Foster Carer

Foster Carer

Are you fed up of....

working long hours away from the family home?

not getting the appreciation that you deserve?

If so, then it’s time for a change of career and become a Foster Carer

If you’re a care assistant, youth worker, police, teacher or a football coach then you already have the skills and experience needed in becoming a carer except you will be able to work from home whilst earning your money. Our Foster Carers are treated as professional people with a career and are made to feel part of a team, so go on....

**Put a smile back on a childs face, and yours....**

**Become a Foster Carer**

As a carer you will be looking after a young person, in your own home, who cannot live with their birth parents for whatever reason. Many of them have been the victims of profound neglect and serious abuse.

As a result of this some children have suffered trauma, which may subsequently be displayed in challenging behaviour. However, with the right combination of knowledge, life experiences and professional skills, together with the support you will receive from us, the chances of a successful outcome are significantly increased.

Children who require foster families come from a variety of social, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

**Who Can Become A Foster Carer?**

Many people who, work in the care and public sector would make excellent Foster Carers but never pursue it as a career because they don’t realise what is involved, or they think that it is too difficult for them. As a Foster Carer you do not need any formal qualifications as you will already have the life experiences and skills needed to guide someone in the right direction.

However, to join our team of Foster Carers, you must:

- Have a spare bedroom in your home
- Be over 21 years of age
- Be able to drive or have a car (or be able to attend training/meetings and take the children to and from school with ease)
- The main carer must have flexible working hours or are available full-time
- Be able to work as part of a supportive and collaborative team of health, care and education professionals
- Have the patience and personal qualities to support and understand a child who may have complex emotional needs and difficult behaviours
- But most of all.you must have compassion, tolerance and a good sense of humour

**What Support Will I Receive?**

At Lorimer we pride ourselves on the high level of individual support each of our Foster Carers receives, and this is something reflected in the views our carers have expressed.

“We have had lots of help from Lorimer....they are excellent to have on our side”, LFS Foster Carer.

We believe that in order for Foster Carers, and therefore a foster child placement to succeed, a far more intense level of support is needed. As such we offer all of our carers a fantastic professional package which reflects all the hard work they do:

- A competitive professional fee per week per young person placed with you
- A separate allowance for birthdays and Christmas for all young people
- 14 days paid respite/holiday and/or days out
- A comprehensive training and development program
- Access to our on-call service of qualified and highly experienced Social Workers 24 hrs a day
- Complimentary membership to the ‘Fostering Network which includes a host of benefits and free services
- Access to our dedicated Support Worker, on an assessed needs led basis
- Fortnightly visits from your Supervising Social Worker, who has a low case-load

**What do I do next?**
- Please note: assessments can take up to 4 months and statutory checks will be sought including DBS checks._

**Salary**: £400.00-£530.00 per week

Work Location: In person