Living with a foster family

This is the "Statement of Purpose" for the Surrey Fostering Service. It tells you some important things.

• The Fostering Service looks after children who cannot stay with their own family for some reason
• The Fostering Service tries to find enough different kinds of foster carers to do this well
• Foster carers are seen by lots of people and checked out to make sure they are good people to look after children
• Once they become foster carers, they are visited regularly by a social worker, and have to do training
• We really value our foster carers, and they have a right to respect
• If a foster carer is not caring for you well, we will listen to you and try to put it right

About you
You are the most important person in all of this. Social workers must ask your views before you go to live with a foster carer, and keep asking and listening to your views regularly while you are living there.

When we match you with a foster carer, we try to do our best to do these things:-

• keep brothers and sisters together
• keep you in touch with your family and friends
• keep you as close to your home as possible
• find a family that has the same race, culture, religion and language as you
• let you have visits to the foster carer before you move in
• make sure that you will get a good education and health care

If we are not able to, we will discuss this with you.

What if you are not happy with the way you're being cared for?
You must tell someone if you are not happy. You have a right to be listened to. Always tell your social worker first unless there is some reason why you cannot do this. You can talk to someone you trust like a teacher, an independent visitor, or your family.

If you want to make a complaint or comment then read here to find out more.

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