Foster Care Training Courses | Foster Parent Training

Training for foster parents

We pride ourselves on being a learning organisation and are proactive in helping both employees and our foster parents to develop their skills, knowledge and experience.

We are committed to providing high quality training programmes, with a blended learning approach that is flexible, accessible and relevant to all of our foster carers.

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Our foster care training courses

Prepare to Foster

All of our foster parents complete “Prepare to Foster” (a pre-approval training course) during their assessment that explores:

Next steps on their journey to become a foster parent
What it is like to be a young person in foster care
Knowledge and skills required to prepare them to be foster parents such as the role of a foster parent, caring for children, working together, understanding children and young people, safer caring, promoting resilience and successful outcomes, transitions – moving on.

Induction

We have an online induction course which looks at the key areas to equip foster parents with the necessary skills and confidence to take their first child/young person.

Mandatory training

Once approved, there is a comprehensive programme of ongoing foster carer training and development available; starting with mandatory courses that all foster parents will receive.

These include more specific training in Safeguarding, Emergency First Aid, Medication and Health Care, Health and Safety in the Home, Managing Challenging Behaviour and Safer Caring and must be completed within the first year.

Complementary training

We actively encourage and support our foster parents to develop their skills and knowledge. We have a wide range of courses available, as both online and face to face training, which will help provide the skills to meet specific needs of fostered children, or learn more specialist areas and approaches.

These courses help to develop the practice of foster carers, offering a greater depth of knowledge, theory and practical application, and they include:

Working with children with disabilities
Caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children
Children moving from residential care
Parent and child
Therapeutic courses
Other safeguarding topics such as child sexual exploitation, county lines, e-safety and radicalisation

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Tailored training programmes

Everyone comes into fostering with their own experiences, strengths and skills, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to training.

At the start of your journey, we’ll work closely with you to understand your interests and identify opportunities to build your knowledge. Together, we’ll create a personalised training programme designed to grow your confidence and prepare you to welcome your first child into your home.

We also believe in learning alongside peers and offer joint training sessions for both staff and foster parents to enable the sharing of best practice and experiences.

If you have any questions about training, or would like to learn more about becoming a foster parent, our friendly team is always here to help — get in touch here.

There is a wide range of online and face-to-face training available, which we can fit in around caring for our foster children. We’ve also benefitted from FCA’s peer support groups, where we can meet other carers and share experiences. This is great to help us reflect on the care we give, learn from others and develop new strategies and skills.

Jo & Lisa – Birmingham

Other benefits of working with FCA

Foster parent support

From dedicated social workers to therapists, our wrap-around, 24/7 support provides you with a network of professionals who are here to help.

Our support network

Foster children support

We are focused on the needs of the children and young people we look after, so we’ve built up a strong framework of support to help them flourish.

How we support foster children

Generous Fostering Allowances

We provide a generous allowance to all our foster parents and also provide a unique rewards platform.

Our fostering allowances

Get in touch

Whether you’re ready to start your journey or just want more information, contact our fostering team today and we’ll answer all your questions.

Enquiry Form

You are required to have a spare bedroom that’s always available to a foster child. The spare room cannot be shared, and must be big enough to fit a single bed, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.

Do you have a spare room?*

To be approved as a foster carer in the UK, you must be a British citizen or have the legal right to remain in the UK without restrictions that would prevent fostering.

Which of the following applies to you?*

How can we help you with your enquiry?*

The following questions are intended to help us understand your experience with children. Please note that prior experience is not required to become a foster carer, as full training will be provided.

Have you had children of your own?*

Do you have professional experience of working with children?*

Have you had any prior experience of fostering, such as being a foster parent or growing up in a fostering family?*

Have you ever adopted a child?*

Are you happy to receive regular fostering news from us?*

Yes

No

First Name*

Last Name*

Phone Number*

Email Address*

Postcode*