Types of Placement
Family Options offers five different types of foster placement:
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Long Term Fostering
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Complex Needs Fostering
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Respite Fostering
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Short Term Fostering
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Solo Fostering
Long Term Fostering
Family Options main area of expertise is in long-term fostering. Long-term fostering provides a safe, supportive and positive environment where young people can grow, mature and plan their life as adults with a wide range of supporting resources to help them. At the same time, wherever possible, positive contacts are maintained and promoted with their families.
Long Term Foster carers with Family Options are part of a wider team providing therapeutic and educational support, training respite and assistance with transitional plans for the young person.
Complex Needs Fostering
Family Options is developing a number of foster carers to assist local authorities in ensuring that children and young people with particularly complex problems can retain the benefits of living in a family settling rather than moving to other accommodation.
Foster carers involved in intensive fostering obviously require additional training and support. Family Options provide this through its links with the Young Options team. Training reflects the complexity of needs and challenging behaviour presented by the young people in care. The support involves initial training, ongoing supervision, regular reviews and updates as well as 24/7 access to support.
Respite Fostering
Some Family Options foster carers specialise in providing support to families or other foster carers by offering short break fostering placements to young people.
Family Options have a number of foster carers who have been trained to provide respite care for young people with complex needs, as well as emergency foster care.
Short Term Fostering
Family Options foster carers may support some young people who require a short-term, highly-focused programme of foster care support to help them through a particular period in their life or enable them to achieve a specific objective, such as preparing to move to independent living.
Solo Fostering
Some young people who use Family Options services require constant and individual attention which precludes the placement of any other fostered young people within the same home. In cases like this, there is a higher level of input from social workers, therapists and education services.