Step Up to fostering
Step Up is a specialist fostering scheme to help find foster carers for children and young people who are ready to leave residential care.
Step Up offers experienced professionals the opportunity to follow their passion for fostering and to make a real difference to the child they care for.
We believe that every child and young person has the right to experience positive family life. Unfortunately, many children and young people who cannot live with their birth family, live in residential care. A national shortage of foster carers means that once a young person has lived in residential care, they often stay there longer than necessary.
We want to give young people who are ready to move into a family home the opportunity to live in a loving and stable family home.
Can I Step Up?
To become a Step Up foster carer you will need to meet the legal minimum requirements for fostering.
You will need to:
- Have a spare bedroom
- Have a fixed permanent residence in the UK
- Have experience of working with children and young people e.g. residential care experience or youth work
- Be able to demonstrate the following qualities:
- an active lifestyle
- creative thinking
- resilience and determination
- commitment to achieving good outcomes for young people
- Be able to drive and have access to a car
- Be available full time to foster once you are approved
- Be committed to training and developing your skills
- Be able to commit to our Practice Model. We will tell you more about this when you get in touch