Fostering -<br />
Services

Fostering -
Services

Placements

Short-Term Fostering

If a child or young person are in care proceedings or their parent(s) or caregivers are unable to currently look after them, then a Short-term fostering placement will be sourced.

During a short-term placement Progress foster carer’s may undertake task-centred work with the child/young person and their families towards reunification, preparing a child/young person for joining a permanent family (adoption), or for moving into supported accommodation or independent living.

Most Progress foster carers are approved for Short-term fostering. All Progress Foster carers are provided with relevant training, out of hours support, and have a dedicated social worker who supports and supervises their practice.

Progress foster carers can provide placements with a Short-term stay for several months or until the child/young person are able to return home to their own family.

We can also support children and young people with a longer-term fostering placement or until an adoption arrangement can be made.

Long-term Fostering

If a child or young person can no longer live with their family, Progress can offer a long-term foster placement.

Long-term fostering allows children/young people within care, to continue living with a family where they can feel safe, secure, and with the ability to maintain contact with their birth family. A long-term placement usually continues throughout the remainder of the child/young person’s childhood and until they can be prepared for and achieve independent living.

Foster carers will consider what skills and experience they can offer and what placement type would be a match to their family and lifestyle. Progress also offers advice and information to its carers about the types of foster care needed.

Some carers can care for children and young people regardless of their age (babies pre-school, or teenagers), gender and ethnicity. At Progress we also have carers that are specialists in caring for children and young people with disabilities, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young parents and their babies.

Foster carers can care for up to three children at once; however, some exceptions are made to keep larger sibling groups together.

Emergency
Foster Care

Progress can support local authorities with emergency placements. We have foster carers who are ready to take a child or young person into their home at any given time and for a number of days if required.

Progress foster carers understand that this would be an ‘unplanned’ placement and used at short notice.

An example of this could be when a single parent is taken into hospital and, there is no one else able to care for their child. In these situations, Progress understands that there may be limited information on the child before placement occurs.

Short Breaks/Respite Fostering

Short Breaks fostering gives a family or a child/young person’s full-time foster carer a break in care. This type of placement is flexible and can range from a few hours a week to every other weekend.

Progress foster carers support and care for a wide range of children and young people, allowing them to re-charge their batteries is essential so that they can continue to provide the best care. This type of placement can only be made possible by having trained respite foster carers available to care for children/young people when carers require a break.

Progress aims to ensure that the child or young person is cared for by the same foster carer each time they receive a short break. Progress feels it is important that the child/young person have familiar, consistent care and share the same happy experiences as they would staying with grandparents, relatives, or friends.

Maintaining a personalised approach throughout, the same ‘matching’ process as with short- and long-term placements will take place. The child/young person will meet their short break carers prior to their first stay and will be contacted by a Progress social worker during their short break to ensure that they are happy and safe.

As with short- and long-term placements, Progress provides all its short breaks foster carers with relevant training, out of hours support, and a social worker that will continually support and supervise their practice.

Latest Fostering News

Meet Jackie, one of the incredible foster carers at Progress, a place where she’s not just a foster carer but an integral part of an outstanding service that is supporting children and families across and beyond the Midlands. She’s all about making positive changes in kids’ lives, and she’s been doing it for over four…

In a heartwarming celebration of dedication and compassion, Progress Fostering Service which includes the fostering team, foster carers and other stakeholders, recently gathered to commemorate the service’s remarkable achievements of 2023. Held with joyous spirits, the event not only highlighted the milestones but also served as a testament to the profound impact of fostering with…

Progress Children’s Services Ltd and Progress Adult Living Services Ltd, collectively known as Progress, are happy to announce we are part of the Fostering Network’s ‘Fostering Friendly Employers’ programme and as such, we have implemented a fostering friendly policy for employees who foster or applying to do so. Through this policy, Progress offers up to five…

The staff team and foster carers have again gone above and beyond to make sure we are providing the right opportunities and outcomes for our young people. The yuletide season is here and Phil, the Registered Manager of the Fostering Service at Progress Children’s Services, extends his heartfelt congratulations to the entire team for their…

Celebrating Black History Month  While Black History Month began in the United States of America in the 1920s, it was first celebrated in the UK in 1987, the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean, and happens every October.  As we commemorate Black History Month, it is essential to recognise and celebrate…

In a new series of interviews we have asked Progress foster carers why they foster care and how fostering changes lives. Helen has been caring for James and Perry with her husband, Henry. This is her story. When you have a child of your own, you realise what a positive influence they can have on…

In a new series of interviews we have asked Progress foster carers why they foster care and how fostering changes lives. Jane has been caring for Fariha. This is her story. I have worked with and cared for young people with complex disabilities for over twenty years. I may be biased; but welcoming a young…

My Name is Leah Austin, I’m 50yrs old, I live alone and I have been working as a foster carer with Progress since May 2021. So, after applying to Progress I began to quickly realise that it was not just a case of applying, they assess you and you get a child. No, they guide…

We are absolutely delighted to announce that following an inspection by OFSTED in November 2021, we have been awarded the highest possible rating of ‘OUTSTANDING’. The inspectors were full of praise and noted that: “Children are cared for by carers who know them incredibly well and make exceptional progress from their starting points.” “Children have…

In a new series of interviews we will be asking Progress foster carers why they choose to foster and why despite some challenges, fostering can bring a lot of joy. Here’s Joanna’s story. “You don’t help someone to get a pat on the back. My husband and I foster because we love it. Seeing a…

It was late one evening when Sasha arrived. She was just a year-old, dressed in a pink padded coat and carried through the door. ‘She looked so scared and dirty,’ says Pauline who was there to open her heart and give her a home. Later as Pauline gently placed her in a warm bubble bath,…

Do you have the skills to support a child that has just arrived in the UK without any parents? Are you able to support a child that has suffered persecution due to their ethnicity, religion, culture, views or spoken language? Would you be able to make a child feel safe, secure, and loved within your…