Becoming a Foster Carer: Home Visits

Hi, I'm Sandie and I'm the fostering manager here at St Christopher's in the West Midlands. My top team of social workers complete our home visits. These take place after you enquire about fostering and we think you might be suitable to start fostering our young people. We're all local people who work in the area and we believe our team is special because we really want to make a difference for children and it's important that our foster carers want to do the same.

Children shared what they
thought a foster carer looked like

We'll call you and introduce ourselves. We think it's good that you know who'll be coming to visit you! Our visit will always be at a time when you (and your partner, if you have one) are both at home. Yes, we can visit at weekends and evenings! If you think it's appropritate for your own children to be there as well, that's okay too. We think they're an important part of any foster family.

We always ask that you keep your house how you'd have it on any other day. This is because the home visit is chance to get a peak into your everyday lives.

Although we do have questions to ask and paperwork to fill in, this is a really great chance for you to ask us lots of questions too.

We like to start by having a look around your house, especially as we'd like to see the bedroom you'd intend for a foster child. We need to make sure it can fit all the right furniture in and that it's a good space for a child to call their own. Of course, we don't expect it to be all ready for someone to move in. You'll have plenty of time to sort that out if you carry on with the process of becoming a foster carer.

Alongside the bedroom, we'll generally check that your home is a safe, clean space for someone else to come and live there with you and your family.

After we've had a look around, we can then chat with you and your family. Our questions cover lots of topics, including what fun things you like to do as a family, your life experiences, your family's health and your understanding of fostering and fostered children. We always like to discuss your answers and we always want you to ask questions as well. We want you to feel confident and comfortable with us as we'll be supporting you throughout your fostering journey.

Your social worker will check through all the paperwork after the visit and make sure it has as much detail as possible so we get the best picture of your family. I'll then decide whether to invite you to our preparation training. We'll always be transparent with you and we might sometimes ask for more information and we'll always explain if we can't progress you to the next stage. Honesty is always the best way forward and it's always great to talk to potential foster carers. Remember, your life experience is good. It makes you who you are today!