Considering a Slough career in foster care?
Many Slough people may wish to become a foster carer but worry about how they would manage with a full time job and looking after foster children.
Slough Borough Council views fostering as a career and will pay them to give up work and be paid to look after foster children with £400 per week for the first child and £200 for the second or further children.
In addition, Slough carers will receive the appropriate maintenance allowance for each child to cover all the costs of caring for the young person.
Tina Ryan, fostering team manager for Slough Borough Council, said: “We want to make it easier for residents who are thinking of becoming foster carers by giving them the financial and emotional support they will need. This will ensure they are able to devote enough time to the important job of caring for vulnerable children.
“It’s not an easy job to bring up children, but if we can help people to be full time carers and show foster children how to grow and be in a loving environment, then we will help out as much as we can.”
Anyone can become a carer. You can be single, married, with or without children and can rent or own your own home.
The important thing is that you live within a 20 mile radius of Slough and can offer support, guidance and a positive family environment to help children feel secure and valued for however long they are living in your home.
Some children need to be looked after for a day, a week, months or years, although the average is about three to six months.
Each Slough foster carer is allocated a supervising social worker from the family placement team, and in addition, all children placed will have their own social worker.
There is also ongoing training for carers and lots of local foster care groups and social events provided as an opportunity for foster carers, link workers and others to meet and discuss common issues and concerns.
The council also operates an out-of-hours advice line in the evenings and at weekends, which is available to approved foster carers.
So if you think you have what it takes, please contact the foster care team on 0800 073 0291 mailto:foramilyplacement@slough.gov.uk
Slough Borough Council