What does a part-time foster carer do?
Our part-time foster carers provide support and respite for parents and other foster carers from across the district. There are 3 types of part-time fostering:
Support Care
Support carers offer short breaks to children who are still living with their birth parents, while supportive work is taking place with their birth family.
This helps children to continue to live at home and prevent family breakdown. To succeed in this role, carers provide a minimum of 8 sessions a month.
Shared Care
Shared carers look after children with additional needs, offering planned short breaks to parents and other foster carers.
As a shared carer, you’ll help children have new experiences outside their family home and give their family a chance to recharge their batteries. Shared carers provide a minimum of 8 sessions a month, including at least 1 weekend.
Respite/Holiday Care
Holiday (or respite) carers look after foster children for short periods of up to 2 weeks to provide respite to the main carer.
Demand for this type of fostering is highest during the school holidays, so it would particularly suit people who work in a school or college.
How much time do I need to dedicate?
Part-time foster carers can offer a range of part-time care according to their own availability and choice.
At Bradford Fostering, we expect our part-time carers to commit to a minimum of 8 sessions each month, including evenings, overnights and at least 1 weekend.
Are there any special requirements to be a part-time foster carer?
Though part-time foster carers don’t look after a child full-time, you still need to meet all regular fostering requirements, including having a spare bedroom and fluency in the English language.
If you would like to foster children with complex health needs or disabilities who require specialist care, you may have to have experience in this area. If this is an area of fostering you are interested in, we are always looking for foster families who can provide specialist care either full-time or part-time.
