I’m fostering and thinking of transferring

Being a not-for-profit organisation means there are no shares, so any surpluses will be retained within the organisation for the benefit of the young people in care, not paid out to shareholders or investors as dividends or interest. This means we retain funds to invest within the organisation and everything we do has the interests of young people at heart. Young People at Heart will remain not-for-profit, overseen by the Cox family, to provide a safe, secure and stable environment for young people in care and our foster carers and staff.

You can transfer to us from your current agency or local authority and we will support you every step of the way. If you’re thinking about transferring, get in touch and we will arrange a visit to talk about the steps.

If you don’t have a placement currently you will need to give notice in writing to your current agency or local authority and apply to foster with us as you can only be approved with one agency at a time. The Transfer Protocol sets out the steps to be undertaken. We will then assess your training, skills, knowledge and experience and present your application to our Independent Fostering Panel for recommendation for approval. We would complete your assessment in six to eight weeks and during this time, we would be working with our Local Authority customers to identify a placement to match with you for when you are approved with us.

If you currently have a young person placed with you, the young person will remain in placement with you and will move to Young People at Heart with you.

We need to make sure that the move has as little impact as possible on the young person and that any disruption is kept to a minimum so we follow the Transfer Protocol for foster carers wishing to transfer with a placement. You’ll need to let your current agency and placing Local Authority know you want to transfer but we can help you with the letters you’ll need to write. After that, a meeting will be set up by the Local Authority between them, us, your previous agency and yourself to discuss the change of agency and to make us aware of the care plan for the young person placed with you.

We’ve had a number of foster carers transfer to us now so while it may sound a daunting process, it really is quite straight forward and the whole process can be completed in 6-8 weeks.

Every foster carer approved by Young People at Heart will have a fully qualified Social Worker to support them. Foster carers will be visited at least once a month by their social worker, more frequently if required. The monthly visit is an opportunity for the foster carers and social workers to address any areas of concern or difficulty and is typically referred to as a Supervision Meeting. In addition, the foster carers will receive a telephone call weekly and may receive visits from other Young People at Heart staff, such as education or support workers. There will also be telephone support available from a Young People at Heart social worker 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to the regular visits, each foster care household will receive at least one unannounced visit per year and an annual Health and Safety Audit on the carer’s home.

Young People at Heart believes foster carers should continually develop their skills. Some training is mandatory, to comply with the Fostering Service Regulations and the Training, Support and Development (TSD) Standards for Foster Care. A number of different programs are offered annually, relevant to your development as foster carers or to equip you with skills for the young person in your care.