Types Of Foster Care
What is long term foster care?
Long-term foster care, sometimes called permanent foster care, is where a child will live with a foster family probably until they become and adult. So, it's for the duration of their childhood.
Why are children in long term foster care not adopted?
It may be that long-term fostering is absolutely the right answer for some children. It may be that they have a continuing relationship with their family, and they don't want to be adopted. It's as simple as that. It may be that long-term fostering just for that particular child will give them enough security, and the extra step of going towards adoption just isn't needed.
Do long term foster children still stay in contact with their birth parents?
Yes, children in foster care generally will be in contact with their birth parents, because as I said, in foster care most children go home. Children in long term foster care will still keep in touch with their families, unless there are some exceptional circumstances which mean that it's not safe for the child to do that.
What is short term foster care?
Short term foster care is when a child comes into a foster care placement for a short period of time. What that might mean will depend in various cases, different cases, and it may be days, weeks, it may be a matter of months, but it's a short period of time during which some specific work will be done with the child, with the birth family to try and move the child on, hopefully enable the child to go home or achieve some particular objectives in the plan for the child.
What is pre-adoption fostering?
Pre-adoption fostering is where the plan for a child is to go on to adoption. And this placement, this pre-adoption placement, is all about preparing a child to move on to adoption. So, again, a specialist placement.
What is private fostering?
Private fostering is very different from all the other types of fostering although they might be confusing. Its essentially when a child lives with someone that isn't a close relative for more than 28 days. So for example it might be a child who came from overseas and they might stay with someone who is a family friend, it may be a young person who's has had a huge argument with their family at home and might stay at a friends house, it might be a child from over seas that is attending language school or something else it's children in those circumstance. There are duties to the local authorities that the welfare of children is looked after when they need it.
