At Bexley, we are dedicated to providing the best level of care to our children and young people.

We understand that to do this, we have to provide our foster carers with excellent training and support. Whether you are taking your first steps in fostering or an experienced foster carer we will be here to support you, as a Bexley foster carer, you are never alone.

Support designed for you

When you are approved as a foster carer, you’ll be allocated one of our experienced supervising social workers from the fostering team. The SSW’s role is to support you, to support the children you are caring for.

They are also there to help you deal with the day-to-day challenges of fostering, and they will become an integral part of your fostering life - making visits to you at home, joining you at some of the meetings to discuss the care of children who are living with you, and to provide formal supervision - which is a bit like an ongoing appraisal, and an opportunity to highlight your successes and any difficulties you may experience and need some help with.

Mentorship scheme

New foster carers with Bexley will be pared with a mentor. Mentors are experienced foster carers that understand the challenges and questions new foster carers face. They will help you with your first steps in fostering, like making sure you understand and help you complete essential paperwork, introduce you to support groups, provide advice or tips to help you in your fostering journey.

24-hour support

Our friendly team will always be on hand to support you, either in person or over the telephone or by online video call. Outside of office hours, we have a 24-hour duty telephone line which is available every day of the year.

Personal development

Along with our mandatory training packages we offer a range of additional training and development programmes. Your allocated fostering social worker will work with you to put together a personal development plan which is unique for you.

Support groups

All Bexley foster carers are invited to join our regular support groups. The group is an ideal meeting place for carers to meet each other, share their experience, discuss improvements and learn from each other. We also run regular support groups for children of fostering families.

Bexley’s Foster Care Association (FCA)

The Bexley Foster Care Association is run by existing foster carers who work closely with us to help support foster carers and looked after children in Bexley. They act as representors of Bexley foster carers in meeting and choices over service policies or practice that impact the lives of foster carers. They are also an important team who work closely with foster carers to find solutions to any problems they face and are there to offer advice if the foster carer needs it. The Bexley Foster Carer Association meet regularly and host events for fostering families, helping Bexley foster carers network and share their experiences.