What We Do

Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA’s) recruit, train and approve carers who then have children placed with them from Local Authorities (LA’s).  The children keep their own LA social worker and the IFA supports and pays the carers.

There are many IFA’s in the country, as well as all the LA’s, and as a prospective foster carer you can choose to apply to whichever organisation you think will suit you best.

Throughout our lives we all need the back up and support of our family and close friends. Unfortunately, when you are a foster carer, you are not allowed to “share the care” of that child with these people.

At Family Matters we have recreated this “extended family” by recruiting full-time (main) and part-time (supplementary) carers.  Often the supplementary carers are people recommended to us by the main carers, but we also recruit individuals who are only interested in part-time caring.
Additionally we group our families in “clusters”, with senior carers providing informal support and a shoulder to lean on.

In this way our “extended families” mirror the traditional roles of grandparents, aunts, uncles, family friends, cousins, and big brothers and sisters.  Our children benefit from healthy relationships with a variety of interested and well-motivated adults.