Our assessment process enables Amicus to learn about you and your family, and together decide whether fostering with Amicus is for you. It is an extremely important process to ensure that all children and young people placed in foster care are safe, secure and can reach their full potential. In line with regulations, Amicus follow a two-stage process, which generally takes between 4 and 6 months.
Stage 1
1. Initial Enquiry
Making an initial enquiry is easy and this can be done by filling out our online form, by email on enquiries@amicusfostercare.com or by phone on 01179555039.
Once we have received your enquiry a member of the team will call you to answer any questions you have and to discuss whether fostering is right for you and your family. We will talk about your reasons for considering fostering and ask you to share any previous experience working with or looking after young people, details about your home and the time you have to care for children.
2. Initial Home Visit
3. The Skills-to-Foster Preparation Training
You will be required to attend a two day course called Skills to Foster which is informative and fun. You will be invited to attend before the assessment begins or during the assessment. The facilitation of this course is managed by Amicus managers and social workers with additional support and input from approved foster carers and young people that have experienced the care system. The trainers will produce feedback which will be considered as part of your application.
4. Application Process
Stage 2
Assessment
You will now be allocated an assessing social worker, who will undertake a number of home visits with you and your family. This will give the you the opportunity to assess your support networks, accommodation and lifestyle, financial circumstances, income and expenditure, the reasons you wish to foster, and to reflect on your life experiences, and how they may influence your fostering career. The social worker will then produce an assessment report, which will be shared with you, for your approval, before it is presented to the Amicus Fostering Panel.
You will be invited to attend the Amicus Fostering Panel to meet with the panel members, where you will have the opportunity to ask them questions. They will consider your assessment and will then make a recommendation about your approval as a foster carer(s), the final decision is made by the agency decision maker. Your approval is valid for twelve months, after which will follow annual reviews.
