Fostering requirements

What are the foster care requirements?

Many people are interested in becoming foster parents but aren’t always sure what the process entails, or what the foster care requirements are to become a carer. From how old you need to be, your UK residency and your health, find out everything you need to know about criteria for fostering a child now.

Foster care requirements

Firstly, you may be asking yourself “can I foster?”. If you’re reading this, you probably already have some of the core traits of someone who can foster - such as being caring and having a desire to help make a difference in the lives of children and young people in need.

When beginning your journey to become a foster parent, it’s important to recognise the primary foster carer requirements:

Criteria for fostering

• You are over the age of 21
• You are in good health
• You are a full-time resident in the UK (or have leave to remain)
• You have a spare bedroom in your home
• You have enough time to provide support and care (usually on a full-time basis) to a child or young person

Who can foster?

Your gender, race, religion, relationship status or whether you identify as LGBTQ+ has no impact on your ability to provide top quality care to a child or young person. Therefore, this means that none of the above impacts your ability to become a foster carer.

Our guide on “can I foster if…?” covers this is more detail – focussing on if you can foster with a criminal record, if you can foster as a single parent or if you have medical or health problems.

However, when considering if you could foster, there should be other factors to consider before you apply, such as:

• Support network – do you have a wide support network of family and friends around you to rely on?
• Home life – is your environment safe and secure for a young person or child?
• Criminal record – do you have any previous convictions?
• Experience – do you have some experience around children, whether that’s through your family life or volunteering?
• Finances – are you financially secure? Can you afford fostering?

If you’re interested in fostering, and think the above foster carer requirements match your character and circumstances, get in touch with us today. Our team of experts will help you find out more information about how to foster a child.