Fostering & Adoption

Our future lies in the hands of today’s children – giving each of us the responsibility to help them reach their full potential…especially those who require a little extra nurturing.

Fostering is a way of providing family life for someone else’s child in your own home when they are unable to live with their birth family. This can be due to many reasons; illness, relationship problems, family breakdown, or perhaps a situation where the child’s welfare is threatened. Fostering differs from adoption, in that an adoption order ends a child’s legal relationship with their natural family, whereas looked after children remain the legal responsibility of the local authority and/or their birth parents. For a whole variety of reasons there are around 45,000 children in the system.

There is a common misconception that children placed in foster care have been so because of delinquency, anti-social behaviour or other behaviour not becoming of their home environment. This is simply not the case. Many children are the unfortunate casualties of parental break-ups, a single parent suffering from illness be it emotional or physical, or simply a child who is not wanted by their biological parent/parents. Foster carers provide a safe, secure and stable environment for these children and young people and the foster care placement can last for days, months or even years. Many children return home to their families but others may receive long-term support; either through continued fostering, adoption, residential care or by being helped to live independently.

First and foremost a family looking to adopt or become a foster carer needs to be able to provide any child under their care a stable and loving environment where they can feel safe and wanted. If you believe this is you, you will find on this website a number of agencies and local departments that can give you more information on the process and discuss with you any questions you may have.

Children in Yorkshire and the Humber are waiting for loving, permanent homes

The adoption agencies which provide adoption services for the local councils in the Yorkshire and Humber area are looking for families with room in their heart and in their home for children who are waiting.

Across the region there are around 200 children waiting for a permanent loving home.

Lots of people want to adopt, but unfortunately children in sibling groups, those who are older, have health needs or who have a minority ethnic heritage, often wait much longer to find a loving family. This is why the regional adoption agencies for the area; One Adoption North and Humber, One Adoption South Yorkshire and One Adoption West Yorkshire, are hoping to find people who might be able to meet the needs of these children.

Considering adoption is a huge decision for anyone. At times it is challenging, as parenthood is for everyone, but adoption is an incredibly rewarding and positive experience.  A lot of parents who adopted siblings say adopting children with their brothers and sisters has been the most beneficial factor in their children’s adoption journey.

There are a lot of myths surrounding who can and can’t adopt but it’s important that people don’t rule themselves out without finding out the facts.

Adopters don’t have to be married or in a relationship. Lots of single people adopt through One Adoption, and around 20% of all adopters approved by One Adoption are LGBTQ+.  People of any race or religion are welcome to apply, as are people who have a disability. The only criteria is that you must be 21 years or older, have space in your home and a willingness to provide a safe and loving home for a child. Finance is also sometimes seen as a barrier to adopting, but you don’t have to have a certain income or amount of savings to adopt, you just need to be financially secure enough to raise a child.

The first step to becoming an adopter is to attend an information event which are held regularly by the three One Adoption agencies. Most events are online and can be booked through the One Adoption website: www.oneadoption.co.uk.

Becoming a foster carer in England

Fostering with Leeds City Council

We urgently need to increase the numbers of foster carers from all backgrounds and circumstances to help make a real difference to the lives of children and young people in Leeds.

Currently, we arrange care and support for around 1,300 children and young people and need more local authority foster carers to help us.

In order to encourage more people to join us, we have introduced a new payment for skills service providing a comprehensive range of professional support, financial assistance and training for our foster carers and recently established a new Fostering Recruitment staff team able to respond quickly and efficiently to all fostering enquiries.

New website for Fostering with Leeds – www.foster4leeds.co.uk

A new website providing comprehensive up to date information on becoming a foster carer with Leeds City Council has been launched in April. For all up to date information on fostering with Leeds, including the range of opportunities available and the support we offer, please use the link on the right hand side of this page.

For all enquiries on becoming a foster carer for Leeds, please contact:

The Fostering Recruitment Team (0113) 247 7443 (includes answerphone / message taking facility).

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