Foster Care Quiz

Have you discussed your desire to foster with your immediate family? *
YesNo
Your decision to foster means you will ultimately rely on the understanding and support of your family. We would be unlikely to process any application until you have done this.

Are you married? *
YesNo
Foster carers can be single, married, or living with a partner.

Do you have children of your own? *
YesNo
You do not need to have had birth children of your own to be a successful foster carer.

Do you have a spare bedroom? *
YesNo
Foster children need to have their own bedroom, this is true regardless of a child’s age. Consequently, if you do not have a spare bedroom in your home then you will unfortunately not be able to foster.

Are you heterosexual? *
YesNo
Straight, gay, bisexual or transgender - your sexuality is not important in a fostering application.

Do you have a full time job? *
YesNo
Whilst working full time does not necessarily completely prevent you from being a foster carer, we will need to consider your circumstances carefully. You need to be available to respond to any emergencies and to attend meetings, which usually take place during work hours. You will need to think about how flexible you can be if you work full time.

Do you or your partner smoke? *
YesNo
The expectation is that foster carers will not smoke inside a home and that no one else is allowed to smoke inside the house of a foster carer. Therefore, anyone who does smoke will need to do so outside, additionally, foster carers who do smoke cannot look after children under the age of 5.

Are you over 21? *
YesNo
Foster carers need to have sufficient life experience to allow them to meet the needs of the children that they look after, and age can be a factor in this. For this reason, we ask that applicants are over the age of 21 before they can be considered for fostering.
When it comes to the other end of the spectrum, there is no upper age limit on fostering. As long as you’re fit and healthy and able to look after a child or young person safely then you can apply to foster.

Are you female? *
YesNo
There are many more single female foster carers than single male cares, this may be due to a societal stigma associated with single male carers. Regardless of the reason behind the disparity we would like to once again reiterate that anyone can foster, be they single men, single women, married couples, or unmarried couples.

Do you own your own home? *
YesNo
You do not need to own your own home to be able to foster, we have many foster families who are renters. We may require written approval from your landlord, and of course you will need a spare bedroom to be able to foster, however, crucially being a homeowner is not required to be able to foster.

Do you have any criminal convictions? *
YesNo
Any criminal convictions against children, or any conviction for a sexual offence will automatically prohibit you from fostering.
If you have a criminal conviction for a minor offence and you’re able to demonstrate how you have grown and changed since that conviction, then, as long as you are honest with us and share all relevant information then it should not count against you in an application to foster. Being able to demonstrate through example how you’ve made mistakes in the past but changed can be incredibly rewarding for children or young people.

Are you fit and healthy? *
YesNo
Having a disability or some long-term health condition will not prohibit you from fostering. As part of the assessment process we would undertake a health assessment, conducted by your GP, to understand your health needs. We’re not looking for athletes at the peak of their physical performance, we only want to make sure that you’re fit and able to look after a child or young person safely.

We hope our foster care quiz has helped alleviate some of the anxieties or concerns that you may have had about fostering. If our foster care quiz has helped you answer the question, should I be a foster parent and you’re looking to start your journey into fostering then we would love the opportunity to talk to you. All you need to do is enter your details below.