What is Foster Care?

For Thurrock this means offering local children and young people a home while their own parents are unable to look after them. Foster carers don't have the same legal responsibilities as the parent has for the child. As a foster carer you are not trying to replace parents but help reunite the family by working in partnership with the child's family and Thurrock Fostering.

Just about anyone can be a foster carer, so long as you are over 21 and have room in your home. Foster carers come from all age groups and backgrounds, living in all kinds of homes. They may be retired, working, married, single or unemployed and may or may not have children of their own. What they do have in common is that they want to make a difference to a child's life.

What you also may not realise is that there are many different types of foster care, so you can be involved for a few hours or a few years, its up to you. If you're committed to helping then we will find something that works for you.