Foster child whispering to other foster child and laughing

Types of fostering

As a foster carer you care for someone else’s child in your family home while they cannot live with their own family. You provide a safe, warm, caring and stable home for a child as long as they need it. You could care for children and young people across a wide age range - from birth to 18 years old.

We encourage our foster carers to consider as many ranges of children’s needs and age groups as possible. We understand that you may feel more comfortable caring for a specific age group when approved. This will allow you to build up your confidence and experience, with our support and guidance.

We need carers who can offer both long and short term fostering arrangements. Some children will remain in foster care until the age of independence and need a permanent home. Others will be in foster care for a matter of months whilst decisions are made about their long term future.These are the general types of fostering that we need to find carers for:

Planned breaks

We need planned breaks foster carers, who can look after children and young people for short periods of time, like at weekends and during school holidays. This could be for looked after children where they need a short break, or for children with disabilities.

Shorter term

This means looking after a child or young person until the time is right for them to move on to their permanent placement.

A shorter term foster carer also looks after children needing somewhere safe to stay for a few nights, weeks or months while we put longer term plans into place for their future.

Longer term

For children and young people who need to live away from their birth family, it's not always appropriate for them to be adopted. In these circumstances we need to find them a permanent foster carer who can look after them until they’re adults. If this type of fostering is of interest to you read more about options for long-term fostering.

Early permanence - concurrency

This is a very special type of foster care that is a route to adoption designed to give babies and young children under 2 years old a better start in life.

Concurrent carers are assessed and trained both as prospective foster carers and adopters. They act as foster carers for the child, supporting contact with birth family members while the court decides the child’s future.

More information can be found on the Adoption Lancashire & Blackpool website (external link).

Better Beginnings - fostering for adoption

Better Beginnings - fostering for adoption is similar to Best for Baby, but is for children of any age including babies. Carers are approved as both adopters and foster carers. You can find more information about Better Beginnings on the Adoption Lancashire & Blackpool website (external link).

Difference between fostering and adoption

If you’re unsure whether fostering or adoption will suit you best, learn more about the difference between fostering and adoption.

Family and friends foster care

A family and friends foster carer often known as a 'connected carer' or ‘kinship carer’ is usually a family member such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle. It can also be someone who already knows the child or young person well, for example a teacher.

Here in Lancashire we assess extended family or friends of children who can no longer remain in the care of their parents. Find out more about family and friends foster care.