Who can foster?

Your sexual orientation is not important to being a foster carer and is not a barrier to applying for assessment as a foster carer. What is important is that you can provide a young person with a safe, loving and stable home.

This is not a barrier to consideration for approval as a foster carer. Your gender does not determine whether you are suitable to foster.

British citizenship is not required to be a foster carer in the UK. However, most fostering services would expect you to be a full-time resident in the UK. Children from a wide range of backgrounds need fostering, so foster families come from all walks of life as well. If you are in the UK for a limited time, fostering services will take this into consideration due to the time and cost implications of approving people to foster.

There are a high number of children and young people in foster care who do not have English as their first language. Therefore, being placed in a family where English is not the first language can be beneficial to them. You will need a good level of spoken and written English to be able to communicate with other professionals, support children’s education and make notes and keep records.

It does not matter what your religion is, and this should not affect your application to foster. Children should be placed with foster families that can meet their needs, including religious needs. However, you would need to consider how you feel about discussing issues such as alternative religious beliefs or certain ethical issues with a child, ensuring that you abide by the fostering service's policies.

You don’t have to be married or in a relationship to foster. There are loads of fantastic foster carers who are single, but you should be able to demonstrate a network of support. 

Having a new partner is not a problem. Best practice is to be open with your fostering service and inform them if someone new starts playing a prominent role in your life. If the person is involved in the care of the children or young people you are looking after in any way, they must be assessed and approved too. The fostering service’s duty to safeguard the children will always be paramount.

There is no legal lower age limit for fostering. Some fostering services set their own minimum age - often 21 in line with the law for adoption. There is an expectation that foster carers will have sufficient life experience to enable them to meet the needs of children placed with them, and age can be a factor in this. However, if a fostering service refuses to consider an application from a young adult of 18 or over based solely on age, they must be able to justify this under age discrimination laws. 

Legally there is no upper age limit to foster, and there are many fantastic foster carers in their 60s or 70s. Fostering services can set their own upper age limit. What matters is that you are fit and able to care for and meet the needs of any child you are approved to look after. 

A criminal record does not necessarily stop you from becoming a foster carer. The law states that the only criminal convictions that prevent people from fostering are those that relate to an offence against children or a sexual offence. Minor offences should not count against you in your application to foster. All criminal convictions will need to be disclosed when you apply, and the fostering service will obtain a criminal record check. Any convictions or cautions will be explored with you by the fostering service.

You don’t have to have your own children to foster. Any relevant experience of working with or caring for children is helpful (for example through work, looking after the children of relatives or friends), as is an understanding of child development. However, a lack of direct parenting experience is not an automatic bar to fostering. 

You will need to have some degree of experience dealing with children to foster. Although you need experience, this does not have to come from having your own children. If your profession involves dealing with children, such as a teacher or in a nursery setting or youth work, this can be deemed appropriate experience. Alternatively, your experience might come from family and friends’ children.

The size of your house will not necessarily be a determining factor in whether you can foster or not. What will be looked at is whether you have a spare room that is big enough for a young person to live in, and whether the accommodation is safe. 

Not owning your own house does not bar you from fostering but you will need to demonstrate stability. There are lots of foster carers who live in rented accommodation. Most fostering services require you to have a spare bedroom to ensure the child you foster has the privacy and space they require. 

You can apply to become a foster carer when you live with your parents, but during the assessment the fostering service will explore who would be the ‘main’ foster carer. If anyone else is to be involved in caring for the child or young person, they will have to be assessed and approved too, to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of the looked after child. 

To foster, it is important to be able to meet the needs of the child or young person that comes into your care. This might include taking them to school every day or to spend family time with their birth family. If you cannot drive, you will need to demonstrate that you have access to good public transport links.

Children and young people come into the care system for a range of different reasons. Some children may have witnessed domestic violence, parental depression, or drug or alcohol misuse. Others may have been abused or neglected. Children need to be in a family home where they can feel safe and secure. 

Having a pet does not stop you from fostering. Pets are very much part of normal family life and can be a huge positive within a fostering family. However, every pet will be assessed as part of the process of becoming a foster carer, considering factors such as their temperament and behaviour. As a pet owner you should also consider how you would react if a child was uncomfortable with one of your pets.

Owning a gun is not an automatic bar to fostering. For those applicants who live in rural areas, owning a gun is not uncommon. During your assessment, the fostering service will thoroughly explore all of this, check your license to own a gun (and every other legal requirement related to gun possession, including storage and so on) and make sure everything is lawful.