Who can foster a child?Fostering is all about providing care and support for a child or young adult when they are unable to live with their parents or other relatives. Becoming a foster carer is open to people from a wide range of backgrounds, meaning that fostering is open to everyone who is able to offer care and support for a young person. 

Every child in foster care will need something different from their carer, and sexuality, race, religion, gender or age does not determine whether you can become a foster parent. As fostering experts, here at Fostering2Inspire we know that fostering children can be a fantastically rewarding experience and as such welcome as many people as possible to start their fostering journey. If you are unsure if you can foster a child then do not worry, as we have applicants under many different circumstances such as people who are single or divorced as well as from many different working backgrounds such as teachers and healthcare professionals.

So pretty much any person is able to foster a child, but they will need to meet a set of criteria to ensure they are in the right position to offer the care and support that is required of them.

Can I foster?

We often get asked ‘Can I foster a child?’, and to help our potential candidates with this question we take them through our fostering criteria to make sure they are able to foster. Potential foster carers will need to:

  • Be older than 21 years of age. There is no upper age limit for being a foster parent.
  • Have a spare bedroom where your foster child will sleep in. Foster carers do not have to own their own home.
  • Want to foster children and young people. 
  • Have enough time to offer the care and support needed. 
  • Be a British Citizen or have permanent Leave to Remain.

Fostering is a wonderful life changing experience, and if you feel you meet this criteria, then it does not matter about your race, sexuality or job. If you would like to foster, but are unsure about the process, then please get in touch with us.