1st Affinity Foster Carers provide time-limited, long term and permanent foster care.
In exceptional circumstances, we will support securing permanence through Special Guardianship, if that is the best option for the child and the preferred option for foster carers – unusual but possible.
Time-limited fostering
Time-limited Foster Carers provide care for children and young people often at very short notice. They work very closely with all the professionals involved with the child or young person, and usually their parents or family members.
The child or young person lives with the foster carer while assessments and plans are made for their permanent care. These plans may mean that the child or young person returns home, goes to live with a relative or moves on to an adoption placement.
These foster carers provide stability, care and nurturing. In the short term, this may be for many months, but they will not be the child’s or young person’s permanent carer. This may include bridging placements.
Long term and permanent fostering
Long term and permanent Foster Carers provide long term care for children and young people, including sibling groups and older children who cannot return home, but maintain contact with members of their birth family.
Our foster carers are resilient problem solvers, committed to ongoing training to develop their skills and meet the individual young person’s needs as identified in the Positive Outcomes Framework. We value our carer’s ability to work as part of a team.