Overview of FOCUS Fostering

Young mother and son looking at phone screen

Lincolnshire County Council, like all other Local Authorities, is facing increased demand for foster homes for children in care, with the numbers of children entering care rising year on year. In recent years, it is becoming more difficult to find fostering households for children aged between 12 and 15 years and children entering care at these ages are more at risk of entering residential care. 

In response to this, a 2-year pilot has been agreed which will have a specific focus on recruiting foster carers who specialise in caring for 12–15-year-olds who have been assessed as being ‘at risk’ of entering residential care. The aim of this pilot is ensuring that children remain close and connected to their community, network and school, and can be supported within a fostering family environment rather than a residential setting. 

We are looking to recruit 12 full-time FOCUS carers, and 6 emergency and/ or support FOCUS carers within the 2-year pilot.

Types of fostering

There are 3 types of FOCUS care arrangements, and we are looking for new carers from all backgrounds and experience levels, for each type of care: 

  1. Full-time FOCUS carers are the primary caregivers and main foster carer for children who are assessed as being more likely to live in residential care when they enter care. 
  2. Emergency FOCUS carers are there to enhance the offer of support to both our existing foster carers and eligible teenagers entering care for a period of up to 4 weeks.  This will enable us work closely with the children’s teams to explore whether the child can return home, to family, or needs to be supported into a longer-term fostering arrangement. Emergency carers will play a vital role in supporting teenagers into care and helping assess their ongoing needs.  
  3. Support FOCUS carers will provide regular respite care to teenagers in FOCUS fostering homes. This role can be full-time, or part-time to work around your commitments. Support FOCUS carers will play a vital part in building and strengthening the support networks of both the children and FOCUS foster carers and will provide children with consistent respite opportunities.