Emergency fostering
Providing children somewhere safe to stay for a few nights.
Short-term fostering
Looking after children for a few weeks or months, while plans are made for their future.
Short breaks or respite fostering
This is when you provide disabled children or children with special needs or behavioural difficulties a short stay. This is on a pre-planned, regular basis, allowing their parents or usual foster carers to have a short break for themselves.
Long-term fostering
This is fostering children who cannot return to their own families and it is not possible for them to be adopted. Instead they are likely to be placed with long-term foster carers. You will foster these children until they are ready to live independently.
Private fostering
Private fostering is an arrangement between a parent and a carer who is not a close relative of the child. The arrangement is expected to last 28 days or more.