Day foster care is for parents who do not want their children in full time care, but need daily support to cope with their children. The foster carers are given special training and are individually selected to help look after the children in their own home. The children do not have to be separated permanently from their parents, since they are able to spend the evenings with them. This method of foster care is intended to help parents overcome whatever difficulties they are experiencing, so that they can take over looking after their children on a full time basis. The foster parents can help the birth parents with advice and support, giving the best care possible to the child.
Short term foster care is for children that need a temporary home to stay in, until they can either move back to their parents' home, or they can move in to an adoptive family's home. Short term foster care is used in the following kinds of situations: cases of domestic violence, sexual abuse, neglect, illness or death in the family.
Long term foster care is intended for children who are very unlikely to move back in with their birth parents and cannot be adopted. Long term foster care can be for a period of many years. The situation is monitored and reassessed by professionals periodically. Sometimes the child can return to their real home, in other cases it is not suitable: it depends on what the child's needs are and how well the birth parents can provide for those needs. In many cases, long term foster care children stay with their foster families until they reach independent age.
Emergency foster care is used when there is a crisis and the placement with foster or adoptive parents has broken down. The child is placed with emergency carers as a temporary measure, before being moved again to a more permanent place of care.
Respite care is for parents or foster parents who need a break from caring for a difficult child. This is done to alleviate the stress and work from the care givers and ensure that the child is looked after safely during the respite period.
