Fostering

There can be many different reasons why a child or young person needs carers: illness, drug and alcohol problems, or relationship difficulties in their own families. They may have suffered neglect or abuse, or sometimes family circumstances may mean their parents find it too hard to manage. Carers can offer a home to a child or young person, for as long as is required - from just a few days or weeks to months or years. 

Why do we need foster carers?

All kinds of people become foster carers - married, living in civil partnerships, divorced or single, male or female, from all ethnic and religious backgrounds, homeowners or tenants. You must be a minimum of 21 years old, but there are no restrictions on the basis of sexual orientation or disability. Some foster carers are already parents, some are not. Some carers work full time, others part time or are retired and others foster as a full time career. 

Personal qualities, and experience with children and/or young people, are more important than age or qualifications. Carers need to have experience of and enjoy spending time with children and young people and have a good sense of humour, lots of compassion, tolerance and bags of energy. 

Becoming a foster carer can be both extremely rewarding and very challenging. Children and young people may be affected by moving to a new home as well as what has happened to them in the past. Some may express this through anger, anxiety or sadness. Some children may be constantly active and children with disabilities can provide additional challenges. As a foster carer, you may also need to help children, who you have grown attached to, with moving on from your care, as well as often working with children's parents. 

Foster carers become part of a committed and skilled team around the child or young person. You would receive professional support from social workers and social care officers, who will also ensure that the care plan for the child you are responsible for is taken forward. 

Short Breaks

Short Breaks carers provide respite care for children and young people, both in birth and fostering families. 

Short Breaks care is needed for a range of reasons: 

• To give families a break. 
• To enable parents/carers of children with disabilities to spend some one-on-one time with their other child(ren). 
• Where there are other family difficulties. 
• To provide the opportunity to interim foster carers for a break from caring. 
• To provide the child the opportunity for individual attention. 

When a child spends time away from their family, it is important they enjoy this time with their Short Breaks carer and look forward to future stays. The respite care is pre-arranged to suit both the family concerned and the Short Breaks carer. Our Short Breaks carers look to develop a good relationship with families receiving support. Carers and children often build close and rewarding links with each other, and in our experience carers gain a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment from providing Short Breaks support. Short breaks fostering also provides vital, regular support to foster carers and families in the community by allowing them some breathing space and time to 'recharge their batteries'. This can range from two or three days to two weeks and can be a very good way of supporting both foster carers and children who live with their own families, where a planned break is necessary to maintain the family unit. 

Emergency foster care

Emergency foster carers provide a supportive family atmosphere for children and young people when circumstances mean they cannot stay with their own families, whether that is for a few days or a few weeks up to three months. Children and young people will maintain contact with their birth families which foster carers will be involved in supporting. Foster carers will also take part in meetings relating to the planning for children. 

Support, training and fees for short breaks foster care is provided in the same way as for emergency, interim, long-term and permanent fostering. 

Interim foster care

Interim foster carers provide a supportive family atmosphere for children and young people when circumstances mean they cannot stay with their own families. This can last for a few weeks or months and up to 2 years. Children will continue to have contact with their birth family and their carers will, alongside the social worker, be involved in helping the family live together again, or where this is not possible, helping the child or young person to move on to long-term or permanent fostering, or an adoptive family. 

The Council needs to add to its supply of foster carers all the time, so that children and young people can be placed with families most capable of meeting their specific needs. 

Carers need to be able to report to meetings and Children's Hearings. You will develop expertise, skills and experience in managing and supporting children with many of the big emotions they may display as well as helping the child or young person to return to their birth parents wherever possible. 

Long-term foster care

When circumstances mean adoption may not be appropriate or possible for some children, long-term foster carers will care for them throughout their childhood, into adolescence and on, ultimately, to independent living. 

This can be the best approach for older children who need, or want, to maintain links with a member of their birth family; for example a parent, grandparent, brother or sister. Long- term foster carers will also encourage the child to feel part of their own immediate and extended family. 

In these circumstances, a full and genuine commitment is needed from carers until the child or young person reaches independence. Support and ongoing training will be provided. 

Permanent foster care

When adoption is not appropriate either as a result of age or circumstances, children usually aged under 12 can be legally secured with their carers through a Permanence Order. 

This order may remove the birth parents' parental rights and responsibilities and could transfer them to the local authority or these can be shared between the parents and the local authority. Looking after a child who is subject to a Permanence Order means that you are committing to them until they are independent. The child becomes part of your family, and many of the day-to-day decisions about their care rest with you. 

Becoming a foster carer

What happens once you have contacted us? 

• You will receive an initial home visit from a member of the Family Based Care Team to discuss things further and look at what you might have to offer. 
• If this initial visit goes well, we will send you an application pack, and you'll then be allocated an assessing social worker who will visit you at home several times to find out more about you and your family as part of the assessment process. 
• ​​​This process is designed to: 
  • Identify the skills and experience you already have, as well as areas that might need further development. 
  • Explore if fostering is the right thing for you and if this is the right time for you and your family to be doing it. 
  • Ensure that as a Council we can keep vulnerable children and young people safe and well cared for. 
• Disclosure Scotland checks will be carried out to ensure you are not disqualified by law from working with children. You will also go through a full medical check and we will request personal references.  Checks will also be undertaken with regard to previous partners, employment and finance, home health and safety and pets in your home. 
• You will attend group training sessions to help you learn about issues involved in caring for children and young people. This will comprise a number of sessions, usually held over three days and two evenings. 
• If all these requirements are completed satisfactorily, we will then compile a report to go to the Council's Fostering and Permanence Panel for consideration. The Panel will make a recommendation about your approval as a foster carer before our Agency Decision Maker decides whether to formally approve you. You will attend the Panel, which comprises a range of people with an understanding of fostering issues, with your assessing social worker. You will receive a decision in writing from the Agency Decision Maker within 14 days. 

Transferring from another fostering agency

If you are an approved foster carer with another agency and would like to discuss transferring to Perth and Kinross Council, please get in touch. As a foster carer, you have the right to apply to and transfer to another agency.

After an initial discussion, we'll visit you at home to discuss the next steps. We'll discuss the care plans of any children placed with you, the views of the children in placement and the view of the current fostering provider.

If everyone is in agreement, then you need to formally notify your current agency of your intent to move and a meeting (practice planning protocol meeting) will take place within four weeks. We will then agree on the transfer process.

What about your existing placements?

If you have a child in placement the transfer protocol will ensure their care plan is met throughout the transfer process. If the child, their parents and their social worker agrees, the child can remain in placement.

Why transfer to us?

• You will be helping local children stay near their friends and family.
• You will work directly with experienced professionals who work for the same service and in the local area.
• Access to local health and education teams.
• 24/7 phone support where you can speak to experienced staff.
• Regular foster carer support groups for different types of fostering
• Ongoing training provided
• We'll take into account the skills and experience you have developed with your current agency during the transfer process.
• Annual 35 days short breaks or holiday allowance for carers (depending on type of fostering).
• A professional fee and child/young person allowance will be paid for each placement.

• The Council is a non-profit organisation.

Support, training and fees

Once approved as a foster carer, you will continue to receive ongoing support and training from the Council. A strong partnership between carers and social workers is vital to ensure fostering services work well together and issues can be addressed together. 

Carers receive support and guidance from their supervising social worker, who will also help them identify areas of training or personal development that will enhance their knowledge and skills. Experienced carers are also often willing to act as mentors for newly approved carers. 

Foster carer groups actively offer both formal and informal support to local carers, promoting their views and partnership working, as well as considering issues for training. There is a range of relevant training offered for foster carers, including child development and other areas such as child protection and the law. 

Approved carers are reviewed annually, to ensure they are able to continue to look after children and also that they are receiving enough support from the Council. 

The Council pays fees and allowances to carers that reflect the specific types of care being offered and take into account each carer's skills, qualifications, approval level and past experience. This helps to ensure children are placed with carers who have the skills and expertise best suited to their individual needs. 

For 2025-2026, the following allowances and fees are paid to foster carers (weekly amounts combined and paid fortnightly):

An additional 4 weeks holiday allowance is also paid: 1 week at Christmas, 1 week at child's birthday and 2 weeks at summer holidays.

Getting in touch - local information

For emergency, interim, long-term, permanent and short breaks fostering enquiries, please contact our Family Based Care Team: 

Perth and Kinross Council
Almondbank House 
Lewis Place
North Muirton
Perth
PH1 3BD 

Telephone: 01738 477806 
Email: ECSFPDuty@pkc.gov.uk 

Also, see our information pack in the downloads section on the right of this page if you would like more information about becoming a foster carer.

Go to Fostering, adoption and kinship care for general information about the Council's fostering, adoption and other care services.

Getting in touch - general information

General information and advice on fostering, adoption and other care services in Scotland is available from:

The Fostering Network in Scotland
2nd Floor, Ingram House 
227 Ingram Street
Glasgow
G1 1DA 

Telephone: 0141 204 1400 
Email: scotland@fostering.net
Website: www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk 

AFKA (Association for Fostering Kinship and Adoption)
14 Links Place
Leith
Edinburgh
EH6 7EZ 

Telephone: 0131 322 8490 
Email: info@afkascotland.org
Website: AFKA Scotland 

Complaints

Perth and Kinross Council is committed to providing a high-quality service to the public. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you receive, please let us know. 

You can initially discuss this with the individual Team Leader or Service Manager. We try and resolve any issues or concerns through the involvement of the appropriate line manager. 

If your concern is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may use our Complaints Procedure which will ensure independent investigation. 

You may also choose to contact the Care Inspectorate with your complaint:
Care Inspectorate 
Compass House
Riverside Drive
Dundee
DD1 4NY 

Telephone: 0345 600 9527 
Email: enquiries@careinspectorate.com