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Transferring fostering agencies

A father playing with a football with his three children on a grass area while on a staycation in Northumberland. The father is holding the football while being tackled and chased by his children.

Can I transfer fostering agencies?

Yes you can! And we’d love to speak to you about what Tree House Care can offer.

There are many reasons why a foster carer may consider transferring away from the local authority or to a different independent fostering agency. You may be moving to a new area, be looking for more training opportunities and a therapeutic outlook, or want better benefits and increased pay.

Whatever your reasons, transferring can be a daunting process. That’s why at Tree House Care, we make it as simple as possible, doing all the behind-the-scenes paperwork, and liaising with local authorities and agencies to ensure everything runs smoothly, so you can get on with being a first-rate foster carer.

Although you’ll still have to go through the application process including panel, we will be able to use your past fostering experience as evidence of your abilities and the process should be completed more quickly. During this time you’ll have the chance to speak to our existing foster carers, many of whom have transferred themselves. In fact, word of mouth is one of the main ways we recruit new people – since 2020, almost half of our newly approved foster carers have come to us because of a recommendation from one of our existing carers!

Why should I transfer to Tree House Care?

We’ve had a number of foster carers transfer to Tree House Care and they say that they were attracted by our ‘fantastic pay, great support and great training’. 

We have a very generous fostering allowance and benefits package, including mileage payments, long service awards and ‘pay-to-train’ payments. We guarantee that you will never be financially disadvantaged by transferring to Tree House Care. You can find more details in our ‘How much will I be paid’ article.

 

As a therapeutic fostering agency, we make sure the principles are fully embedded across the whole organisation. This means we have a strong focus on nurturing relationships, between members of staff, foster carers and our children. We act with empathy and respect and work together to do the right thing for our children. You can read all about our history and our values here.

 

Our therapeutic practice also continues into our training with monthly face-to-face training sessions, lots of additional online training courses and the opportunity to discuss how these theories can be used in your home with our Trauma and Attachment Therapist, John.   

Check out all the ways we support our foster carers here.

“Tree House, I just think they are brilliant. As an ex-local authority foster carer, the difference is immense - they are brilliant.”

Tree House Care foster carer

How do I transfer fostering agency?

The transfer process is simple- 

  1. Contact us today so we can give you all the information you need to decide if we’re the right agency for you.
  2. If you decide you’d like to come on board, you’ll need to contact your local authority or existing agency to let them know. This can be done via post or email.
  3. You’ll meet the social worker who will be carrying out your assessment. They’ll look at the skills and experience you’ve already gained through fostering.
  4. If you are currently looking after a child or young person and would like to continue to care for them, we’ll arrange a meeting with your current agency social worker to discuss these details.
  5. You’ll be invited to one of our training sessions where you’ll meet members of staff and other Tree House foster carers.
  6. Once approved as a Tree House foster carer, you’ll submit your 28 days resignation to your local authority or previous agency.
  7. You’re now a member of the Tree House Care family!

Hear what foster carers have to say about transferring to Tree House Care.