Tusla reports that in March 2020, there were more than 4,000 foster carers on the panel of approved foster carers in Ireland.
Any person or family can apply to Tusla to be assessed as a foster parent or foster family. Foster carers are a diverse group and may be single, married, in a same-sex relationship, employed, unemployed, renting, retired, or have a disability. They may also be from different cultures, ethnic or religious backgrounds.
A foster carer must be able to provide adequate and appropriate accommodation for the foster child. Tusla assigns a social worker to carry out an assessment of suitability. These assessments include meeting all members of the family (particularly the foster parents) over a number of months. References, Garda vetting and a willingness to attend training and ongoing learning support will also be required as part of this process.
Foster carers are a diverse group of people who come from all walks of life.
Foster carers can be:
- Couples – married, co-habiting, same gender
- Single people – widowed, separated, divorced
- People with disabilities – provided your disability or medical condition does not prevent you from caring for a child
- People with or without children
- People who own their own homes, are in private rented accommodation or local authority housing
- Employed / Unemployed people
- Those over 40 years of age
- Those who smoke
- People from different cultures, ethnic or religious backgrounds – having carers from different cultures allows us to match children and young people with suitable families
However in all cases, it is very important that:
- You can provide a stable, nurturing and loving environment for children
- You relate well to and have respect for children
- You do not have a Garda record for violence, offences against children or other serious offences
- You can demonstrate flexibility, openness and patience
- You are willing to attend training courses to support your ongoing learning and skills base.
- For more details on our fostering requirements click here
- You must also abide by our national fostering standards.
Check out the foster care standards regulations here and more information on the criteria for becoming a foster parent here.
