At Kirklees Council we are looking to recruit more people and families to become foster carers for our children and young people between the ages of 0-18.

We welcome enquiries from people regardless of religion, race, gender, sexuality. Our foster carers reflect a wide range of circumstances and life experience – for example, you may be married, single, in a relationship, divorced, widowed, employed or unemployed – we assess everybody on their individual circumstances and own merits.

All we really ask is you are over 21 years old, have a spare room to care for young children over the age of two years old – you can care for a baby under two in your own bedroom, and have the time to meet the emotional and physical needs of a child or young person.

Types of Fostering

Mainstream Foster Care: Children and siblings between the ages of 0-18 who require a safe and stable home life. This could be for a short term (a few days to a maximum of 2 years) or long-term basis, caring for a child until they reach independence and in some cases beyond.

Children with Disabilities: Children with additional needs/disabilities between the ages of 0-18 who require a safe and stable home life. This could be for a short term (a few days to a maximum of 2 years) or long-term basis caring for a child until they reach independence and in some cases beyond.

Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities: This gives children with disabilities the chance to have enjoyable experiences outside their family. It also helps develop independence skills and offers the chance to form new friendships. You might care for a child who has nursing or medical needs, including sensory problems or a child with challenging behavioural needs. Short break care can be for a day or two, an overnight stay, over weekend or a full week.

Supported Lodgings: This scheme aims to give young people aged 16 plus good quality accommodation together with security and support that living with a responsible adult can offer. As a supported lodgings carer, you will be there to help young people learn the skills to live independently. You will need to provide them with a room of their own and access to food but the aim is to teach a young person how they will look after themselves once they leave full time care. We pay you a weekly allowance to cover the expenses of caring for a young person and the time you spend looking after them.

What we offer you

At Kirklees Council, we appreciate the challenges around foster care, but with the right support and dedicated team around you, together we can make an extraordinary difference to the lives of children. That's why we offer the following support to our carers:

• A generous fee, long-service payments and a substantial allowance for the child & car mileage
• An ‘out of hours’; telephone service staffed by experienced Foster Carers 24/7.
• Your own experienced Supervising Social Worker who will be your first point of contact once approved and will conduct regular supervisions. The child has their own social worker too
• We have a dedicated Placements Team to match our children with the right fostering families.
• A comprehensive training package & professional developmental opportunities
• 28 days paid holiday allowance
• A community of foster carers who can support and advocate for you, as well as regular opportunities to attend foster carer support sessions

As well as this, should the child or young person have additional health, educational or social needs, there's support from other specialised areas like education and health. We do all we can to help you care.

For further details please visit Our Fostering Page or contact us: fostering@kirklees.gov.uk or 0800 389 0086.

Closing date  

31 January 2022, 11:55 PM