Fostering Recruitment Team

What we do

Within the Fostering Recruitment Team (FRT), we assess people who want to become foster carers. We do this by requesting checks and references from a range of other agencies, including health, probation, the DBS service, Ofsted, applicant’s employers, birth children, ex partners and friends and family members. We also request additional checks and references from other agencies, such as education if the applicant’s children are in school and any other organisation that we deem necessary to determine the suitability of applicants based on their individual circumstances. We also complete around 8-10 home visits from the start to the end of the assessment and assessments usually take around 6 months to complete. 

Within FRT we also facilitate the Skills to Foster Course which all prospective foster carers have to complete, which is usually completed across two Saturdays and two evenings. We run the Skills to Foster Course approximately every 2-3 months dependant on demand. We facilitate the course alongside an experienced foster carer who provides insight to the applicants about the fostering role. 

FRT also run the New Carers Support Group which is a support group for all new carers within their first year. This group is currently run quarterly, in person at the Social Work Academy. This is a popular group and a place where newly approved foster carers can offload and discuss their journey so far. 

FRT also run the Designated Support Carer Training which was developed by members of the team and is facilitated in person. We hope to run this training quarterly as well, dependant upon demand.

FRT will also be supervising newly approved carers for the first three months. This will support newly approved carers to have continuity and be supported by the social worker that assessed them to support the carers to begin their fostering journey positively. This will enable the social worker who has completed their assessment to match the foster carers skills and experiences with the right children to support stability for children in care. 

Who we are

Within the Fostering Recruitment Team, we have 2 Managers who job share. We have a full time Deputy Team Manager.

We have a team of social workers who assess prospective foster carers. We currently have 3 senior social workers and a part time social worker.

We have two duty social workers, who mainly manage the ‘front door’. The duty social workers support and talk to people who are thinking about fostering and who want to find out more. Their role is to provide as much information as they can about fostering, undertake home visits to assess suitability and regularly check in with people to encourage and support them to commit to becoming a foster carer.

We also have two family support workers,  who work predominantly within FRT but also across the fostering resource as a whole where there is a need. Their role includes working with birth children of applicants to support their understanding of the fostering role. Supporting applicants to complete their ‘Welcome to Home’ booklets and ‘Safer Caring Plans’ amongst other tasks.

Skills you'll need

The skills required to join our team consist of good communication skills, good assessment writing skills, good interpersonal skills to support positive working relationships between the social workers and the applicants. Good customer service skills, to ensure that our team are providing a good and consistent service to prospective foster carers.

Humour and the ability to work well as a team are also required to support a positive team spirit!

Why you should join us

FRT are a wonderful team of experienced social workers who all have a range of qualities and experiences which make up a supportive and strong team.

We work closely together and are supportive of one another, sharing knowledge and work experience to support everyone to develop their skills. The team enjoys regular reflective sessions, and all social workers have monthly supervision and can contact managers and colleagues at anytime for ad hoc support and advice.

Social workers within the team are consistently providing positive feedback about their experiences of working within FRT. We have supported social work students who also have consistently provided positive feedback about the team and their experiences on placement with us.

The ethos of the team is one of unity, support and continuous professional development. We have a friendly and supportive approach which enables the team to produce good quality assessments and ensures applicants have a positive experience.  

We are a great team, and a team in which you will learn a lot and be able to develop your skills.

How to get in touch

We'd love to tell you more!

You can get in touch with FRT by calling:
📞Tel  01242 532 654 and selecting option 2

Or alternatively 

✉ Email: CSWrecruitment@gloucestershire.gov.uk