Long-Term vs Short-Term Fostering: Which One’s Right for You?

The duration of arrangements

Short-term fostering, also known as interim fostering, provides a temporary home for a child, from several days to around two years.

Long-term foster care arrangements last longer than two years, typically until a child reaches adulthood, either when they’re 18 or until 21 with a continuing care agreement.

The purpose of the type of care

The purpose of all types of foster care is to provide children and young people with a safe, stable, and nurturing home. However, there are still some differences between the purposes of short-term and long-term foster care.

Interim foster care is a temporary arrangement while longer-term plans for a child’s care are decided, such as long-term fostering, adoption, or reunification with their family.

Long-term foster care, on the other hand, is about giving children and young people a home for the rest of their childhood. A home where they feel like part of the family and have the stability to put down roots in the community when reunification or adoption isn’t possible.

Your relationship with each child

Whether a child stays with you for 10 months or 5 years, part of your role as a foster carer is to nurture your bond, help them heal from their trauma, and treat them as part of your family. In both cases, you and your family will develop a remarkable connection with the child.

However, when you foster a child for an extended period of time, they really become part of your family. You’ll guide them through the ups and downs of life, supporting them throughout their education, and helping them prepare for independent living.

Angela, who has been long-term fostering with FCA Scotland for 14 years, said, “Just seeing them grow into their own person is quite something.” This included one particularly special moment when she helped her young person get ready for prom.

When you foster a child for a short time, you’ll prepare them for the next stage of their journey, whether that’s returning to their family, moving to a long-term foster home, or adoption.

The level of flexibility needed

When you foster short-term, you’ll usually have more notice than you would if you were providing emergency foster care. But there’s still likely to be a relatively short timeframe between accepting a match and the child moving into your home.

There also won’t typically be a fixed duration. In some cases, a child may need a short-term home while a parent recovers from an illness in hospital, whereas other families may be going through care proceedings to decide who will look after the child going forward.

If you’d like to care for more children, have a flexible lifestyle, and would like a break between caring for each child, short-term fostering could be the ideal type of fostering for you.

When it comes to long-term arrangements, you’ll usually receive more notice and have time for introductions before a child moves into your home. They’ll also often stay with you until they reach adulthood. If you want the stability of knowing a child will be staying with you for the foreseeable future, long-term fostering might be the best option for you.

Family time arrangements

With both long-term and short-term fostering, you’ll support children to see their families through family time arrangements. The frequency of these arrangements is what sets these two types of fostering apart.

If you’re temporarily fostering a child while decisions are being made about their care, these arrangements are likely to happen more often, especially if reunification is a possibility.

If you foster a child long-term, the frequency of these arrangements might decrease over time. In some cases, it’s not safe or in the best interests of the child to see their family. Whereas, in other situations, children living in long-term foster care might have siblings and extended family members they continue to see at various points throughout the year.

Support and training

Whether you foster long-term or short-term, at FCA Scotland, we’re here to support you in whichever direction your fostering journey takes you.

From our Team Parenting Model, which puts children first by giving you access to a network of childcare specialists who care for every aspect of their well-being, to an extensive training programme that’ll give you the knowledge and tools to foster with confidence. We’ll be by your side and are committed to keeping The Promise.

You’ll also receive a generous fostering allowance for each child in your care, along with invitations to our year-round activities and events, such as the Big Sing Off.

We’re a community, working together to improve the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people in Scotland and beyond.