Welcome
Here
Welcome to Northern Ireland's Health and Social Care (HSC) Fostering Service.
There are around 2,400 children and young people in care in Northern Ireland. In any one day approximately 1,700 of these children and young people being looked after by Health and Social Care Trusts are living with foster carers.
Fostering provides children who cannot live with their own families for whatever reason
with alternative care where they can benefit from a loving, safe and
stable home for as long as they need it.
The five Health and Social Care Trusts have statutory
responsibility for the welfare of all 'Looked After' children in
Northern Ireland. As such, they are in the best position to place
children with foster carers.
There are currently around 1,800 Health and Social Care foster
carers - made up of emergency, short term, long term, friend / family
and respite carers.
There is need for more foster carers in Northern Ireland.
The Trusts would be delighted to hear from anyone who cares about
children and
feel they could help them through a difficult time in their lives.
Applications will be considered by individuals irrespective of age,
gender, race, religion, marital status, income, working arrangements
or sexual orientation.
Our foster carers receive financial allowances,
ongoing training and 24 hour support to help them fulfil this vital
role.
There are children across Northern Ireland who are waiting for a
foster home today. You could brighten up their world by becoming a
Health and Social Care foster carer.
Click here to read an inspiring poem
entitled 'Could You be a Foster Carer?'
penned by one of our foster carers (PDF - 56kb)
(please note pdf open in a new window)