Short Break Care

Short Break Care is a type of foster care where children or young people are placed with another carer for a short period of time, often a weekend, which enables their main foster carer to take short breaks.

This is sometimes known as respite foster care. When arranging short break care, we try to match the children with a regular short break carer so they get to know the family and benefit from the same stability and familiarity they would have with their main foster carer.

Some carers choose not to foster full-time but opt to provide short break care, committing to shorter, less regular periods of fostering, but some carers also build up their experience in fostering by beginning with short break care before moving on to longer-term arrangements.

Short Break Care:

• Allows both the foster carer and the child a change to experience a short-term change to the usual routine which can be helpful to young people with complex needs which impact their behaviours.
• Is subject to the same rigorous fostering standards as full-time foster care.
• Can offer more flexibility for people who want to be foster carers but have other life or family requirements at present.

To find out more about Short Break Care with Team Fostering, leave us your details here, chat to one of our advisors on Live Chat or call us on 0800 292 2003, we'd be happy to answer all of your questions.