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With a primary objective to recruit and retain foster carers by increasing the number of approved in-house foster carers, in September 2021, Medway Council Fostering service launched its new competitive fostering package of allowances and fee payment structure for foster carers to support our ongoing recruitment and retention drive.

The investment in Medway's in-house fostering service puts the Council in a position to offer increased financial support, improved allowances and more competitive benefits.

This exciting new development extends to incentives such as competitive fostering rates, enhanced support 24/7 via a duty worker and out of hours, efficient matching process, and refreshed seasonal concessions such as a contribution towards annual Council Tax payments and discounts for Medway Adult Education courses.

Since the new service launch, the recruitment drive has recorded a significant increase in the conversions of enquiries from completed web form registrations, emails and direct phone calls from prospective foster carers. A share of this growth can be contributed to the improvement of our online and social presence; we are engaging and receiving more enquiries from within Medway and surrounding areas, as well as from foster carers interested in transferring to Medway. We are becoming more visible and accessible in reaching prospective foster carers for our vulnerable children and young adults.

We are keen to recruit foster carers or transfers that are over 21, a British Citizen or have indefinite leave to remain in the UK, are a driver with access to a car and that have a spare room.

Our priority remains; to improve the stability of placements and the care experience for children and young people in Medway by ensuring that wherever possible, they receive the best start in life so they can reach their full potential within a foster family environment. We always need foster carers for Medway children, particularly those in sibling groups, teenagers, parent and child, as well as children with additional needs.

Who are Medway Council’s foster carers?

Our foster carers are skilled professionals that we work alongside, to enable children in their care to feel accepted and to not be defined by their history. These skills, when applied in a non-judgemental way, can lead to a child or young person excelling in foster care, to being part of a foster family and gives children a chance to rebuild their lives.

We fully appreciate that fostering can be a big step to take, which is why we make sure you receive a professional allowance for becoming a foster carer. In fact, many of our carer’s view being a foster parent as a career opportunity as we will also support you with a range of exceptional training that will offer you ongoing professional development opportunities.

Why do babies, children and young people enter the foster care system?

There are multiple reasons leading to babies, children and young adults entering the foster care system. These looked after children are from all backgrounds and will vary in age, but all will have one thing in common, that they can no longer remain living with their birth parents. In the majority of cases, children have likely suffered trauma, violence, abuse, neglect, abandonment, or may have come from a family breakdown, or family illness.

Understanding the reasons why a child may be taken into care is a great way to grasp why foster care is so important and why we are always looking for new foster carers to join our growing fostering network of Medway-based foster carers.

What is fostering?

Fostering offers children and young adults a safe and caring family environment, usually geographically, close to their home while they are unable to live with their own and provides an opportunity for other professionals to work with the birth family to help resolve their issues.

As a local authority, Medway Council has a responsibility to look after children and young people in care as their corporate parent. We directly recruit foster carer to care for children and young people, providing fostering placements.

What is a foster carer?

It's who you are that matters! Often, potential foster carers worry about whether or not they are the sort of people we are looking for, but there really is no such thing as the ‘ideal’ or ‘perfect’ foster carer.

A foster carer commits the time and energy to children that are in their care and to work cooperatively with the professionals around the child. Before being approved to foster, Medway Council fostering will equip you with the tools, skills and ongoing developmental training to help meet the needs of any child in your care. You will receive support from a dedicated Social Worker whose role it is to support you in caring for the child or young person.

Why do we need foster carers?

Through positive parent-child interactions, a foster carer can build a child’s trust through the means of providing stability and security within a loving home environment are the foundations to fostering.

Celebrating a child’s achievements, however small. Being inclusive of a child’s birth family and heritage enables a child to form a positive sense of themselves; this then creates an ability for a child to see themselves in a positive way, to believe that they can achieve good things and are worthy of achieving these.

Medway Council’s foster carer’s are skilled at enabling children in their care to feel accepted and to not be defined by their history. These skills, when applied in a non-judgemental way, can lead to a child or young person excelling in foster care, to being part of a foster family and gives children a chance to rebuild their lives.

Who can foster?

If you can offer security and a welcoming home to a looked after child, you can foster, regardless of your age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and religion.

You can also foster if you have pets, a disability, have children living at home, are a homeowner, or a private or social housing tenant.

People have also become foster carers with backgrounds from many different professions, such as solicitors, counselling, teaching, nursing, accountancy, and emergency services, like the police and ambulance staff, that provide the skill sets that can enhance your ability to foster.

Fostering enables you the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives, whilst still having a career and to work from home.

To become a Medway Foster carer, you must...

• have a spare bedroom for a foster child to use and make their own
• be over 21 years old to foster (no upper age limit)
• have at least one main carer based at home

You should also...

• be driver with access to a car
• be a British Citizen or have indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• be fit and healthy
• not have a birth child under the age of one years old
• live in Medway or within a 20-mile radius

What is Medway Council’s fostering process?

During your application assessment you will have the opportunity to discuss with your assessor what type of fostering you would like to undertake. Some foster carers are approved only for respite and emergency care, others are approved for short term, some are approved for long term and permanency.

Most foster carers are approved for any length of time but can cite a preference depending on what fits in with their current lifestyle and situation.

To find out more about our fostering process, click here.

To find out more

We need Medway carers for Medway children and young adults.

If you have been considering fostering but are not sure of where to start or the questions to ask, the professional foster carer benefits we offer, why not get in touch with the team and let us talk you through the process or answer any questions you might have? Someone from the team will be in touch for an informal chat at a time that suits you.

Telephone 01634 335726, email fcrecruitment@medway.gov.uk or click on the online enquiry form here. For regular service updates, you can also view Medway Council’s Facebook page or the fostering website.