At Kirklees we need to recruit many more foster carers for local children of all ages.  Fostering with your local council helps ensure that looked after children remain in their home town. This is important as it allows children to stay at their school, near to familiar surroundings and providing stability at a time of immense change. 

We urgently need many more long-term foster carers who can provide loving, stable homes for over 50 children in Kirklees.  These children need a family they can stay with for the remainder of their childhood, until they’re ready to live independently. 

As a local authority we seek to place as many of our children with our own carers prior to asking the independent sector. 
Kirklees Council would particularly like to recruit foster carers who are able to care for:

• Brothers and sisters
• Older children and teenagers 
• Parent and child placements– this is a different type of fostering where parent/s live with their child in a foster carers' homes, enabling them to stay together and develop a strong bond
• Children with a disability

We welcome new foster carers from all different background; if you are over 21 and have a spare bedroom for a foster child we would love to hear from you.  Our friendly team can chat to you about fostering and provide you with all the information you need.

We value the contribution of our foster carers and offer a generous support package. This includes:

• Competitive financial allowances with clear progression and extra allowances for birthdays and holidays
• Specialist training including the ‘Skills to Foster’ course and ongoing development opportunities?
• A social worker specifically allocated to you. You can expect to have regular meetings which are a chance for you to talk through any problems and share information about children in your care
• Support groups for you and your family
• A 24-hour foster carer support line which is run by, and for the benefit of foster carers in Kirklees, the Kirklees Fostering Network.   They hold regular support groups, organise social events and specific training for foster carers
• The benefit of our knowledge and experience; our teams have often been working with the children's families for a long time. We have a lot of important background knowledge which they can share with you
• Finding the best possible match for both the child and your family. We work hard to identify areas like shared interests, pets and hobbies that will help build a bond and rapport between your family and the child 
• Support from a Supervising Social Worker who specialises in foster care and additional support from education health and the child’s social worker.
• Out of hours support