Find out about the different types of fostering

Are you ready for the Next Steps?

Coventry City Council’s Fostering Service is recruiting people to join a small team of dedicated foster carers. Fostering on the Next Steps scheme means you will provide care and support for one of Coventry’s most vulnerable children and young people in your home.

Through the adoption of a therapeutic approach on a 1:1 basis, children and young people on the scheme can receive a level of nurture and support to help them to take their next steps onto positive pathways.

Foster carers on the scheme will join our small dedicated team, with bespoke training and support packages as well as 1:1 and peer supervision

To be eligible to be assessed for the scheme you should be able to demonstrate

• At least 2 years’ experience of caring for or working with young people with challenging behaviour (or similar)
• No other under 18-year olds living with you
• One carer in the household will be home-based (recognition of this is reflected in the financial package)
• Insight and understanding about trauma, abuse, neglect, and potential of autism and/or mental health issues
• With our support and training, the ability to manage and support a young person who is likely, due to their experiences, to display challenging behaviours, in your home
• Ability to work positively as part of a wider team of professionals
• Adaptability and willingness to learn and implement new approaches
• High level of empathy
• Commitment and motivation to care for a young person who might have had multiple placement breakdowns

In return, the scheme offers

• Full initial and ongoing training, personalised to your needs and based on a social pedagogical model
• Dedicated support from a senior social worker and support workers
• Access to our 24/7 emergency telephone support service provided by our team
• To recognise the commitment required for this scheme, a financial package of up to £45K per annum (including costs for caring for the young person) is offered.

What Our Next Steps Carers Say

Salma

“Hi, I’m Salma - a Next Steps foster carer with Coventry. I enjoy fostering as you are helping young vulnerable children to have a better more balanced life .. to help heal any traumas or unmet needs they have. You are constantly learning and also enhancing yourself, you are part of a wider group and there is a great sense of belonging and kinship. I love fostering as it’s great to see young people who were or are in my care flourishing and being happy. It is such a rewarding role to have and I feel blessed to be part of their journey!

You can be a foster carer without having any specific qualifications, and you can be single or in a couple, any gender, race, ethnicity or sexuality and you don't need to have children of your own. As long as you are committed and have a spare room in your home you may be eligible.

There is a thorough induction and a range of core and bespoke training available and really good ongoing support from Coventry City Council. You are constantly learning and enhancing yourself. When you foster, you are part of a wider group and there is a great sense of belonging and kinship. 

Fostering gave me the opportunity to help young, vulnerable children to have a better, more balanced life. To provide stability at a challenging time in their lives and help heal any traumas or unmet needs they have. It’s great to see young people who were, or are, in my care flourishing and being happy. It is such a rewarding role to have and I feel blessed that they are part of my family and to be part of their journey.

Fostering isn’t easy – every child has their own individual needs and early childhood experiences. No matter what they say or do, it’s not personal to you but you have the privilege of turning their life around and being the person that won’t give up on them."

Kat

''When joining Coventry Fostering we were quite naive to the expectations and what fostering would look like for our family... we wanted to help, we wanted to give a child a secure environment and we wanted to share our spaces to enable a child a secure and loving home that supported their journey. We didn’t think about the admin, the training, the paperwork, the safety for not only the young person but the family, the home, the support network…even the pets! When I called to enquire we were directed to an information evening, we went in with our eyes wide shut and came out reeling, it took us a few weeks and a lot of conversations to contact the team and arrange a sit down at home.

During our sign up process, we had to complete a Form F, this is a look at your overall life including but not limited to finances, life experiences, medical history, children, pets, home life, parenting skills etc. In honesty this process was really draining, it takes hours to go through the various aspects of the form as they have to cover every last bit of your life in detail (as they should, the fact that it is so draining speaks to the through process). The social worker that completed the Form F was amazing and we had an open line of communication throughout to enable things to run smoothly, she was always professional and informative but supportive when dealing with difficult or emotive subjects, she really helped us to stay focussed and our Form F was completed in a timely manner as a result of her through work.

We have worked with several supervising social workers and have been supported by each one in an organic way that felt non-intrusive given that they have to visit your family home so frequently and perform unannounced visits annually. We have had one issue during our fostering career that was dealt with in a professional and timely manner, we never felt unsupported by our supervising social worker or the extended team and cannot fault the Service for their practice and support. We as foster carers keep an open line of communication with all professionals and if we have questions will ask directly, our supervising social workers have always encouraged our approach and got back to us in a timely manner. The support team structure works well in our experience and good practice reflects good working relationships.'

Overall, as foster carers we feel supported, valued, respected and heard."

You can

• View our brochure about this scheme
• Book onto our next information event
• Apply online