National Foster Care Fortnight begins on Monday 9 May.
It is the perfect time to find out how you could support fostering in your local area and help us to celebrate the Lincolnshire community opening their homes and families to children in care.
In Lincolnshire, there is a need for people to come forward for all types of fostering, especially to look after teenagers, siblings, children with additional needs and children who need long-term homes.
Lincolnshire County Council’s fostering families have access to a wide range of support, within its award-winning hub model, which offers different levels of support to meet the needs of children, foster carers and their families at the right time. In addition to a competitive financial package, we arrange several rewards and celebrations throughout the year, including family fun days, an annual summer BBQ and a Christmas Party. Our local businesses in Lincolnshire understand the importance of how, as a community, we take care of and nurture our children; through a discount card many local attractions and businesses support Lincolnshire foster carers by offering discounted services.
In Lincolnshire, we always look to our own in-house foster carers first and use a strength-based matching model to ensure carers have the right knowledge, skills, and experience to meet children’s needs, which means that our foster carers are more likely to get regular placements within their preferred age range and skill set. That makes Lincolnshire County Council the best option for fostering in the county.
Cllr Mrs Patricia Bradwell OBE, executive member for children's services, said: "Being a foster carer can be a challenging role, but it's also hugely rewarding. Foster carers often speak of a sense of pride in seeing the child develop and flourish.
“On top of the weekly allowance, there are additional payments to help with things like Christmas, birthdays, buying uniforms for clubs and for taking a placement out of normal office hours. Plus, we have introduced a retention payment for our foster families to say thank you for the amazing job they all do!
"Each application to foster is considered on an individual basis and you can be a foster carer regardless of your marital status, sexuality, employment status, ethnicity or religion. However, you do need to have a spare bedroom for a child or young person to use. So, if you think you could make a life-changing difference for these children, please do get in touch."
If you think you could foster a child and would like to know more, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/fostering. You can also get in touch with the Lincolnshire fostering service by calling 01522 554114.