Foster carers come from all walks of life. What is important is your interest in caring for a child. Children need foster families for a variety of reasons. This may be due to illness or a crisis within the family. Many children needing a foster home have suffered from some form of abuse including neglect. Fostering can be challenging but can also be very rewarding.

It gives you the chance to help a child whose life has been disrupted, and to watch them develop and benefit from a period of stability and security before hopefully returning home to their family or moving on to a permanent family.

As a foster carer you would be working as part of a team providing services to children. The fostering team will be working closely with you to provide support, training and advice. Brighton and Hove has an extensive carer support package including a 24 hour out-of-hours service. We also pay a generous weekly allowance to cover the costs of fostering and a fee in recognition of your skills and experience.

We are always pleased to discuss any aspects of fostering with you. Just call 01273 295444 or e-mail us at fostering.adoption@brighton-hove.gov.uk for an informal chat. Once you have decided that you want to know more, we will invite you to an information session where you will have the chance to meet some of our experienced carers or we can arrange to visit you in your own home.

Thank you for your interest in providing a home to one of Brighton and Hove's children.