Application to approval process

It can take an average of six to nine months to become a foster carer. This is from the point of applying with us to being approved as a foster carer. This can vary depending on when you begin your Skills to Foster training and how you work with your social worker to compile all the information needed for your foster carer assessment.

Application

After you have been to an information session, or asked any questions you may have, we'll go through the application form with you. We'll do this via telephone or in person. You can decide to stop your application at any point during the process, if you decide that fostering might not be for you.

Home visit

After you have applied, a social worker will come to visit you at home to find out more about you and your life. This is a great time to ask us more about fostering too.

Skills to Foster training course

The ‘Skills to Foster’ training course will help you to prepare for life as a foster carer. Sessions include:

• What do foster carers do?
• Why do children come into care?
• Child development
• Identity and life chances
• Working with others
• Safer caring

You’ll meet other people who want to become foster carers at the training course, and some sessions are delivered with experienced carers too. The Skills to Foster training is usually eight evening sessions, or three full day days, dependent on the course running at the time. The courses run at least four times a year so if a course has just finished, you'll begin your training on the next available course.

Assessment

After Skills to Foster training you will meet your assessing social worker. They’ll work closely with you to write a report about you and your suitability to become a foster carer. This part of the process can take around four months but is dependent on how quickly you can work through the stages with your social worker. Towards the end of writing your assessment your social worker will arrange a date for you all to attend Foster Panel to discuss your assessment report.

Fostering panel and approval

If Fostering Panel recommend that you become foster carers, and the decision is approved by our Agency Decision Maker, you are welcomed as a foster carer for Walsall Council. You can expect to be asked to care for a child at any point after approval.

You can download a visual roadmap of your fostering journey below.

Find out more

Contact us using the buttons below to ask more questions, begin your application or to enquire about transferring to foster with Walsall.