Do you live in Manchester? Have you been wanting to do something important with your life and feel like you’re making a difference for someone? If so, fostering a child could be perfect for you. There are some requirements a foster carer must meet, and if you do, then you’ll have an opportunity to care for a child in need and provide them with a safe, secure, and comfortable home. But before proceeding, it’s wise to learn about the different types of fostering available. Let’s take a closer look.
Long-Term Fostering
For those who want to be in it for the long haul and prefer to have a child with them that they can watch grow and build a lifelong bond with, long-term fostering can be a good solution. A long-term foster placement will be at least two years, but typically they end up staying with you until they are 18 years old. Commonly, they remain part of your life and family as they move into their adult years as well. A long-term foster is a big commitment, so you want to be sure you’re prepared for it.
Short-Term Fostering
Short-term fostering is perfect for foster carers who can’t commit to providing a long-term home; instead, they would like to care for a child anywhere from a couple of nights up to two years. For some people, this can be a great introduction to fostering, giving them a chance to learn about how things work and, of course, build on their skills in caring for kids. In a short-term foster placement, the child will stay with you until a long-term fostering home can be found or they are reunited with their birth family. Or an adoptive family is found if that’s the plan for the child.
Sibling Fostering
Maybe you have the space and the desire to foster multiple kids. If so, sibling fostering is worth looking into. This is a way for siblings to stay together, keep their bond intact and all be able to live in a secure and stable home.
Parent & Child Fostering
Here’s a type of fostering that many people don’t know about, and that is parent and child fostering. With this type of fostering, you will not only have a child living with you, but also their parent. This can be a vulnerable parent or even an expectant mum. This isn’t long-term fostering, with most placements lasting about 12 weeks.
There Is an Urgent Need for Foster Carers in Manchester
The final thing worth noting is that there is currently an urgent need to find foster carers that meet the requirements and would like to foster a child in Greater Manchester. Unfortunately, the number of children in need is on the rise at this time. You can check out agencies like Orange Grove Foster Care to learn about the requirements and the process involved.
As you can see, there are many different types of fostering available, and these are just a few. With Manchester’s growing need for foster carers, it’s well worth investigating, asking questions and exploring if it’s right for you.