Who can foster?

Who can foster?

We need all sorts of people…

Enquire today

You can foster if you are single, in a relationship, any gender or sexual orientation and have children of your own. You can foster whether you rent or own your own home but you should be over 21 years old to apply.

You will need to have time to care for a child or young person, often on a full-time basis and also have a spare bedroom for them to have somewhere that is their own space.

You don’t need formal qualifications, but you’ll need:

  • patience
  • understanding
  • commitment
  • and some experience of children and young people would be useful.
  • Being able to provide a settled home environment
  • Supportive and caring
  • Making a child feel part of the family
  • Understanding
  • Fun and active
  • Loving
  • Fair
  • Ability to teach life skills
  • Ability to listen
  • Encourage friendships
  • To provide a safe, caring and nurturing home for a child or young person.
  • To support a child’s social and emotional development and ensure their health needs are met.
  • To support a child or young person to keep in touch with people who are important to them.
  • To work as part a team around the child according to their care plan
  1. Initial telephone chat and home visit to discuss further
  2. Application to apply and invitation to attend Skills to Foster Training
  3. Assessment - taking approx four months
  4. Approval to be a foster carer by Fostering Panel - then children can be placed with you

Fife Council has legal responsibilities as the Corporate Parent when a child’s own parents are not able to take adequate care of them. The aim of the Council as Corporate Parent is to care for our looked after children as we would our own natural children.

Fife Council is working to achieve the best possible positive outcomes for 'looked after' children, young people and care-leavers by:

  • promoting their wellbeing
  • improving their life outcomes
  • listening to their views.

On our last Care Inspectorate review we were rated ‘Very Good’ across all areas.