Job Description

Foster Carer

If you are passionate about giving children a loving caring home why not consider becoming a foster carer!

If you're a care assistant, youth worker, police, teacher or football coach then you already have the skills and experience needed in becoming a carer. Our foster carers are treated as professional people with a career and are made to feel part of a team.

Put a smile back on a child's face, and yours....

Become a Foster Carer!

As a carer you will be looking after a young person, in your own home, who cannot live with their birth parents for whatever reason. Many of them have been the victims of profound neglect and serious abuse.

As a result of this some children have suffered trauma, which may subsequently be displayed in challenging behaviour. However, with the right combination of knowledge, life experiences and professional skills, together with the support you will receive from us, the chances of a successful outcome are significantly increased.

Children who require foster families come from a variety of social, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

We believe that all children deserve to have a positive experience of family life and should be able to live in a family home wherever possible. As a foster carer you will provide a safe, supportive and nurturing family environment to help support children through any challenges and difficulties they have experienced.

Who Can Become A Foster Carer?

Many people who work in the care and public sector would make excellent foster carers but never pursue it as a career because they don't realise what is involved, or they think that it is too difficult for them. As a foster carer you do not need any formal qualifications as you will already have the life experiences and skills needed to guide someone in the right direction.

However, to join our team of foster carers, you must:

Have a spare bedroom in your home Be over 21 years of age (ideally over 25) Be able to drive and have a car Live in the North West of England The main carer must have flexible working hours or be available full-time Be able to work as part of a supportive and collaborative team of health, care and education professionals Have the patience and personal qualities to support and understand a child who may have complex emotional needs and behaviours But most of all....you must have compassion, tolerance and a good sense of humour!

What Support Will I Receive?

At Lorimer, we pride ourselves on the high level of individual support each of our foster carers receives, and this is something reflected in the views our carers have expressed.

"We have had lots of help from Lorimer....they are excellent to have on our side", Lorimer Foster Carer.

We believe that in order for foster carers, and therefore a foster child's placement to succeed, a far more intense level of support is needed. As such we offer all of our carers a fantastic professional package which reflects all the hard work they do:

A competitive professional fee per week per young person placed with you. Please note that you will not be an employee; you will be self-employed and will only receive a professional fee and allowance when you have a child in placement. You will receive a fee per child and the figure referred to is typically the fee paid for three children in placement. You should therefore ensure that you have sufficient alternative income to cover periods when you do not have a child in placement. A comprehensive learning, training and development program. Access to our on-call service of qualified and highly experienced social workers 24 hrs a day. Complimentary membership to FosterTalk which includes a host of benefits and free services. Access to our dedicated Youth Engagement Workers, on an assessed needs led basis. Regular visits from your Supervising Social Worker, who has a low case-load.

What do I do next?

If you think fostering is for you and your family then apply now and we will contact you to discuss becoming a foster carer in more depth, answering any questions you may have.

You're not committing to anything by getting in touch to find out more, and you could help make a huge difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people.

Please note: assessments can take up to 4 months and statutory checks will be sought including DBS checks.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: Up to 68,640.00 per year

Application question(s):

Do you speak English well enough to help children in care deal with their trauma in a child centred way? Do you or your partner drive and have a car? (at least one person will need to be able to drive and have a car to foster; if you don't have this but expect to have this soon, then please do still apply and make the timescale clear). Do you have full permanent residency status in the UK ?
(e.g. are you a British Citizen or have Indefinite Leave to Remain or does your spouse have one of the above. If you don't have this just yet but expect to obtain this in due course, please do still contact us and we can help you prepare you for fostering for when you do have permanent residency status)

How many spare bedrooms do you have for fostering? (you will need a spare bedroom to foster; however, if you don't currently have a spare room but that is likely to change in the future, please do still contact us and we can help you prepare you for fostering for when you do have a spare room) What's your motivation to foster? (it's important to answer this question using your own words please; please don't use AI) What qualities do you have to help a child in need? (it's important to answer this question using your own words please; please don't use AI) Please tell us what you know about fostering.
(please ensure that you provide as much information as possible in your own words (please don't use Google or AI) as it's very important that you are clear on what fostering involves; if you don't yet know what fostering is, we'd suggest that you visit our website at www.lorimerfostering.com to learn more before applying)
(please ensure that you provide as much information as possible to show that you are passionate about helping children and have the relevant experience and qualities)

Please describe in detail the sort of reasons why a child might come into care and the sort of experiences they might have had before coming into care (it's important to answer this question using your own words please; please don't use AI).
Work Location: Remote