Why foster with Cambridgeshire County Council?

Whenever a child or young person cannot live with their birth family, we – your Local Authority – are responsible for ensuring that the child or young person receives the care they need. We will work closely with their Social Worker, to find a family that can best meet their needs.

When you foster with us, you become part of our community who all work together to make sure that the best decisions are made for the children and young people in your care at various key stages of their lives. This locally based team is made up of you, your Supervising Social Worker, your child, or young person’s Social Worker, supporting council staff and staff from health and education, who each play a vital role in shaping your foster child or young person’s future.

Our local Supervising Social Workers embody the council’s values and are committed to support and supervision to help improve and enhance your fostering skills. You’ll be able to contact your Supervising Social Worker whenever you need to, and they will in turn be able to communicate directly with the children and young people’s Social Workers.

As an approved Foster Carer, you will receive an invitation to attend your local Foster Carer Support Group. All of our local support groups are well attended by carers, and offer an excellent opportunity to provide peer support, share additional learning, and talk with fellow carers who understand your fostering journey.

You can also expand your role within your local community as you gain knowledge and experience. You can join our Mentoring Scheme and offer support and advice to new Foster Carers, and you can join our Foster Carer Recruitment Ambassadors who promote our service and the importance of foster care.

We will provide you with a wide range of bespoke training opportunities to support and develop you as a Foster Carer, from your pre-approval period to your first year of fostering and beyond. We deliver regular training sessions locally from familiar venues within your community, ensuring you can access every session easily.

Our fabulous team of experienced Social Workers and trainers will use their diverse range of skills and knowledge to provide you with engaging and thought-provoking training so that you can get the best out of our learning programmes. Because we design and deliver training ourselves, we can adapt our courses to meet our carers’ specific requirements. Additionally, we commission training from experts in the field, enabling us to provide you with a broad range of training topics to give you a full knowledge of fostering.

As a member of our local fostering community, you will receive free membership to Fostertalk. This will grant you access to a range of services, benefits, and information so that we can support you as a local Foster Carer.

Here are just a few of the fantastic benefits that you will be able to access:

• Legal protection insurance
• A legal helpline for expert advice
• Fostering helpline for independent advice on all aspects of fostering
• 24/7 confidential stress counselling service
• A wealth of online resources, publications, and training, providing up to date and practical information that will help you to provide the best care
• A Max Card, which gives you discounts on family days out, holidays, home insurance, and much more
• An online community for Foster Carers to connect and share advice, support, and personal experiences

As a Local Authority, we can also provide you with our own benefits. Our Employee Assistance Support will cover you for:

• Counselling
• Legal support
• Bereavement assistance
• Medical information

You will also have direct access to our Virtual Schools for Children in Care, who provide specialist education support, advice and guidance, and tailored Personal Education Plans for the child or young person you are caring for.