Can I Foster if I Work Full Time?
Whether you can foster whilst working full-time depends on a range of factors. Most importantly it will depend on how your work commitments impact on your availability to meet the needs of any children placed with you. At Fitzgerald Fostering we understand that it can be unrealistic to expect everyone who wants to foster to give up the security of a steady income from employment. Instead, we need to ascertain if your work commitments allow you to: be available to care for any child placed with you; attend any meetings related to the children in you care; and attend training for foster carers as part of your own ongoing development.
Some things to consider if you are thinking of fostering whilst working full-time
1. How many hours and days do you work? For example if you work twelve hour shifts and would not be available to take children to and from school it may be that fostering is not right for you at this point in time.
2. Is your employer or work situation flexible enough that you will be able to attend to your child needs as and when the arise?
3. Are you fostering as a single parent or as a couple? If you are a couple can your partner help with the fostering task?
4. Do you have a dependable support system of friends and family who can help you out if needed? Even at short notice?
5. Have you thought about the ages of the children you would like to foster and how is this likely to be impacted by your work commitments?
6. What type of fostering are you interested in? Providing planned respite care for children could mean that any placements made with you could be tailored to your work commitments. Whereas offering full-time care to a child on either a short- or long-term basis would mean the child’s needs have to be prioritized and managed alongside any work commitments.
What can help you foster if you work full-time
The level of support you have can be very important in influencing your ability to foster and work full-time. For instance, if you are a couple or have another adult in the household who can take care of the child while you work this can really help. You will be able to share the various responsibilities that come with fostering, such as getting a child to or from school.
The age of the children you look after can also influence how easy it can be to work full-time. For example, some older children may, if appropriate and agreed by all the professionals involved, be able to spend some time on their own whilst you are out (provided you can be flexible enough to respond rapidly if they need you). This would obviously not be the case for younger children or children with more complex needs.
The type of job you have, and the working arrangements can also make a big difference. If your job has flexible working arrangements or you work from home this can really help balance your fostering commitments alongside your work commitments.
When You Can’t Work Full-Time
Unfortunately, you will not be able to work full-time when your employment situation means you will not be available to meet the needs of any child placed in your care. Fostering is a complex task and therefore the children in your care must be the priority. However, please feel free to contact us via the phone number or link below if you are considering becoming a foster carer but are not sure whether this could work alongside your work.
Foster Care As A Full-Time Job
Foster care is considered by many to be a full-time career in itself. Being a foster carer can be a full-time commitment, if not more, depending on the child’s needs and circumstances.
Most of those who choose foster do not do it for the pay, but because they want to offer stability and security to children who are unable to live with their families for a range of reasons. IN many cases they realise that this can be difficult to achieve if they also have other work commitments,
but it is certainly not impossible.
The allowance you earn as a foster carer is intended to cover your cost of caring for the child and also as compensation for the time, skills and experience that goes into caring. However, it is important to understand that fostering is often a temporary situation no matter how long it lasts, and you may not always have a placement. This can mean there are gaps between placements, and it is important to financially plan for these gaps in income as you do not receive an allowance if a child is not in your care.
Become A Foster Carer
If you are looking for more information on how you can foster and work? please get in touch by giving us a call on 01753 550031 or fill in the contact form, we’re here to help answer all of your fostering and working questions.