Types of Placement

Fostering children does not have to be a full time commitment, and we appreciate that some peoples’ personal circumstances mean that they are unable to commit to such. In addition some people want to make less of a commitment initially, but aim towards a full-time fostering carer in the future.

As such there are different types of fostering available, and the staff at Lorimer Foster Services will work closely with you to decide which type of placement best suits you.

Here is a list of the types of placement we offer:

Emergency placements

These are often made at times of acute crisis for families or when a child’s safety can only be guaranteed by providing foster care. Sometimes the children and young people are subjects of Police Protection Orders, Emergency Protection Orders or Interim Care Orders. Due to the nature of these placements they tend to be unplanned, and may often be 'out of hours'. In such circumstances it is difficult to put a likely time limit on the duration of the placement, but it is generally only for a few days or weeks in order to make more permanent plans.

Short-term

This is when carers look after children for a few weeks or months, while plans are made for the child's future. It is important to understand, however, that it can often be difficult to make such plans, and that sometimes things go wrong. As a result, some placements that were originally only intended to last a few weeks can last much longer, and some can last for years leading to a Long-Term fostering arrangement being sought for the carer and child.

Respite

All Lorimer Foster Services (LFS) foster carers receive, as part of a wider, comprehensive package of support, a minimum of 2 weeks respite per year. During this time the foster child/children will go to live with another identified carer, whilst the original carer continues to receive their professional fee.

Some people, who are new to foster caring or have a limited amount of time to give to fostering, choose to act solely as respite carers.
In addition to children already placed with Lorimer, some local authorities refer young people in their care to us for regular respite with a named foster carer.

Remand

This is when young people are remanded by a court to the care of a specially trained foster carer.

Long-term

Not all children who need to permanently live away from their birth family want to be adopted, so instead they go into long-term foster care until they are adults.