If you’re ready to get started on your journey with us, or maybe would just like some more information, please contact us with your enquiry and a member of our team will get back you.

Our Foster Parents are given financial payments that cover the cost of caring for children and young people (maintenance) as well as a payment for their service (professional fee). This enables Foster Parents to commit to foster parenting as a full-time career and work from their own home. The fees that Flourish provide to our Foster Parents vary according to the type of fostering that is undertaken, the age and needs of the child, and the experience of the Foster Parent themselves..

If you’re approved to be a Foster Parent with Flourish, it’s difficult to put an exact time frame on how long you may wait before you welcome a child into your home as this depends on so many different factors, including the number of referrals in your area, your personal matching preferences, the needs of the children being referred and whether you’re able to meet these needs and the local authority decision.

We receive lots of referrals across our organisation and our team work tirelessly to find the right match for you, your family and the child in care. Typically a new Flourish family will only wait a matter of weeks, and some have a child placed within days.

We receive lots of referrals every month from local authorities looking for suitable foster homes for vulnerable children across the country. There are a number of things we look for when matching children and young people with foster families. We start by checking the Foster Parent has availability and has been approved for the placement type and age of the child. Next, we look at the family’s matching preferences, such as gender, age and interests as well as the needs of the child and the type of care they require.

Once the initial checks are completed, we begin to look at other pieces of information on the referral, such as the child’s known history, the behaviour they’re exhibiting and any specialist care that the child may need. We carefully consider whether the young person will fit in with the family dynamic – especially with other children in the home – and your skills, training and past experiences with other young people with similar needs to understand whether you may be suitable.

We are  based in Kent and currently provide fostering services across the region of Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and parts of London. Any expansion of our services is based on the needs of local authorities for specialist therapeutic fostering, we do not grow for growth’s sake, but to provide a niche service and specially trained families for traumatised children.

Yes, you can absolutely foster if you have pets – in fact, there are some fantastic therapeutic benefits of having pets in the foster home and we often see great companionship between pets and children in care. Of course we do have to make sure that pets are cared for hygienically and have a suitable temperament to be around children and visitors in the home so that we can ensure the safety of the young people we place in your care. Please note, we cannot accept applications from anybody who has a banned breed in the UK, as part of the Dangerous Dog Act.

No, you don’t need to own your house to foster. If you rent either via a private landlord, housing association or council, we will contact them early in the assessment to ensure they are happy with their property being used for fostering. It is advisable to talk to your landlord about your wishes first.