Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Foster Care Budgeting Tips
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
Can you foster if you smoke or vape?
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
What can disqualify you from foster care?
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
How do DBS Checks Work?
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
Fostering LGBTQ+ Youth
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
What are the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services?
10 tips for foster children's education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother's Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children's bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father's Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
FosterTalk Membership with Capstone Foster Care
Supporting foster children's contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Foster Care in TV and Film
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
Independent fostering agencies like Capstone are foster care agencies that work closely with local authorities in order to provide children or young people in foster care a secure and loving home. If you’re interested in becoming a foster carer but aren’t sure whether to choose an independent fostering agency or to foster with a local authority, our guide has you covered. We’ll explain how an independent foster agency works, how it compares to local authority fostering as well as the benefits for you so that you can make an informed decision that’s right for you.
Independent fostering agencies first emerged as a response to the growing demand for child protection services. Prior to this, only local authorities managed the safeguarding of children in the foster care system.
As an independent fostering agency, Capstone approves people to be foster carers for children. Our approved foster carers provide various types of foster care to cater for the needs of the child or young person. This can include both long-term foster care, short-term foster care, and specialist fostering, such as therapeutic fostering - a type of fostering that is unique to Capstone Foster Care, designed to support children and young people who may have dealt with trauma or abuse prior to being placed in foster care.
If you choose to foster with a local authority, you’ll likely receive regular and quick placements, as independent foster agencies tend to step in when a local authority is unable to place a foster child with one of their approved foster families.
Typically, local authorities cover a smaller area than independent foster agencies, as they are responsible for safeguarding all the children within their local council. Independent fostering agencies usually cover a wider geographical area, which gives you more opportunities to foster.
Generally, fostering from a local agency will mean that the children you take care of tend to be babies and young children - but in an independent fostering agency, the children and young people in care are likely to be a bit older.
Independent fostering agencies offer a wide range of benefits compared to local authorities, including a familial feel. In fact, several foster carers decide to make the move to an independent fostering agency after experiencing local authority fostering.
“I was talking to a lady at swimming a while ago who also had a foster child with her, she was a foster carer with the local authority and she told me how she had been waiting 18 months for psychological support for her foster child. We have had meetings with a psychotherapist for 1 hour every week via the Capstone MATTS programme from the start and it made us realise just how different things might be without the support available from Capstone.”
If you’re interested in transferring from a local agency, get in touch today! It couldn’t be more straightforward, even if you are currently fostering children.
As well as a “family feel”, independent fostering has a wealth of benefits compared to local authority fostering
Due to increased resources, there’s more of a focus on training with independent fostering in comparison to local authority fostering. Here at Capstone, we offer continuous training and development to help you excel in your fostering career. Some of the courses include topics such as;
We also provide specialist training for those working as Therapeutic Foster Carers in the form of our ‘Fostering Changes’ training delivered by in-house social workers to give you practical skills needed to support your foster child.
Fostering with an independent fostering agency such as Capstone will provide you with increased support, such as calls and visits from a dedicated social worker, as often as you need them. Our dedicated team is always on hand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to listen to your needs and support you in a professional and friendly way.
Here at Capstone, we're also proud to be an Employee Owned Trust, which allows us to invest more in our foster carers, social workers and therapeutic support. Our trust status has allowed us to develop our own bespoke service MATTS (Multidisciplinary Assessment Treatment and Therapy Service), which provides mental health services to children and young people at the point of need. It provides access to support and training, subject matter experts and specialists who will help you to establish stability within your fostering family.
The fostering allowance generally tends to be better from an independent fostering agency than a local authority. Your fostering allowance will cover the costs of looking after a child and reward you for your time and skill based on the type of fostering placement and the type of foster care. If you’re interested in how much we pay our foster carers, read our guide for more information.
Find out more about why you should choose Capstone as an independent foster agency and trust by reading through our list of benefits. If you’re ready to take the next step in your fostering career but are unsure if you meet the requirements, read our helpful guide explaining who can foster or talk to our helpful team today.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
