Fostering ^Verb 1. encourage the development of; 2. bring up (a child that is not one's own)

Fostering is caring for children or young people in your own home while their own parents are unable to look after them.

Local authorities have a responsibility to look after children in their area who are in need, and they see foster care as a good way of meeting children’s needs.

About 79 percent of children who are looked after away from home in the UK live with foster families. Foster carers are child care experts working alongside a team of professionals providing children with the highest standard of care.

Fostering is not easy; but it offers the opportunity to make a huge difference to the lives of the children who need it and it can be a very rewarding experience. It can be a temporary arrangement, and many fostered children return to their own families. Children who cannot return home but still want to stay in touch with their families often live in long-term foster care.

Fostered children are not like your own children, and love is not enough to enable you to look after them. Fostering is an important and valuable job, and more people are recognising the skills and commitment that go into looking after other people’s children.

Anyone can apply to become a foster carer providing you have the room in your home and the right qualities to look after children who cannot live with their parents. There is no age limit, you can be gay or straight, single or a couple, male or female, of any race or culture.

You do not need to be a home owner and you can have a high or low income. You do not need to have had your own children.

The only specific barriers to applying are if you have certain types of criminal record. Applicants will be required to undergo a criminal record check before becoming a foster carer, so early disclosure of any offences is essential.

What is important is that you have time and space in your life for a child who may be demanding. You will need to show that you can care properly for children and are willing to undergo preparation and training for the job you will be doing.

Although deciding to foster is a very personal decision, it doesn't just involve you. Fostering directly involves every member of your family, and will have some impact on your extended family and even friends too.

Everybody you call family or who you rely on needs to be fully supportive of your decision to foster.