Fostering in Bedfordshire
Fostering in Bedfordshire can change children and young people’s lives. If you have been thinking about becoming a foster carer for some time, or if this is the first time you have considered it, we are here to provide you with all the information you require to start your fostering journey.
Fostering involves providing safe, stable and caring homes to vulnerable children for a certain length of time. As a foster carer, you can choose how you want to make a difference, as there are different types of foster care. Above all, fostering is rewarding. It is about empowering young people to change their own lives for the better, and many of our existing foster carers have shared the most inspiring stories of how young people have thrived in their care. TACT are recruiting foster carers in Bedfordshire in order to provide care and guidance for these vulnerable young people.
Meet Our Team
We have a great team of staff within the Bedfordshire area. Ramona Catarig, our area manager for the area, is truly passionate about improving the lives of children and young people. She manages our great team of social workers in the East Midlands – ensuring that our team of foster parents are fully supported. Ramona has over 21 years’ experience as a social worker, working in Local Authority Children and Young People teams and mainstream and therapeutic Fostering teams. She joined TACT in 2014.
We cover a wide area in and around Bedfordshire, including Kempston, Cranfield, Shefford, Ampthill – and many other areas in the region.
Why Foster in Bedfordshire with TACT?
TACT is the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity. We have been providing nurturing and caring homes for vulnerable children since 1993.
We work closely with Central Bedfordshire local authority to help find caring homes for children and young people. We can only do this with a fantastic team of foster carers – and that’s where you come in. As well as investing surplus income into providing more training and support for our fostering households, we provide additional support over and above what is required of a fostering charity. That’s why we developed our dedicated education service, health service and online foster carer portal.
Additionally, our TACT Connect service ensures that when young people leave our care, they continue to receive our support into adulthood.
This is why 96% of our carers would recommend us to others thinking of fostering.
Rated As ‘Outstanding’ By Ofsted
Following an inspection in February 2024, Ofsted have announced that TACT East Midlands has been rated ‘OUTSTANDING’ for its work with foster carers and looked after children.
“Foster carers build strong, trusted relationships with their children. They make
remarkable progress due to the skill, dedication and commitment offered by the
carers and the supporting TACT team.” – Ofsted, 2024
24/7 Support
When you become a foster carer with TACT, you will be allocated your own Supervising Social Worker who will support you on your fostering journey. Our social workers have manageable workloads, allowing them to devote more time to you. In addition, our dedicated out-of-hours support service will provide you with peace of mind around the clock.
We reinvest any surplus income into additional support platforms to further support you. 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. Provided by your own allocated Supervising Social Worker, along with our 24/7 out-of-hours support service.
- Foster carer portal. An online portal, providing information, 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 Bedfordshire, 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 Wellbeing Practitioners provide the children in your care with additional support, activities and events.
- Supporting your own children. Your own children play an important role in the fostering household. As such, our Children Who Foster events provide your children with an opportunity to socialise with other young people who make an amazing contribution to fostering.
- Peer support. Sometimes, 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 Bedfordshire
Foster carers are highly skilled people, and our fostering allowances reflect this.
There are two elements that make up the allowance you will receive:
- A fee that is, in effect, a payment to you for caring for children in your home.
- An allowance for each child you provide care for. This will cover various expenses that you will incur during your day-to-day life as a foster carer.
The actual fee and allowance that you will receive will be dependent on factors such as the type of foster care you are providing, the actual number of children that you care for, their age(s), as well as the complexity of their needs. You will also only receive fees and allowances when you have a young person placed with you.
There are also a number of additional payments that you will receive, such as payments for children’s birthdays, holidays and religious festivals. In addition to your fostering allowance, we also pay long service awards and Refer a Friend fees (if you recommend someone who then goes on to be an approved foster carer with us).
Hear From Our Foster Carers in Bedfordshire
“Male foster carers can have a real positive influence”
Although Nathan fosters with his wife, Rachael, he talks about being a male role model in his fostering household.
“They have different needs, but every child has”
Debbie and Glyn, TACT foster carers since 2018, have channeled their 35 years of experience in care into fostering children with complex needs. They care for two non-verbal boys with autism, adapting to their unique challenges with patience, creativity, and love.
“It’s about having an open heart”
Sandra, a TACT foster carer since 2004, began her journey by caring for her nephew at 16. With a background in childcare, she embraced fostering with an open heart, focusing on building routines and life skills for the children. Her dedication has positively influenced her own children and continues to impact the lives of those she fosters.