Parent & Child Fostering

Focused on keeping young families together

What is Parent and Child Fostering?

Often referred to as 'P&C' fostering, parent and child fostering is where a parent lives alongside their child within a foster family.

Often a young person lacks a stable home and parenting structure. These parents require support in understanding what it means to be a caregiver for a child. Often, the child will be a newborn baby.

By placing a baby or child, along with one or both parents, in a foster home they can learn to cope with parenthood within a safe, nurturing, and secure environment.

Foster carers are needed to share their knowledge, help the parent learn about caring for a young child and become more confident in their role as a parent.

“Rewards for us include seeing a parent grow in confidence and self-esteem, proving to themselves just how capable they really are, helping them achieve their goals and going on to live independently.” Kath, a P&C Foster Carer

As a parent and child foster carer, you will form part of a multi-disciplinary team that will include social workers, health professionals (such as midwives and health visitors), and any other professional involved in the parent and child’s life.

Some key requirements of a parent and child foster carer:

To offer daily support and advice to parents about parenting their child, safely, over an agreed set period, for example, a 12-week assessment period.
To help a parent and their young child maintain their relationship model and develop develop that special parent and child bond.
To provide emotional care and practical support and advice to parents and their children.

If you'd like to know more about becoming a parent and child foster carer you can download our handy guide to P&C fostering below plus some carer insights below. You can also contact us at any time for an informal chat about this type of fostering, or any of our other placement types.