contact. Some even forging relationships with the children of the young people they fostered: proving fostering can have a hugely positive effect across generations.

The child’s success and life chances will largely depend on your interest, guidance, and support. In turn, you can look forward to the reward of knowing you made the difference in helping them fulfil their potential.

This type of fostering involves caring for children who show challenging behaviours and complex needs. No two cases are alike. Some children require an ongoing programme of therapy tailored to their individual needs. Therapeutic foster carers have the training, knowledge, and skills to support such programmes in the home. For carers, rates of pay are higher in recognition of the key role they play in the team.

Many children and young people who have fled war, conflict or, persecution in their own countries come to the UK seeking safety and security.

These children will often have complex needs arising from past trauma. At Rainbow, we find a ‘culturally matched’ placement for the child. This means the carer(s) will speak their language, have the same, or similar, dietary requirements, and share the same religious customs.

We will provide all the tailored support required 24/7, which will include specialist training in the area of helping children with asylum claims.

Where circumstances allow it is important for siblings to remain together and local authorities will prioritise placing siblings together. Siblings find it easier to settle into unfamiliar surroundings together. Being in the same home giving each other mutual support helps them to maintain their individual identities and sense of shared experience.

If you decide to foster a sibling group you will be making a tremendous difference. We will provide you with all the additional training and support to make a rewarding success of this type of fostering.

This is also known as mother and baby fostering. It is a specialist type of care where a parent and their infant - usually a newborn - live with you. This is so you can give them additional support and guidance. The placement allows the mother, or less usually, the father, to learn parenting skills in a safe, secure, and supportive environment.

These placements last around 3 - 4 months. During this time, you will be expected to record the progress, or otherwise, of the parent. It’s important to see they can prioritise an infant’s needs without being over-reliant on you as their carer. Throughout the placement, you will be fully supported by your social worker and the team at Rainbow with weekly meetings to discuss how things are progressing and what if any changes are required to further support you and the parent.

You will be given specialist training to show the parent the practical aspects of caregiving such as feeding, washing, and changing a baby. With your care and support, a young mum or dad will have taken their first parenting steps. You will have done something remarkable - keeping a young family together.

This entails caring for a child or young person with a disability. This might be a physical or mental condition - perhaps a combination of both. Foster carers who look after children with a disability or complex needs will need specialist, comprehensive training.

Complex needs may include SEN (special educational needs), ADHD, GDD, Autism, Asthma, Asperger Syndrome, Cerebral palsy/spasticity, Diabetes, Obesity, Eating Disorders, and Gender Dysphoria.

If you work in this specialist area of fostering you will need to work well within a team. This is because a child or young person may need a range of different therapies - depending on their condition - and your role will involve both understanding and supporting clinical and/or therapeutic interventions.

Helping them to make measurable progress, gain confidence, and blossom in the home environment you provide will be uniquely satisfying. As will being an invaluable part of a team of people dedicated to supporting and advocating for children facing unique challenges.

The purpose of respite fostering is simply to provide foster carers with a rest - or respite - due to their personal circumstances e.g. when a foster carer is going on holiday and is unable to take their foster child with them.

The arrangements for respite placements can vary. They may last a few days, a number of weekends, or a week or two during the holidays. Respite care is always carefully planned and you will be involved - together with your social worker - in the decision as to where your foster child or young person will be accommodated during the period of your respite.

As a respite carer, you will have the satisfaction of knowing the support you give can make the difference in keeping a placement intact.

This is the care a child receives from a family member - or another connected adult - when their parents, for whatever reason, cannot look after them. This type of care may also be known as ‘Family and Friends Care’ or ‘Connected Persons Care’.

An arrangement made on an informal basis is usually struck when parents unable to care for their child ask grandparents, or other relatives to step in to look after their child to prevent them from being taken into care. A local authority will not be involved in these arrangements and the carers are unlikely to receive financial support in the form of a fostering allowance. The important difference is Kinship foster carers assume parental responsibility as well as financial responsibility for the child or young person. They will then have the status of and be referred to as a ‘looked after’ child by the authority.

Kinship foster carers are required to undergo a fostering assessment and if approved, will receive a fostering allowance toward the costs of providing care. The National Minimum Standard 28.7 stipulates this will be the same as the that paid to other foster carers working for the local authority.