Welcome to Foster Care Associates South West
Established in 2017, we have grown to become one the most reputable independent fostering agencies in the South West. Last year alone FCA South Western received over 1,400 referrals from local authorities for children and young people looking for a safe and caring home. With these numbers increasing year on year Foster Care Associates are constantly recruiting more foster parents across the South West to not only support but to provide loving care for these local children and young people.
We are passionate and committed in helping foster children find homes where they will be happy and cared. When you join Foster Care Associates South West you will be joining an creative, child focused and knowledgeable fostering provider who has been Ofsted rated ‘Good’.
Head Office - Recruitment
By Phone
Call a member of our friendly fostering team and they'll be able to answer all your questions
South Western - Plymouth
By Phone
One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
01752 697300
By Email
One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
Visit an office
Foster Care Associates, Suite F2, Forresters House, Forresters Business Park, 41 Estover Close Plymouth PL6 7PL
Benefits of working with FCA
24/7 advice service
Excellent ongoing training
Access to your local fostering team
Competitive payments
Local support groups
Local social activities and events
How do Foster Care Associates offer support in the South West
It’s our supportive and collaborative culture that makes fostering with Foster Care Associates South West such a fulfilling experience. The experienced team of fostering professionals will provide you with the highest levels of local support. You will be well looked after at our monthly foster parent support groups and instantly welcomed into our fostering family as we work hard to make sure you never feel alone.
Our participation service offers a variety of opportunities for our children and young people. This includes education and employment support and motivation, CV workshops, targeted activities, children and young people’s counsel (for both fostered children and birth children).
- 24/7 local support: including monthly support groups, therapeutic groups and for all foster parents across the South West.
- Team Parenting: a regional and national network of childcare experts who may work with each child or young person to look after every single area of their well-being.
- Training and Development.
- Independent advice with a FREE membership to FosterTalk.
- A comprehensive events and activities calendar.
- Online support: Access to a portal to read about everything that is happening at Foster Care Associates, plus access to incredible discounts on family experiences, shopping and restaurants across the UK.
- Foster Carer Appreciation Day.
Here to support you
Here at FCA South West we are a knowledgeable team of fostering experts who bring a vast spectrum of skills and knowledge. Our team work closely with local authorities and various professionals involved in children and young people’s care planning. This ensures that we do all that we can to enable our children reach their potential.
As well as 24/7 support from a qualified social work team, foster parent support groups, our therapeutic service offers therapeutic support for our foster parents to offer the best care possible to our children. All of our new foster parents are matched with a foster parent buddy at point of approval, with the aim to offer support in those early days and beyond.
We recognise the impact fostering can have on birth children, therefore we offer face to face training for the children we care for, such as first aid training which the children find useful in developing their skills. We also consult and involve birth children in our activities and events, as well as offering therapeutic support to your birth children through our therapeutic surgery should they request it.
Fun and activities with FCA South West
As a region we plan various activities across the year and try to offer as many engaging activities as possible, endeavouring to offer something for everyone. The most important thing for us is that we all have the opportunity to have a lot of fun together!
Our events are always popular and we encourage our children, young people and foster parents to attend. They are a good opportunity to meet other foster families have the chance to catch up or enjoy the support we can offer each other as a community.
We pride ourselves in being child focused. Some of our activities at FCA South West include; zoo trips to Bristol and Dartmoor, clip and climb, indoor trampolining, beach days, Christmas panto and picnics.
But that's not all we also have fantastic competitions for children and young people to take part in, such as a writing competition and a Lego building competition.
A very special milestone in our annual event calendar is our regional children’s achievement awards. Previous events have been held at Brean fun fair in Somerset and Trethorne in Cornwall. These are fun packed days that everyone enjoys where we get the opportunity to celebrate each and every one of our children’s achievements no matter how small.
Every year we hold three regional forums in various locations across the South West. These forums are open to all of our foster parents where you can also connect with one another and share experiences. We strive to provide engaging speakers and presentations, previous speakers have included Qudratullah Ibrahimkhil who told us about his moving story of his journey to the UK as an unaccompanied minor and then his experience.