Why you should foster with us
We are a non-profit organisation with a diverse and dynamic fostering community, that puts children at the heart of everything we do.
We are passionate about supporting our foster carers to enable them to give the best care possible to children. We provide a comprehensive package of support including a foster carers fee, an allowance for the children you care for, local training, a chance to meet with other carers in your area, and much more.
Our wonderfully diverse foster carers are very supportive of each other and come from all walks of life, ethnicities, background and faiths.
If you live in or around Central Bedfordshire, we are a great place to foster as everything you need is right on your doorstep. This includes such things as locations for meetings, children’s contact (with birth parents), appointments and school runs - that will mainly be within Bedfordshire. If you foster for an agency, they will usually cover a larger area which means you may need to travel further for day-to-day commitments and training.
As a local authority, it is our priority to keep children as local as possible to the people and places they love and are familiar with. When a child comes into care, we will ask our foster carers if they are able to look after the child before we ask the independent fostering agencies if they have carers available.
How we support you
We provide carers with a comprehensive package of support including:
- a foster carer fee
- an allowance for the child in your care
- 24/7 support so you are never alone. You can reach a social worker over the phone when you need them
- yearly training programme shaped by foster carer feedback and needs, with access to e-learning and local face-to-face courses
- access to therapeutic support to help you support the children in your care
- peer support through foster carer mentors
- regular social events, drop-ins and opportunities to meet with other foster carers in your community
- access to discounts on family days out, activities
Read more about foster carer allowances and support.
We also work really closely with the social workers who support the children, as we are based together. This means there is no middle agency to deal with. It also means that the knowledge we have about you, your family and your strengths can be discussed with the various teams when we are looking to match a child with foster carers.
Interested? Request an information pack or a callback
Think you can't foster? You'd be surprised!
Read more about the myths and misconceptions about who can and cannot foster.
About our fostering service
Our fostering service has been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.
Our wonderfully diverse community of foster carers also agree that they are happy and proud to be part of Central Bedfordshire’s fostering team.
You can read our latest report on the Ofsted website.