Types of foster care include:
Emergency - where children need somewhere safe to stay for a few nights.
Short-breaks - where disabled children or children with special needs or behavioural difficulties enjoy a short stay on a pre-planned, regular basis with a new family, and their parents or usual foster carers have a short break for themselves.
Short-term - where 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 cannot return to their own families want to be adopted, especially older children or those who continue to have regular contact with relatives. These children live with long-term foster carers until they reach adulthood and are ready to live independently.
Therapeutic Fostering - The Therapeutic Fostering Scheme is a county wide service offering family placements to children and young people aged 3-15 years. The aim of the scheme is to provide a therapeutic environment for children and young people with complex emotional needs, to make a positive difference to their future.
Remand fostering - where young people in England or Wales are "remanded" by the court to the care of a specially trained foster carer.
Kinship fostering - where children who are looked after by a local authority are cared for by people they already know. If they are not looked after by the local authority, children can live with their aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or grandparents without outside involvement.