Fostering FAQs
Fostering can be an incredibly fulfilling opportunity, but we recognise that it’s a big decision to make.
There’s lots to consider, so we have some frequently asked questions here to help you with your decision making.
Whilst taking on the role of a foster carer should not be driven by financial incentive, we are realistic about the cost to individuals who embark on these professional roles. With this in mind, early in 2025, Orkney Islands Council agreed an enhanced packed of both financial and emotional support for our foster carers.
What is the difference between adoption and fostering?
Fostering is a way of offering children and young people a home while their own family is unable to look after them. Fostering can be a temporary arrangement, and many fostered children return to their own families. Children who cannot return home but still want to stay in touch with their families often live in long-term foster care and have continued support from their local authority or health and social care trust. Foster carers never have parental responsibility for a child that they care for.
Adoption is a way of providing a new family for children who cannot be brought up by their own parents. It's a legal procedure in which all the parental responsibility is transferred to the adopters. Once an adoption order has been granted it can't be reversed except in extremely rare circumstances. An adopted child loses all legal ties with their first mother and father (the "birth parents") and becomes a full member of the new family, usually taking the family's name.
It is important to highlight that fostering is very different to adoption and so you will need to think very carefully whether it is fostering a child or adopting a child that you would like to do.
