We are delighted to announce that North Ayrshire Council has been recognised as a Fostering Friendly Employer.
The Council has updated its Special Leave Scheme to give greater flexibility to staff for exploring fostering opportunities.
Employees who are foster carers (or who are exploring becoming foster carers), as well as kinship carers, can now benefit from the time off detailed below:
- Assessment and initial training prior to approval as a foster carer – maximum three days
- Attendance at panel for approval – maximum one day
- Child review meetings, annual foster carer review meeting and training – up to five days
Foster Care Fortnight, an annual event to raise the profile of fostering in the UK, will run from Monday 13 May to Sunday 26 May this year, with a series of posts and videos going out from the NAC Corporate Twitter and Facebook accounts. Please keep an eye out for these and share via your own service’s social media accounts where appropriate.
If you have any questions about the Fostering Friendly scheme, staff from the Families for Children team will be available for a chat at the main door of Cunninghame House in Irvine on Wednesday 15 May from 11am to 1pm.
We are currently seeking foster carers, with a range of options available including Short Break Care, Supported Care, Interim Fostering and longer-term support for young people. If you’d like some more information, please email the team at adfos-enquiry@northayrshire.gov.uk or call 01294 310300 (option 4 then option 1). You can also find out more on our website.