Children are referred to Orange Grove Fostercare from local authority social service departments from all parts of the country. Children referred are generally deemed to be "hard-to-place" on grounds of behaviour associated with the abuse they have suffered, or because they are part of a sibling group needing joint placement. Consequently we particularly welcome applications from people who are already experienced foster carers or have related child-care experience, and who have an excellent practice record in caring for children in the care system.

We are also interested in recruiting people with less hands-on experience so long as they have the desire and ability to develop the skills required to care for a foster child.

Please note that it is rare for us to receive referrals of very young children (under 5's) as local authorities generally do not have a problem placing children so young within their own resources. We are therefore particularly interested in recruiting carers who will be able to offer a placement to one or more children around the age of ten (and upwards). Although there are placements required for difficult to manage eight-, nine-, and ten-year-old children.

Our assessment leading to approval is without apology extremely thorough and involves a process of getting to know you; interviews in your own home (usually around 6-8); taking up references; writing your Form F ; taking up Criminal Records Bureau checks, probation, local authority family checks and a full medical examination.

We aim to complete your assessment within six months of receipt of your completed application form. Upon completion, the Form F assessment will be shared with you, at which point you will be required to sign in together with your assessing social worker. However, if for any reason during your assessment we decide not to proceed any further, we will inform you as soon as is practicable. It is worth stating that we have very high expectations of you, your skills, and the standard of care and accommodation that you are able to offer. We seek to recruit people of the highest calibre who we can trust to appropriately represent our agency and offer high quality care as we strive to meet the UK Standards in Foster Care.

We are seeking to recruit people who:

We are seeking to increase our number of carers from a wide range of backgrounds within our defined regions of operation and who meet the above criteria. If you are interested in joining us as a foster carer and meet the above criteria, then we will be pleased to hear from you.

(Data Protection Act, 1984. Please note that Orange Grove Fostercare may put information relating to your application onto a computer to assist with your application).

Apply Today

Frequently Asked Questions