Children and young people

Medway Council's foster carers are given financial support to cover the maintenance of looking after children or young people and a fee for undertaking the tasks involved in being a carer. The fee is paid on a self-employed basis and the amount is dependent on the age of the child.

Foster carers are allocated a social worker, both to supervise and match placements and offer the carer and their family support and advice.

The fostering team runs a daily duty service which is available to all carers in the event of their own fostering social worker being unavailable.

There is a requirement that all new applicants attend the Choosing to Foster preparation course, usually run over two days.

This course provides basic information and draws from research, actual scenarios and personal experiences to illustrate the diverse and difficult tasks involved with caring for a looked-after child or young person.

A continuing training programme is provided to promote added awareness and new learning to all carers as a necessary facet of this important work.

New foster carers will be introduced to the Medway Foster Carer Association, which runs coffee mornings, training sessions, social events and offers individual support and advice.

It is recommended that foster carers also join the Fostering Network (www.fostering.net).

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