Support for foster carers and their families
Training for foster carers
We are committed to ensuring you receive regular, high quality training to help you in your role as a foster carer.
In your first year of fostering, you will need to complete 5 mandatory training courses, which include topics such as:
- Safer Caring
- Paediatric First Aid
- Diversity
Once you have completed them, you will go onto the Core Plus rate of allowances.
We offer a wide variety of training courses to help you throughout your fostering career. Your social worker will work closely with you to recommend the right courses.
We ask that our foster carers attend or complete at least 2 training opportunities a year.
Skills to Foster
Throughout your assessment to become a foster carer, you will take part in the Skills to Foster Training, a national programme which assists new foster carers to meet the challenges of fostering.
Key topics include the importance of identity, positive approaches to challenging behaviour, dealing with new technologies such as social media, and safer caring.
The training and preparation of new foster carers through Skills to Foster is of the greatest importance for the future wellbeing of vulnerable children in the care system.
“As a foster carer you never stop learning from your experiences with the children. The Fostering team provide a varied and informative training programme that can help prepare you for issues that you may come across whilst fostering. These training sessions are held throughout the county and at different times so that everyone can access them.” – Jo, Buckinghamshire Foster Carer
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) offer specialist training for our foster carers, on topics such as therapeutic parenting and mental health support.
Find out more about the support that CAMHS offer foster children.
Contact us
Get in touch via our online enquiry form.
Alternatively, you can contact the fostering team on:
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