How to become a
Family Matters Foster carer

Carers can be single or couples, with or without children of their own. You work as a sub-contractor to the Agency and are paid weekly when you have a child in place.  Based on practical experience we find that we work best with people who have either raised children or have significant and demonstrable experience in working with children and young adults.

As a carer you must be stable, flexible, resilient, mature in outlook, compassionate, have the ability to “stand in another’s shoes”, and be able to work as part of a team.

You don’t have to own your home, but must have at least one spare bedroom.

You will need to be old enough to have the maturity to help children make sense of their difficult situation, and ‘young’ enough to have the energy to meet the needs of a new member of your family, who may never have lived in a family before! 



And if you have had a ‘colourful’ background yourself – so much the better – we find that can be a real help in relating to some of these kids too!

It helps a lot if your own children are old enough to take an active role in fostering, or if they have already left home.

We expect you to be able to show that you have a network of friends and family.  In our experience fostering doesn’t work for a child if you are a ‘loner’.