Fostering in Islington
Fostering can change children’s lives. If you live in Islington, there are many young people who require supportive and caring foster homes. So if becoming a foster carer is something you have been considering, now would be a great time to start your fostering journey. You could join our Fostering Islington team!
As a TACT foster carer, your main role will be to provide a stable, nurturing and caring home environment for vulnerable young people. There are many different types of foster care, so there is plenty of flexibility when it comes to choosing the type of fostering you would like to provide. Fostering is very rewarding. In fact, many of our foster carers have shared the most amazing stories of how they’ve helped empower children in their care to turn their own lives around.
Meet Our Team
We have a great team of staff who provide support to our foster carers in the Borough of Enfield. Priscilla Makambe, our area manager for the area, started working for TACT in 2019. Priscilla previously worked in Local Authority Child Protection and Children with Disabilities Teams before moving into fostering more than 15 years ago.
We cover a wide area in and around the London Borough of Islington, including Finsbury Park, Upper Holloway, Highbury and Clerkenwell .
Why Foster in Islington with TACT?
TACT is the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity. We have been providing nurturing and caring homes for vulnerable young people since 1993.
We work closely with Islington Council to help provide fostering homes to children and young people. As a charity, we do not ‘profit’ from foster care. Instead we reinvest our surplus income into providing more training and support, ensuring that our team of carers in Islington are fully supported and have the knowledge they need to make a difference to young people’s lives.
We also provide additional support over and above what is required of a fostering charity, such as a dedicated Education Service, Health Service – and an online foster carer portal.
Were more than just a fostering agency – we go above and beyond to look after our foster carers and the children they provide care for. Our TACT Connect service ensures that when children leave the care system, they have TACT’s support into adulthood.
This is why 98% of our carers would recommend us to others thinking of fostering.
Rated As ‘Good’ By Ofsted
Following an inspection in March 2022, Ofsted have announced that TACT London, Essex and Hertfordshire has been rated ‘Good’ for its work with foster carers and looked after children.
“Children thrive and make good progress from their starting points. This is because they share positive and trusting relationships with their foster carers. These positive relationships help children to feel safe and secure.” – Ofsted 2022
24/7 Support
As a TACT foster carer, you will be allocated your own Supervising Social Worker who will provide most of the support you require. Our social workers have manageable workloads, which enables them to devote more time to you. Additionally, we provide a dedicated out-of-hours support service for total peace of mind.
We understand that being properly supported as a foster carer is one of the most important factors in deciding on a fostering agency.
Due to our reinvestment of surplus income, we have developed a number of additional support platforms – some of which are unique to TACT. After all, the better we support you, the better you will be able to provide the care and guidance required to change children’s lives.
This is what we provide:
- Full 24/7 support. This is provided by both your own Supervising Social Worker, along with our out-of-hours support service.
- Foster carer portal. An information hub that provides advice and training to help you with your day-to-day life as a foster carer.
- Education service. Ensuring that the young people in your care receive the educational opportunities they are entitled to.
- Health service. Our health service was established in order to provide young people in your care with ongoing physical and mental health monitoring.
- Support groups. Our support groups operate all over Islington and the surrounding areas, and provide you with a local outlet to meet other carers in your area, share experiences and knowledge, and even make new friends!
- Support for young people. Our Children’s Resource Workers provide the children in your care with additional support, activities and events.
- Supporting your own children. We understand that your own children play an important role in the fostering household. As such, our Children Who Foster events provide your own children with an opportunity to socialise with other young people who make an amazing contribution to fostering.
- Peer support. In some areas, peer-to-peer support may be available. These work by pairing newly approved foster carers with experienced TACT carers to provide another level of support.
Fostering Allowance Islington
Foster carers are highly skilled people, and our Islington fostering fees and allowances reflect this.
The fostering allowance is made up of two elements:
- An allowance for each child in your care: this will cover various expenses that you will incur such as food, clothing and any travel you may have to do.
- A foster carer fee: this payment is, in effect, your fee for your skill and knowledge when caring for young people in your home.
The actual allowance is dependent on the type of foster care you provide, the number of children you care for, their age, the complexity of their needs and any other factors specific to the child.
There are also additional payments for children’s birthdays, holidays and religious festivals. We also pay long service awards and a Refer a Friend fee (if you recommend someone who then goes on to be an approved foster carer with us).
Below are some examples of the weekly Islington fostering allowances you could expect to receive when you have a young person placed with you:
Hear From Our Foster Carers in Islington
“There should be enough love to go around”
Fostering can be challenging, but seeing the difference you can make to a young person’s life is so rewarding. My home is a happy one, and my sons have been able to adapt well to fostering situations.
“As a foster carer I try to support every child’s needs.”
Mohammed is a single male carer who started fostering after his own experiences growing up.
“Fostering has bought so much happiness and laughter to our home”
It is a difficult balancing act – being a father to her but not making her feel like I am trying to replace that special relationship that she has with her birth father. We always say that she has not lost anyone, but instead she now has two families who love her.
Fostering Information Events
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Start Your Fostering Journey
