How ACS Supports Foster Families

What foster family support looks like at ACS 

At ACS, our experience has taught us how to support foster families from a diverse range of backgrounds, helping you feel confident and ready to transform the lives of vulnerable children and young people. Here is what you can expect when you become a foster parent with ACS.  

Our team is wrapped around you 

For us, supporting foster families means really being there for you, your family, and the children in your care, understanding the unique challenges you might face.  

When you join us, we’ll allocate a supervising social worker to you, who’ll be by your side throughout your fostering journey. Our supervising social workers are experienced and dedicated to giving you the advice and guidance you need to move forward with confidence. They’ll meet with you regularly, monitoring your progress and will ensure you receive any additional support you may need.  

Another great thing about our support is that it’s local to you. Each of our offices is led by an expert team of social workers, trainers, administrative support, and more, all highly qualified and on hand for whatever you need.  

English not your first language? At ACS, our multilingual team speak several languages, and you’ll have access to our 24/7 helpline, so you always receive support no matter the day or hour. 

Training for every stage 

You don’t need experience to become a foster parent with ACS because you’ll receive ongoing training that’ll prepare you for every stage of your fostering journey.  

We offer training for foster parents, both face-to-face and online, helping you fit it around other commitments. Here’s a sneak peek at what you can expect from our extensive training programme: 

• Prepare to Foster Training: You’ll complete our first training course during your assessment, where you’ll learn about the role of a foster parent and receive an introduction to key topics, such as trauma, childhood development, and behaviour.  

• Mandatory Training: Once approved, you’ll begin our mandatory training, which covers areas like safeguarding, first aid, and PRICE, giving you a foundation of knowledge to build upon.   

• Additional Training: We’re committed to your professional development, which is why you’ll have opportunities to complete advanced courses specific to your foster child’s needs, such as bullying, online safety, and understanding autism. These can be particularly helpful if you foster long-term, as children’s needs change as they grow. 

• Cultural and Religious Training: We offer courses, so you know how to care for a child’s cultural and religious needs, which form a vital part of their identity.   

Helping you build connections in your community 

You won’t just receive support from our team here at ACS; we’ll help you build connections in your local community too.  

It takes a village to raise a child, and sometimes you just need someone who is on the same journey as you to offer a listening ear or a reassuring word. That’s why we organise regular foster family support groups where you can meet other foster parents, build connections, and share your experiences in a safe space.  

We also host regular activities and events for your whole family to enjoy, and have excellent links with local mosques, synagogues, churches and other key community groups, so you have an even wider network of support to lean on. 

Thorough matching process 

At ACS, we specialise in faith-based and cultural matching. This means we are experts in matching children with foster families who understand their backgrounds, speak their language, and know how to nurture their faith. 

For example, if a Sikh child is waiting for a foster home, we’ll try our very best to match them with Sikh foster parents, who can continue helping them learn about their faith while they’re in care. Again, if a Jewish Child needs a home, wherever possible, we’ll match them with a Jewish family. 

We understand the importance of providing children with the continuity, familiarity and comfort that their culture and faith bring, as they try to make sense of their circumstances and begin building a brighter future.  

If we can’t match children with foster families who share their religion or culture, we’ll match them with a family who’s willing to learn about their needs and provide specialist training to support them. 

Fostering allowances that reward you 

We believe that finances should never be a barrier to becoming a foster parent. That’s why, when you foster with us, you’ll receive a generous fostering allowance that ensures you can meet the needs of children in your care, while also being rewarded for your hard work and dedication.  

Our fostering payments are typically tax-free due to qualifying care relief and are above and beyond recommendations set out by The Fostering Network. This means that when you foster with us, you don’t have to worry about how you’ll make ends meet, giving you more time to focus on what really matters – changing young lives.  

You’ll also benefit from additional perks, such as a summer and winter bonus payment each year, 14 nights of paid respite care, and access to our foster parent rewards platform, where you can receive hundreds of discounts.