Short Term Fostering | Fusion Fostering

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ENQUIRIES

Short Term Fostering

Provide a loving and stable home to a vulnerable child who needs support.
Short term placements occur while long term plans are made for a child’s future.
Short term fostering can be up to 2 years in duration.

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What is short term fostering?

Foster care is a way of offering a child or young person a safe home when they can no longer remain with their parents. Short term foster placements provide children with a nurturing family environment when they need to be looked after temporarily; either until they can return to their birth family or until more long term arrangements can be made for the child’s care.

Short term fostering is a viable option for children who are in care proceedings or whose caregivers are unable to look after them. It is an important service that provides a safe, short term solution for a child who is prevented from living at home.

Why is short term foster care needed?

These types of fostering placements are needed for a variety of reasons. It could be that birth parents are struggling to cope with the day to day care of their child, that the child is waiting to be adopted, or that care proceedings are in place.

A short term placement means that a child can be guaranteed a secure place to live in the interim where they can continue to go to school and receive nurturing care. The goal is always to ensure the safety and protection of the child and to disrupt their life as little as possible whilst arrangements are being made. All decisions are always made with the child’s best interests in mind.

How long are short term placements?

The name, short term, may be misleading. It does not refer to a specific amount of time that a child will remain in care. Instead, it simply means that permanent plans for the child’s future care have not yet been formally agreed upon or put in place. This means that short term placements can vary from a few weeks to a few months and sometimes up to 2 years. They can also develop into long term placements, if social workers agree that is what’s best for the child.

During any short term placement, a supervising social worker will work alongside professionals at the Local Authority or Independent Fostering Agency to put plans in place for the child’s ongoing care.

What are the responsibilities of a foster carer?

Registered foster carers, whether their placement is short or long term, have the same responsibility of care for the child. They must provide a family for the foster child and look after all their needs including dietary requirements, healthcare, education, mental health, emotional support, and nurture. This involves day to day caring duties as well as a commitment to bettering the child’s future and life chances through behaviour management, love, and care.

All foster carers receive full training when they apply for the role and will be fully equipped for the many joys and challenges that fostering offers. All we ask is that prospective foster carers have a keen desire to commit themselves to the role and will approach it with an open heart and mind!

Become a foster carer

To become a foster carer, you must meet the essential criteria. You can find out if you’re eligible to foster by completing our quiz. For any further questions, please get in touch with our team of helpful advisors who can help you kick start the process and begin your journey to approval! Give us a call on 03301 239 355 or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.

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Why Choose Fusion?

Effective Matching

Thoughtful matching of children with your family to ensure positive outcomes.

Competitive Payment Package

Generous fostering allowance and professional fee paid directly to carer.

Full Training Provided

No previous experience necessary as specialist training and development are provided.

24/7 Support

Access to a senior member of the team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

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What our fantastic Fusion Fostering Carers think...

Dawn & Jim

“The 100% support we get from our fantastic Supervising Social Worker, Don, is amazing. He is always there if needed. We feel fully supported by him and really feel part of the whole Fusion team, working together for the best possible outcomes for the children. My husband said, if this is what it is like with Fusion fostering, I am so annoyed, we did not come over years ago! This is, without doubt, the happiest and most supported we have felt in over 20 years of fostering.”

Natalie

“My SSW and I have a brilliant relationship, she’s very approachable and is a good listener. I can contact her anytime and she’s very responsive. Fusion have been amazing to work for and the management are extremely supportive too.”

Asha

“My experience as a foster carer in the last four years has been the most challenging job I have ever done, and the most rewarding too. Each and every child has their own unique needs and challenges. You are never alone to address these, you will be assigned a Supervising Social Worker and network support. If you can provide a safe, warm, and nurturing environment then there are so many opportunities for you. I have done it and this changed my life. Every child matters and you matter.”

Linda & Dave

“After 20 years of fostering with LA’s we were feeling stale and tired for all sorts of reasons… the biggest was lack of support. We then started to look at Fusion Fostering on advice from a colleague, we decided after a long discussion with a Fusion Social Worker to go to a ‘back to fostering’ meeting. WOW, it really woke us up and on the journey home, we couldn’t stop talking about this new company and their fresh ideas. To cut a long story short, we have been with Fusion now for 2 years and have never looked back. We both feel part of a team of people who actually listen to us and support when necessary. Training is excellent with no pressures… 2 very dear friends of ours even left the same LA. They could see how any stress we had was gone, & have joined the team too. I hope whoever reads this will think about fostering with Fusion as we truly have zero regrets.”

Sarah

“Fostering has changed our lives for the best. As a family, we have faced lots of challenges which we have all overcome by working together. Fostering isn’t always easy but the most important thing is that we are making positive differences and changes to young people’s lives. However big or small it may be for each individual child by giving them a loving caring home and opportunities they may have not experienced before.”

Teresa & Brian

“Fostering is a very rewarding job. Working for Fusion was the best decision we made. We receive the best support anyone could wish for, as well as excellent training to help us to provide the best care for the children. Fostering isn’t always easy and can at times be very challenging, to say the least. But with supervision and support from our Fusion family, the challenges can be overcome. As a result, we now have 3 lovely children in our care who are treated as members of our own family. We love our job, the best job we have ever had and would never change it for the world.”

The journey to becoming a carer

Initial Enquiry

Call us, complete an online enquiry, use our live chat service or send an email to get in contact and begin your journey!

Home Visit

A social worker from Fusion will visit your home to get to know you and provide further information.

Assessment

The assessment process will review your suitability to foster. Information is gathered into a Form F report.

Skills to Foster Training

You will receive specialist training on a 3 day 'skills to foster' training course.

Panel

Your assessment is presented to the Fostering Panel who will make a recommendation on your application.

Approval

Once approved, you are a registered foster carer and you will await your first foster child.

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How much do Foster Carer's get paid?

One Child

£400 / week

Fusion Fostering pay generous foster care allowances and offer amazing support and training to our carers.

As a Fusion carer, you will be paid an allowance of £400 per week for one child in your care. This increases if you look after more than one child.

The fostering allowance can sometimes be higher if the child has additional care needs and requires further support.

Solo Placement

£500 / week

Fusion Fostering offer a generous fostering allowance and professional fee alongside 14 days paid annual leave and other benefits!

As a Fusion carer, who has a solo child placement (a child who cannot be placed with another young person) you will be paid £500 per week.

Parent and Child

£600-800 / week

Specialist training is required to undertake parent and child foster care. Fusion Fostering provide full training, support, and guidance to carers who wish to specialise in this area.

As a registered Fusion carer, you will be paid between £600-£800 a week to care for and provide professional support to a parent and their child.

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