The Kindercare social worker will work with you and your family to consider your suitability to become foster carers, your training needs and the type of fostering that you are best suited to.

We will arrange to meet you at your home and this is called an Initial Visit. When we have visited you and have mutually agreed to progress your enquiry, an application form will be given or sent to you.

We will ensure that you know exactly what is involved in the fostering task, provide you with training, and ensure that you and any family members are fully prepared and informed.

We will then start your assessment which takes approximately four to six months. The Supervising Social Worker or Independent Assessor who will undertake the assessment is highly qualified and experienced and will support you every step of the way.

At the beginning, we will require your consent to undertake checks on you and your family with Access NI, your Local Trust, and, we will arrange and pay for you to have a full medical check with your GP. You will also need to provide three referees.

We will invite you to attend the three-day Skills to Foster training course. This course will give you the opportunity to learn more about the fostering process, meet an experienced foster carer and meet local people who are also in the fostering assessment process.

Once your assessment has been completed, you will be invited to attend the Kindercare Fostering Panel, where a recommendation on your approval will be made.

This all may sound like a big commitment, but most people who have undergone the fostering assessment process have told us they found it far less daunting than they originally thought. We do our best to ensure that your assessment is enjoyable throughout.

Once approved as a foster carer with Kindercare Fostering, we work with the Local Trusts to find a potential match with your family for a child/children. We believe that maintaining stable placements is one of the most important ways of supporting foster children. We have a stringent matching process and upskills foster carers to enable them to cope with whatever challenges they might face. Registered Manager Niall Kerr said “we are committed to making the right matches.” We also place a high value on inclusivity and diversity.