Worthing fostering agency is recruiting more carers

Yet the number of foster carers is not increasing to meet this demand.

asphaleia fostering are recruiting new carers and have launched a campaign to raise awareness of fostering being a rewarding and secure career option, with hundreds of placement referrals coming in every day. The campaign highlights the reasons interested people may put off making an enquiry and how some of those reasons may be based on misconceptions about the role, the requirements, and the application process.

Fostering has many myths surrounding it and what is involved in being a foster carer, such as; you can’t be a single carer, or you can’t keep your current job. Fostering is open to more people than you might think, with the main stipulations being that you must be over 21, a UK resident, and you need a spare room.

“We support and invest in our carers,” says Kim Scillitoe, Manager of asphaleia fostering.

“Being a carer with asphaleia means you’re part of an organisation that delivers holistic services for children and young people that your placements can benefit from.”

asphaleia need dedicated and professional foster carers and it is appropriate that the decision is thought through carefully. However, there can be concerns that hold enquirers back from pursuing this career when they needn’t.

One concern relates to current employment and whether you must give up your job to become a foster carer. An asphaleia carer shared this concern before applying,

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to carry on working part-time while I fostered but asphaleia have been really understanding and flexible in working around and supporting my various part-time work commitments.”

They also had questions around the potential impact on their birth children,

“We were worried that bringing a traumatised child into our home might negatively impact our two birth children, but we have a delightful foster child who calls our birth children his brothers and they call him their brother too. Expanding our family has been a really good experience for all of us.”

Particularly in the current economic climate, there may be concerns around finances but this asphaleia carer found there were other benefits to family life when working in the home,

“I was worried about the financial impact of giving up a well-paid job to foster but the compensation isn’t too bad (even better if you can foster more than one child or a pair of siblings). However, the best thing is that I now get to be at home and available for my own family and I’m mentally ‘present’ rather than worrying about my stressful previous job all the time.”

It may never feel like the perfect time to foster. But a fulfilling and impactive career could be waiting for you and your concerns could be answered through an enquiry call with asphaleia fostering's Manager.

“Whether you’ve never thought of fostering before, or have been thinking about it for a while, it’s worth having a no-obligation chat with us about it.” Kim urges. “It could be the job you’ve been waiting for.”

Interested readers can visit www.asphaleia.co.uk/be-a-carer for more information and to book an enquiry call.

asphaleia is an organisation whose mission is to impact as many lives of children and young people who have experienced disadvantage as they can. They deliver 16+ accommodation, fostering, further education, and other support services to children and young people in the South East of England.