At Thrive, we recognise that every child and every fostering home are unique, so we offer various fostering opportunities. We aim to carefully match our foster carers with children or young people whose needs align with their family’s dynamics and skills.
By making these thoughtful matches, we promote stability for both the children and the fostering family. We work closely with our carers to explore the best path forward, acknowledging that their fostering journey may evolve as they grow in knowledge and experience.
When a child requires support for a specific period - whether it's a few days, weeks, or up to two years -they are placed with a short-term foster family.
This arrangement is typically temporary, lasting until the child can return to their birth family or until a suitable long-term placement.
This involves collaboration with birth families and other professionals.
Every child and young person deserves a secure and stable family home. Long-term fostering provides a solution by allowing a child to live with their foster carers until they reach adulthood.
This arrangement typically occurs when a child or young person cannot return to their birth family and adoption is not a viable option.
Short break foster homes provide children and young people with planned, short-term stays away from their birth families or foster carers when appropriate.
These short breaks provide children with opportunities to experience new activities and build relationships outside of their home environment.
Sometimes, parents need additional guidance and support to raise their babies in a safe environment.
Parent and child foster carers provide a positive, supportive, and supervised setting where parents can develop the skills necessary to be positive role models in their children's lives.
This approach helps create a brighter future for both parents and children together.
Emergency foster carers must be ready to welcome a child into their home at any time, day or night, and provide care for a few days.
This type of fostering is unplanned and occurs on short notice, such as when a single parent is hospitalised and there is no one else available to care for their child.
Emergency fostering occurs when a child needs immediate short-term foster care due to unforeseen circumstances.
Many children arriving in the UK seeking sanctuary do not have an adult to care for them and are often referred to as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).
Having a safe and nurturing place to call home can significantly impact their lives. This is where specialised foster care can transform their childhoods and improve their futures.
Fostering for adoption involves placing a child with registered foster carers who are also approved as adopters. The child lives with them temporarily while the social worker assesses the situation and makes recommendations to the Court.
If it is decided that the child will not return to their birth family, the foster family can apply to adopt the child, providing greater stability for the child.
Data collected from 460 agencies (147 LAs and 313 IFAs). This was 98% of all 469 eligible agencies and is likely to account for a slightly higher proportion of all foster carers.