What We Look for from You!
Just as children who need foster families come in all shapes and sizes, with different backgrounds and experiences, so do the people that care for them. We need families from all walks of life. We need both single people and couples, families with children and without. All of them need to value the children and young people for who and what they are, avoiding discrimination based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
Foster carers are never permitted to use corporal punishment to physically chastise children.
- Angus carer
To become a foster carer you must be at least 21 years old., be in reasonably good health and be medically fit to undertake the parenting task. If you drink alcohol, we need to know that you drink moderately and responsibly. You can not be a foster carer if you use illegal drugs or have a record of offences against children. You must also declare if you have any firearms or hold a Firearms Certificate.
Angus Council does not accept applications to foster from people who keep dangerous pets such as rotweillers or pit bull terriers. We may need to seek further advice if you own a pet that we think might pose a risk to children.
If you are pregnant or have recently had a child, we will ask you to wait until the child is at least 12 months old. We also ask that applicants undergoing fertility treatment have completed this before the application is taken up.
There is increasingly strong evidence that passive smoking can damage the health of children. We therefore do not place children under the age of 2 with carers who smoke and we ask all carers to abide by a voluntary code of conduct to minimise the exposure of children to tobacco smoke.
Fostering is often a demanding job, so we are looking for people who are in a relatively stable situation.We accept applications from single people and from couples who are married or have been living together for over two years. We would generally ask people to wait for a time before making an application if they recently entered a new relationship, experienced the break-up of a relationship or lost a loved one.
If you want to be a full-time foster carer we expect that you to be responsible fulltime, as the child or young person may become ill, or be excluded from school. If you work it would be your responsibility to provide alternative child care at these times. Carers should also be able to attend all necessary meetings relating to the child.
If you are applying as a couple you need to be aware that fostering is very much a commitment for both parnters. It is important that both of you attend the preparation training and are actively involved in the assessment process. Once accepted as a carer there are ongoing monthly ‘Post-Approval Training and Support Meetings’. If possible both partner should attend these.