What is the Fostering Friendly Employer’s scheme?
Fostering Friendly is an initiative created by The Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering charity.
The scheme aims to encourage businesses and organisations to support employees who are Foster Carers, or those on their journey to become a Foster Carer.
Hull City Council is a Fostering Friendly employer and we have been working hard over the last year to encourage local employers to join in pledging support for children in care by becoming a fostering friendly employer.
In 2021, 40% of foster carers combined their fostering role with other employment.
Hull Fostering work with local businesses and organisations to become Fostering Friendly employers, by adapting their HR policies to allow additional leave and benefits to employees who also foster.
If you would like Hull Fostering to approach your employer to become Fostering Friendly, email fostering@hullcc.gov.uk. Alternatively, if you are an employer and would like to join the free scheme, please view our Fostering Friendly Employer booklet below.
The Fostering Friendly Employer scheme gives local businesses the opportunity to support our work to recruit more foster carers, giving Hull’s most vulnerable children and young people a better chance of finding a loving and caring foster home.
The benefits of being an accredited Fostering Friendly employer includes –
- showing that your organisation has a strong corporate social responsibility
- partnership working
- promoting your organisation’s commitment to a healthy work-life balance
- building your businesses brand by telling potential customers you are fully committed to looking after staff and contributing to the local community
- receiving additional training and skills, which could have a positive impact on your organisation. For example –
- first aid
- medication
- health and safety
- dealing with conflict
- and many other Hull City Council courses
Foster Carers provide care, support and stability to children and young people who can’t live with their birth families. It is important that employers not only acknowledge this essential role, but also actively promote and celebrate fostering. By embracing a Fostering Friendly policy, you will not only support employees who are already Foster Carers, but also inspire those who might be thinking about it.
Businesses that adopt the Fostering Friendly policy can have a positive impact on their Foster Carer employees. All you need to do is promote fostering and offer Foster Carers flexible working which includes a min five days of paid leave, enabling them to:
- Attend fostering commitments (i.e. meetings around the child)
- Undertake training
- Help settle a new child/children into their home
The scheme is free to join and Hull Fostering or The Fostering Network can provide a template Fostering Friendly HR policy. Please email laura.gawthorpe@hullcc.gov.uk, fosteringfriendly@fostering.net or visit The Fostering Network to start your journey to become Fostering Friendly.
What are the benefits of being Fostering Friendly?
- Build on your brand and demonstrate your commitment to caring for staff and your local
community - Better understand and support your employees’ needs and improve staff wellbeing
- Be an attractive employer for Foster Carers, who are resilient, committed and skilled professionals
- Play a vital role in recruiting and supporting Foster Carers, with a huge impact for children in
your local community - Engage and inspire staff with learning and awareness-raising events and activities
- Benefit from on-hand expertise from the UK’s leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network
- Be a part of the national celebration of foster care each May: Foster Care Fortnight.
Fostering Friendly employers in Hull
A huge thank you to those businesses and organisations already supporting Foster Carers. As more businesses and organisations gain Fostering Friendly status, we will list them here.
Councillor Linda Tock, the portfolio holder for Children’s Services at Hull City Council said: “We believe that providing practical assistance to Hull City Council employees who choose to foster some of the most vulnerable children in our city is both pioneering and puts the needs of our looked-after children first. By enabling these employees to access paid time off to meet their caring commitments, we are taking a significant step forward.
Amending our HR policy to allow five extra paid leave days per year for foster care duties will not only create more opportunities for employees to support our children and young people in need of loving homes but also have a significant positive impact on the lives of the children being fostered. We are proud to be a fostering-friendly local authority and encourage businesses of all sizes to join this free scheme.“
Sarah Wilson, Chief People Officer, said “I’m extremely proud that we’re supporting the valuable and important work of Hull Fostering and the Fostering Network. Being a Foster Friendly Employer means that we are helping to raise awareness among our staff and students about fostering and the need for more foster carers. We have also committed to providing time off for our staff to support them with the necessary training and commitments.
As an anchor institution in the City of Hull, social justice is of the utmost importance to us and is at the core of our mission and strategy. We know that Hull has a high number of looked after children, and as a major employer in the city we believe we have a responsibility to work with local partners and to support our community in providing a safe and nurturing environment where our young people can thrive.“
HR Services Manager from Humberside Police, Kelly Harrison, said; “Humberside Police have partnered with Hull Fostering and The Fostering Network to become a Fostering Friendly Employer.
The UK is currently experiencing a foster care crisis. The demand for homes for children and young people who have been placed into care far outweighs the number of available fostering households and foster carers. Nationally there is a shortage of around 9000 foster families and in the Hull City Council area alone there are currently around 800 children who have been taken into care who need and do not have a foster home.
Choosing to become a foster carer can make such a vital difference to a child or young person in need of a home, alongside having a significant impact on their future. Therefore, we have pledged our commitment to being a Fostering Friendly Employer and have introduced our Foster Carer’s Leave Policy to assist anyone who applies to become, or who is already approved as a foster carer.
The policy outlines the support provided by the force for time away from work in order to meet your required responsibilities as a foster carer, including attendance at assessments, training and child review meetings. This support is available to anyone who is going through approval to become, or who is already a foster carer with any registered foster care service.”
Operations Manager, Martin McDougall for Hull Depot of Stagecoach, said;” “We are lucky to have a fantastic team of foster carers here at Stagecoach. They truly go above and beyond to provide children and young people with a safe and loving home, helping them achieve their goals and thrive. While fostering certainly has its challenges, it is also incredibly fulfilling. That’s why we are thrilled to be a fostering-friendly employer, supporting our team every step of the way!”
