What Support Will I Receive?

At Lorimer Foster Services we pride ourselves on the high level of individual support each of our approved foster carers received, and this is something reflected in the views our carers have expressed.

Although all approved foster carers, whether working on behalf of an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) such as Lorimer Foster Services (LFS) or the local authority, will have an identified Supervising Social Worker, their case loads (and therefore their availability) may differ widely from place to place. Typically a local authority social worker will have up to 25 or 30 cases, and IFA’s between 15 and 20.

At Lorimer we believe that in order for foster carers, and therefore placements to succeed, a far more intensive level of support is needed. All of our highly qualified Social Workers are specialists in the area of fostering and family placements, and operate with a maximum of 10 approved carers. This obviously means they have more time to devote to each carer, and as such all carers receive fortnightly visits from them when they have a placement, or monthly when they do not.

We can also offer, on an assessed need basis, regular input from one of our Resource Workers. These are experienced trained staff, who will generally come and assist you with specific tasks, either taking the young person out on approved activities or assisting you in the home. Please speak to your assessing social worker for more details on this service.

In addition to a dedicated Supervising Social Worker you will also have access to one of the duty social workers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We understand that fostering, no matter how rewarding, can be a difficult and stressful occupation at times and we guarantee that there will always be someone at the end of the phone to talk to. If there are problems that cannot be resolved this way, the on-call social worker will be happy to come and see you there and then.

Our Commitment to you

At Lorimer Foster Services we entirely support the idea of professional foster carers. As such we expect all our foster carers to act in an appropriate and professional way, and in exchange we offer a professional package of financial and non-financial support.

This includes:

• A children’s allowance and professional fee totaling between £355-£530 per week for each young person placed with you, dependent on their age, level of need and presenting behaviours.
• A separate allowance for birthdays and Christmas for all young people in placement.
• A minimum of 2 weeks paid respite per year.
• Access to 24 hour on-call service of qualified and highly experienced social workers.
• Access to our dedicated Resource Workers, on an assessed needs-led basis.
• Fortnightly visits from your Supervising Social Worker (as one of a protected case-load)
• Quarterly newsletter and Foster Carers Forums.
• A comprehensive range of training and development for all foster carers leading to a fully supported NVQ programme
• A cash Welcome Bonus upon being approved as an LFS Foster Carer
• Access to a range of highly qualified Therapists.
• Complimentary membership of ‘The Fostering Network’ which includes a host of benefits and free services (The Fostering Network Membership Package).