Skip to site navigation

Accessibility Options

Font size

Colour scheme

Family and friends foster care

 
Young boy with older womanFamily and Friends fostering is where a child, who is 'looked after' by the Council, lives with a member of the family or with friends, as they are not able to live with their birth parents.

Formal arrangement

In Greenwich, Family and Friends fostering is different from Kinship Fostering.

Kinship fostering is a scheme in Greenwich for children and young people who are not looked after by the Council.

With Family and Friends fostering, the child is officially 'looked after' by the local authority and the carers, even though they are family or friends, are formally considered to be foster carers.

To be a Family and Friends foster carer, you will need to be fully assessed and approved by the Council's fostering service. This process can take several months.

For more information please read our Becoming a Foster Carer: the process or Step-by-Step Guide pages for more information.

Differences

The differences between family and friends fostering and mainstream fostering are:

    • the carer is known to the child and usually to the parents as well
    • the Family and Friends foster carer will only be approved to look after a specific child or children.

Preferred choice

The Family and Friends Fostering option is wherever possible, the preferred choice over a child living with unknown foster carers or in a residential unit.

Children say that living with family and friends helps them feel more secure, when they can't live with their parents.

Support

Family and Friends foster carers receive a weekly allowance for each child that they look after.

They also receive birthday, festival and holiday allowances and the support of a 'Family and Friend' social worker.

The 'Family and Friend' social worker will:

    • make regular contact approximately every three months
    • be available to offer advice and guidance
    • liaise with the child/young person's social worker 
    • complete the carer's annual review
    • set up support/networking group for carers
For more information on other forms of support for foster carers, including training and support groups, please see our 'What support will I get?' webpage.

Further information

For more information about fostering in Greenwich, please contact our fostering team using the contact information in the right hand menu.

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering website, in the useful links menu to right will give you more information about rights, legislation and policies for adoption and fostering.

The Fostering Information Line website, also in the useful links provides information on fostering in the UK and the Fostering Network is the leading charity for foster care in the UK.

A to Z of Services