Focus Foster Carer

Join Our Vibrant Service as a Focus Foster Carer

£39,104 - £42,848 per annum (made up of skills payment £540 per week and £212- 284 per week basic allowances per week tax free

We are looking for a professional who can change a life, where you can really make a difference? Using your professional experience in a different way.

Focus Fostering is a specialised form of fostering providing solo homes for children between the ages of 5 to 18 years old. The children referred to the Focus fostering scheme have more complex support needs and may have often had a number of previous foster care placements which may have broken down. Focus fostering can be demanding but also highly rewarding.

Focus foster carers provide specialised support for young people with complex needs and challenging behaviours. An enhanced carer will need to be able to provide a nurturing and stable environment to help a child/young person stabilise and adapt post trauma. This involves meeting their physical, emotional, and social needs, supporting their education, and promoting their well-being to help them thrive.

We currently have 11 successful focus families and are looking to expand further.

This is fostering with purpose, backed by professional training and support.

What skills do you need?

If you've worked in residential care, education, SEN, social work, CAMHS, or counselling, youth worker or with children with disabilities, amongst others you already have many of the key transferable skills we’re looking for:

• Emotional resilience and the ability to stay calm under pressure.
• Behaviour management experience with children who display challenging behaviours.
• A trauma-informed approach or an understanding of attachment difficulties.
• Experience supporting children with mental health, SEN or behavioural needs.
• Strong communication skills to work as part of a multi-agency team.
• Relationship-based practice that supports emotional regulation and trust-building.
• Patience, empathy, and consistency in your care approach.

You will receive comprehensive support from your own allocated social worker, with fortnightly contact and also access to a multi-agency service including social workers, therapeutic social workers, support workers and virtual school. The support offered reflects our commitment for children to have the right to a family life despite their difficulties and includes:

• 24 hours, seven days a week support with a dedicated on-call service.
• Fortnightly meetings with the Focus team and other Focus foster carers.
• Fortnightly face to face contact with your social worker.
• Full training and preparation programme.
• A generous weekly allowance.
• Access to a team of professionals to support you and the child in placement.

Salford fostering team provide our foster carers with excellent on-going training, support and tax-free financial package and benefits. We have a supportive network of foster carers to help support fellow carers. The team support family fun days during school holidays and host various afternoons and evenings on a regular basis to receive peer-to-peer support.

The role will involve:

• Creating a safe, secure, and nurturing home.
• Supporting a child’s daily routines, education, health, and emotional development.
• Promoting positive relationships, including contact with birth family (where appropriate).
• Working closely with professionals, attending meetings, and advocating for the child.
• Helping young people stabilise post-trauma and build resilience for the future.

What You’ll Receive:

We know therapeutic fostering is demanding that’s why we’re committed to providing everything you need to succeed:

• Fostering allowances
• Full therapeutic training and preparation programme.
• 24/7 support including a dedicated on-call service.
• Fortnightly face-to-face visits from your family placement worker.
• Regular peer support groups with other Focus carers.
• Access to our wider multi-agency team (social workers, psychologists, teachers).
• Fostering Network Membership
• Blue light card
• Company shop membership
• Access to networking and community events

Why join us?

Whether you're looking to step away from a shift-based role in residential care, transitioning from social work or youth work or looking to use your teaching or counselling experience in a new way this is your chance to create lasting change in a young person’s life.

This is more than fostering it’s a professional role with real emotional and financial rewards.

Interested?

To find out more or to express your interest, email: fosterforus@salford.gov.uk or Emily.Garner@salford.gov.uk
For more information, please visit FosteringSalford City Council