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• Author:FosterWiki
• Published:April 2023
• Country:

Nexus Fostering

We are a fostering family like no other. We care for carers, we care for children.

Who is Nexus Fostering?

Nexus Fostering was established in London in 2002 by a group of colleagues and carers who wanted to offer a professional and personal service to foster carers, children, young people and local authorities. Now a well-established fostering agency Nexus Fostering remains deeply committed to exceptionally high-quality placements, leading to the best possible outcomes for children and young people in England.

Nexus Fostering provides unrivalled localised support for their foster carers from 9 local offices covering from Telford down to London and Bedfordshire, and across to Cambridge and Norwich. Every regional office has a full complement of qualified colleagues to provide local support for our carers.

With a therapeutic lead and clinician in every local office, our carers have easy access to specialised support and outreach for children. Our local offices also provide regular supervision with social workers, training, and foster care support groups. Somebody is always close by and available to support you.

The agency has a history of maintaining the highest standards and is regularly evaluated by Ofsted, continuously received the rating “outstanding” from Ofsted since 2011. The latest Ofsted report can be read here
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Why choose Nexus Fostering?

Nexus Fostering is a fostering agency like no other. We believe all children and young people deserve a chance to live in a family setting and are proud that our foster carers and young people are always our utmost priority.

• As a foster carer with Nexus Fostering, you’ll enjoy a rewarding career whilst changing the futures of children and young people.
• All carers receive a competitive weekly fostering allowance, plus tax exemption & tax relief plus an attractive benefits package for all carers.
• Nexus Fostering offers extensive initial training for all carers plus an ongoing programme of courses to boost our foster carers’ skills and knowledge that will support them and help them excel in their role.
• Our carers are supported 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. In addition to your scheduled support from a dedicated social worker, there will always be someone at the end of a phone, day, or night. We ensure our support never stops.
• Each office at Nexus Fostering has a dedicated team to work alongside you including a therapeutic lead and clinician.
• All carers will benefit from a minimum of 14 nights of paid respite to provide a break from fostering each year.
• The matching process at Nexus Fostering is extremely well considered and planned, ensuring each placement is as successful as possible.
• Each child in our care has access to Nexus Fostering’s Head of Education who supports the carer and children and young people with educational matters.
• Nexus Fostering offers monthly support groups and social events for the whole family, giving each carer and child or young person the opportunity to meet and connect with other carers and staff.

Training, Education and Personal Development with Nexus Fostering

The training programme at Nexus Fostering is comprehensive and is tailored to meet the demanding needs of caring for young people who have had a difficult start in life. It is divided into a number of levels, supporting your fostering career as you progress.

Skills to Foster

As part of the process to become a foster carer, you’ll be invited to attend a local Skills to Foster™ Course (Level 1). The course allows you to meet staff from your local Nexus Fostering team, experienced foster carers and other prospective foster carers. This fully interactive course typically lasts 2 days and you’ll learn what’s really involved in looking after children and young people in care.

Further training

Following approval, you will have to complete a minimum of 10 mandatory training courses which include first aid, safeguarding, managing risk, equality and diversity, impulsive behaviour and risk management. You will also complete the Government’s Training, Support and Development Standards (TSDS).

Nexus Fostering provides the opportunity to develop your career by completing further training, including an excellent annual programme to progress your skills and demonstrate your continued professional development (CPD). The programme includes courses on areas such as Understanding Attachment, Drug and Alcohol Use, e-safety, Managing Behaviour and Working with Teenagers.

There are lots of opportunities for learning, training and education with Nexus Fostering, we’ll also help you balance any time spent on training with the demands of caring for a young person.

Nexus Fostering carers’ support package

Nexus Fostering understands what a demanding role fostering can be, and we pride ourselves on surrounding our foster carers with a supportive team and ensuring you feel part of it. Caring for young people who’ve experienced trauma requires resilience, stability and support from those around you.

Nexus Fostering offers a competitive weekly foster carer allowance (with tax exemption and tax relief) for your valued work and for supporting the children in your care. We also offer payments for festivities, birthdays and holidays.

• Carers also have excellent mileage allowances.
• Membership of Foster Talk, which includes discounts from over 400 retailers including major supermarkets, complimentary Blue Light Card membership and free access to resources on topics like wellbeing and more.
• A minimum of 14 nights paid holiday (also known as respite) per year, so you can recharge your batteries.
• Training in all aspects of looking after children and young people and specific opportunities to develop your skills and specialist interests.
• Regular workshops to keep your knowledge up to date.
• Phone calls and visits from your own social worker as regularly as needed.
• Fortnightly supervision with your social worker – giving you special time to think about your role.
• Monthly support meetings with a small group of like-minded people and your social worker.
• Family outings and social events for all foster carers, all young people in the family and staff.
• A network of foster carers supporting each other.
• Activities and groups for your birth children to ensure they have an opportunity to talk to others in the same situation.
• Out of Hours service – access to a social worker who knows about you and your placement, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
• A culture of listening to you, learning from experience and developing the right service for our carers.
• Nexus Fostering also has a unique Carer Advisory Board and carer-led projects ensuring their foster carers have an active involvement in new initiatives within the agency and support for one another.

The Right Match

Ensuring foster carers have the right match with their placements is of paramount importance to everyone at Nexus Fostering. We match children carefully with our foster carers. During the assessment process, we will build up an understanding of what will work for you and your household which will help us to make the best matches.

Nexus Fostering will work with you to identify the types of placements which will best suit your situation and circumstances. Nexus Fostering offers therapeutic-led fostering, parent & child placements, long-term placements, short-term placements and more.

Each family setting and make-up is also unique; therefore Nexus Fostering works to ensure you have the right match of children or young people, who match your family dynamics, age group, skill sets and preferences which helps set you, and the children in your care, up for success.

What areas does Nexus Fostering cover?

Nexus Fostering covers a large area of central and southern England which includes:

• London
• The Midlands
• Cambridgeshire
• East Anglia
• Essex
• Gloucestershire

To view our locations, areas covered and contact details for our 9 local offices, visit our Office Locations page on the Nexus website
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Not in these areas?

Nexus Fostering is part of BSN Social Care, a family of independent foster agencies all with a shared vision and ethos, all delivering the same high-quality environment for their foster carers and the children they look after.

Unity Foster Care

• South Yorkshire
• Teesside
• County Durham

www.unityfostercare.co.uk

Blue Sky Fostering

• Devon & Cornwall
• Bristol
• Dorset & Hampshire
• West Sussex and Surrey
• Kent

Blueskyfostering.co.uk

Take a look at our page here on FosterWiki

Olive Branch Fostering
Locations Olive Branch Fostering covers:

• Lancashire
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Merseyside
• Preston

Olivebranchfostering.co.uk

Calon Cymru Fostering
Calon Cymru Fostering is based in the south of Wales and covers:

• Cardiff
• Swansea
• Pembrokeshire
• Carmarthenshire
• Ceredigion

caloncymrufostering.co.uk

The Nexus Fostering approval process

New carers – We make sure we make the approval process efficient, thorough (for you too) and within good timescales.

Transferring – We welcome foster carers transferring to Nexus Fostering and make this process as seamless and swift as possible.