Fostering children with complex behaviours

What is intensive support fostering?

An intensive support foster carer provides support and care to vulnerable children and teenagers with complex emotional or behavioural difficulties.

We're looking for people who can step up to this role and turn lives around.

Request an information pack

The children and young people you'll care for may have any (but usually not all) of the following:

• history of repeated placement breakdowns with previous foster carers
• verbal or physically aggressive behaviour
• alcohol and/or substance abuse
• criminal offending
• self-harming behaviour
• sexually harmful or exploitive behaviour

The benefits of intensive support fostering 

Being an intensive support foster carer can be challenging, but you'll also:

• help children positively change and improve their health, educational and life chances
• help teens develop life and independence skills, make better choices and build a better future
• enable a child to remain within and experience a caring home environment in their local community
• be part of a wider, supportive and positive team
• develop your own skills with an excellent training and support package, which includes out-of-hours support

The support you'll get when fostering 

We know this won't be a walk in the park, but you'll be able to count on first-rate support to help when you need it.

• meet with your own, dedicated and experienced social worker every three weeks
• 24/7 support from experienced fostering staff (including evenings, weekends and bank holidays)
• a comprehensive training package
• joint visits every six weeks with both your social worker and the social working who is working with the child or teenager in your care
• advice and support from clinicians
• monthly clinical group supervision/support group with fellow intensive support foster carers and other professionals
• peer mentor support
• membership to a national UK fostering charity for independent advice and support

What you'll need

• a spare bedroom
• to be available on a full-time basis, in order to offer support to a child or teenager when needed
• to live in or around the Central Bedfordshire area

The support and allowances

You’ll receive a competitive fee for your time, experience, and skills and an allowance to cover the costs of caring for a child. Find out more about foster carers' support and allowances.

Interested? Request an information pack or a callback

Request an information pack

Telephone: 0300 300 8181