Fostering in Nottinghamshire - August 2019

nottinghamshire county council
email me

Fostering in Nottinghamshire

facebooktwitteryoutube

Bookmark and Share Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Improved benefits for foster carers

family

We are very excited that plans aimed at attracting new foster carers and retaining current carers has been approved, including investing money in payments we make to our foster carers.

The initiative will see at least a 27% rise in the council’s payments to foster carers, from August 2019.

In addition to the increased payments, we are putting together an improved package of support which will include discounts at leisure and entertainment venues, Max Cards which offer free or discounted access to thousands of venues across the UK, access to free learning courses at Inspire libraries and two additional family workers to the four we already have to support our foster carers and foster children.

Councillor Philip Owen comments on the improved packages

Councillor Philip Owen, Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Committee said:

“Foster carers provide a vital service and they do an incredible job for children and young people across the county. Those people that devote their time and their lives to being foster carers are not primarily motivated by the financial aspects but it is important that we recognise the important job they do and reward them appropriately.

“Becoming a foster carer for a child or young person makes a long-term difference and, as the number of children looked after by the council increases, we need more foster carers so that we can find good local homes for these children.

“The stark reality is that when children are placed with external (independent) providers, this carries a significantly higher average cost for the council. The recruitment and growth of council foster carers is key to achieving both the best quality services for Nottinghamshire’s vulnerable children and best value for money for the authority.

“We hope that increased payments and an improved overall package, will encourage new foster carers and help retain existing carers. This will strengthen the council’s fostering service for the good of Nottinghamshire children and young people and reduce the council’s reliance on independent foster agencies.”

Our fostering vision

Our vision for the future is for our fostering service to grow and we be working very hard to recruit more internal foster carers to meet the needs of Nottinghamshire’s looked after children. The timing of the increased payments coincides with the formation of a new fostering Recruitment and Assessment team. The purpose of this team is to undertake and promote recruitment activity throughout the county, while ensuring our assessment process is effective, timely and to a consistently high standard across the service. The new team will offer a streamlined approach to recruitment and assessment which will be efficient but also child-centred, ensuring our service meets the needs of children, which is our number one priority!

Two fostering training co-ordinators are also part of this new team and they will be responsible for ensuring our pre- and post-approval training programmes continue to meet the development needs of our service, carers and staff.  

If you'd like to find out more about these and other benefits of fostering for Nottinghamshire, please contact us on 0115804 4440 or email fostering@nottscc.gov.uk.

Upcoming fostering events

Drop-in sessions

No need to book, just come along to one of our drop-in events to meet a member of our team and find out more about fostering.

Fostering information evenings

Information evenings are an opportunity to find out more about fostering directly from foster carers, social workers and our fostering team staff members. There will be a presentation and an opportunity to ask any questions you have about fostering.

Stay up to date on Facebook

Facebook

Our Fostering in Notts Facebook page is regularly updated with our upcoming events, news and real stories from our foster carers. Like our page to stay up to date!. 

Want to start your fostering journey?

If you would like to discover how you could foster in Nottinghamshire, please visit our websitefill in our online form to request an info pack or a call back from the fostering team.

There is no commitment from submitting a form, you can decide when you feel ready to take the next step towards fostering.

Contact
facebooktwitteryoutube