Fostering in Coventry

Fostering Coventry

As a Birmingham based agency we have good connections and relationships with our neighbouring Coventry City Council. With that in mind if you are thinking of fostering in Coventry, a really big benefit for you as an F5 Foster Carer is being so close to our headquarters – Our office has an open door policy so you are free to pop in whenever you like for a chat or to ask any questions, its also where we hold the majority of our training and support group meetings.

We are happy to share that we are an approved Foster Carer provider for Coventry City Council (as well as for all local surrounding Local Authorities) which means that when children and young people from the Coventry area are in need of Foster homes, Coventry Children’s Services will forward us a referral to see what suitable homes we have for that child. As such we work with them closely to ensure we recruit and train the most suitable and well matched Coventry Foster Carers possible.

How many children are in care in Coventry

It was reported by Coventry City Council in 2021 that there were 747 looked after children with a total of 303 children starting to be looked after that year. The total children in care population in Solihull has been increasing steadily with a reported rise since 2018 of nearly 14.4%.

The Stats

It is worth noting that Coventry Childrens Services will always try to keep Coventry Children in Coventry (when it is safe an appropriate to do so), as this helps the child to continue with important aspects such as attending school and supervised family time etc, so when we are looking at matching children referred from this local authority to potential foster homes, our Coventry based Carers will always be a first point of call. Additionally, other neighbouring local authorities such as Birmingham or Solihull for example, will sometimes reach out for Coventry based foster carers if they have been unable to find a suitably matched Foster Carer within their own Local Authority.

Why are the children coming into care

The reasons that children and young people are entering care in Coventry is monitored by the Local Authority. You will see from the details below that overwhelmingly this is due to abuse and neglect. During your assessment and training (hyperlink to page about assessment and training???) to become a Foster Carer we will provide you training to understand what impact this may have had on the children that come into your care, their development, their understanding of boundaries or their ability to trust adults to keep them safe.

About the children that come into care

Children come into care in Coventry, of all ages, however we do find that there are certain age groups that have higher numbers, for example, children and young people aged 11-15 years account for the majority of children who are looked after. There are of course other aged children that will be in need of foster homes with the next largest majority being in the 5-10 year old age group

When you hear us talking about matching, one of the areas that we will always try to match where possible is the ethnic profile of children and their Foster Carers. With that in mind this is important information to know as in order to be able to match effectively, there needs to be a foster carer base that reflects the demographics of the city’s children and young people. Coventry City Council report that around 65% of children and young people who are looked after are White British with around 35% of looked after children from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities

What Foster Carers are needed in Coventry

There is a real need at the moment to increase the number of foster home across Coventry. As a whole, we need to recruit committed carers across the board for children of all ages, however, there is a clear and evidenced need to recruit additional Carers that are able to offer homes to children aged 11-15 as most of all fostered children in Coventry fall into this age group.
We are dedicated to keeping siblings together, where appropriate, and as such are in need of homes that are able to consider fostering more than one child. There is also an increasing demand for mother and baby placements and children with complex medical needs and/or life limiting conditions.
A key area for development is the need to find people who could become ‘specialist’ foster carers who, with intensive support and training, could care for children and young people (normally aged 12 and over) with a range of higher end complex needs, who may otherwise be cared for in a group or residential setting.

Full Training and support is provided to our Carers to ensure that they are able to offer the types of placements they would like and are considered suitable for. Click here to find out more about what different types of foster care placements you could offer to children from in and around Coventry. Alternatively send us an enquiry through the form below to contact a member of our team or to request a copy of our fostering brochure.