Welcome to Northern Ireland's Health and Social Care (HSC) Fostering Service
Welcome to Northern Ireland's Health and Social Care (HSC) Fostering Service.
There are around 2,500 children and young people in care in Northern Ireland. Currently 1,916 of these vulnerable children and young people being looked after by HSC Trusts are living with foster carers.
Fostering provides children / young people who cannot live with their own families for whatever reason
with alternative care where they can benefit from a safe,
stable and nurturing home for as long as they need it. Some children / young people will need a home for a short
time, others will need a home until they reach independence.
The five HSC Trusts have statutory
responsibility for the welfare of all 'Looked After Children' (LAC) in
Northern Ireland. As such, we are in the best position to place
children and young people with foster carers.
There are currently over 1,900 HSC foster
carers - made up of emergency, short term, long term, kinship (friend / family)
and respite foster carers.
However, there is an URGENT need for more foster families across Northern Ireland, particularly
for foster carers who could offer children / young people a long term commitment.
We would like to recruit people who are patient, understanding, compassionate and flexible
and who have time and space in their lives to devote to a child / young person's needs.
Applications to foster will be considered 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 social work support.
There are children and young people across NI waiting for a foster home today.
You could brighten up their world by becoming a HSC foster carer.
'Could You be a Foster Carer?' poem by Michael Sharkey, foster carer (PDF - 56kb)