Assessment and Approval Process

We welcome applicants to Time Out Fostering. Following interest from you as a potential carer(s) an introductory letter and an information pack will be forwarded to you.  A Time Out Fostering social worker will visit your home to talk about fostering with you. You can then fill out an application form. You will be allocated a ‘Form F assessor’. This person specialises in assessing carers using the ‘Form F’. This is a form used by all agencies to assess foster carers.  It is written by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering. You will need to have some checks and references carried out.

The assessor will visit you 6-8 times for about 1.5 hours. They gather information about you to complete the Form F.

Your Form F then goes to a group of people called ‘The Panel’ who recommend whether people become foster carers.  A person called a decision maker will let you know if you have been approved  to become a foster carer.

All this takes between three to six months.