Types of Foster Care
Short-term When carers look after children for a few weeks or months, while plans are made for the child's future
Long-term Not all children who need to permanently live away from their birth family want to be adopted, so instead they go into long-term foster care until they are adults
Short breaks (Family Link Scheme) This is when children with additional needs regularly stay for a short time with a family, so that their family and the child can have a break
Remand When young people are remanded by a court to the care of a specially trained foster carer
'Family and friends' or 'kinship' A child who is the responsibility of Blackpool Council goes to live with someone they already know, which usually means family members such as grandparents, aunts and uncles or their brother or sister.
Family and friends carers play a unique role in enabling children and young people to remain with people they know and trust if they cannot, for whatever reason, live with their parents.
Family and friends carers are relatives, friends and other people with a prior relationship with somebody else’s child, who are caring for him or her full time.
For further information on Family & Friends Carers (Kinship Care) please see the
Family and Friends Care leaflet and the new
policy document (September 2011) and
Appendix A 'Caring for Somebody Else's Child: The Options'