Parent and Child

Parent and child fostering is a specialist fostering arrangement in which a child and their parent live with approved foster carers.

Parent and child foster care is an exceptional arrangement and is usually, though not exclusively, for very young babies with a single parent under the age of 18. The parent will live in the foster home with their child and will maintain parental responsibility for them with oversight and support from the foster carer.

A Parent and Child foster carer may be needed when it is considered that a parent and child foster placement is the most suitable way of safeguarding the child and maintaining the developing relationship between parent and child whilst assessment of parenting is ongoing.

A parent and child foster carer’s role, is to offer guidance and assistance to the parent in managing all care tasks for their baby. This may include direct instruction or modelling, it may include responding to questions, or it may include practical support such as accompanying the parent to parent/baby groups, health visiting clinic, shopping etc. The placement should provide a safe and friendly environment which includes supervision and support to the parent to enable them to care for their child independently.

You will be expected to keep a daily record noting observations of the parent’s ability to respond to their baby’s needs, assist with the routine, and manage the practical tasks of washing, ironing, shopping, budgeting etc. These observations will inform any parenting programme or assessment that has been agreed.

You will be expected to be open and honest about the parent’s strengths and vulnerabilities.

Parent and child fostering can be described as an intense but wonderfully fulfilling role.

Parent and child fostering aims to prevent children from coming into foster care and supports families to remain together. The aim is that the parent can eventually provide independent care for their child. These placements provide support at the early stages of parental relationships, a crucial time for parents to bond with their children. Without offering support in these early stages, relationships can often break down, leading to separation.

You may be fostering teenage mums and their children, young mothers and babies, or even a father and child, so you'll need a deep understanding of parenting babies and very young children.

Relevant experience as a parent yourself or in some professional capacity, such as a midwife, would be a real advantage. Also due to the specialist nature, you’ll need to have completed all mandatory training and in most circumstances, you’ll need to have been fostering for a minimum of 2 years.

As mother and baby foster placements last up to 12 weeks and can be quite intensive, you’ll need to be on hand pretty much constantly, so the demand on your time is high.

You will need to provide the parent with a fully furnished bedroom complete with bed, cot, and cot linen and ensure the parent has access to use the sitting room and home entertainment. You will make available and provide full use of toys and equipment for both inside and outside the home. (Suffolk fostering service can provide set up costs for new parent and child foster carers).

Suffolk parent and child foster carers will be paid at tier level 4 (or equivalent) for the parent and tier level 2 for the child.

In the event of the parent leaving the placement, the foster carer would receive tier level 2 for the child only.

See fees and allowances on the Foster Carer Resource hub.