How does matching work, and why is it so important?

If you are thinking about becoming a foster carer, you are naturally going to be wondering how young people end up with the right foster carers. This process is called Matching, and it is something that we take very seriously.

At Affinity Fostering, we believe in providing a thoroughly supportive environment for both our foster carers and the young people in our care. Our foster carers and young people are essential parts of our Affinity Family, and we prioritise their well-being above all else. That's why we take our matching process very seriously.

Our fostering matching process is designed to bring foster carers and young people together in the best possible family environment for them, so they can thrive.

All children and foster carers have unique needs and circumstances that are considered during the matching process, such as age, gender, location, educational needs, allergies, transport, interests, experience, and temperament. This enables us to create specific matching criteria to make successful placements between young people and carers.

Floria, as our Carer Recruitment Officer, is our first point of contact for our new foster carers. Floria works tirelessly to get to know and build relationships with carers and understand their background, fostering hopes, and family life. This knowledge helps our team to match carers with the right young people. Nikita, our Placements Officer, takes care to consider each foster carer's family setting and encourages open communication, especially where there are birth children involved. Nikita works hard to match young people with the right foster carers. When a potential match is found, Nikita collaborates with the foster carer(s) and their supervising social worker to make sure it's a good fit. At Affinity, we respect our foster carers' decision to accept or decline a possible match with a young person.

We make sure we use the feedback from carers about potential matches and discussions with the foster carers and supervising social workers after each young person leaves their care, to inform and improve our matching process.

The success of our matching process is evident, with a significant number of long-term, stable matches between our foster carers and young people. Our recent Ofsted report had this to say about the young people of Affinity Fostering:

"The children consistently spoke of the joy of being part of the fostering family." Ofsted report

"They grow and develop as cherished members of the fostering family with a strong sense of stability, love and belonging. The foster families help children to progress well in their education and to develop confidence and aspirations" Ofsted.

Our support continues and grows after a successful match is made, with consistent access to their supervising social worker, support workers, continued training and support, as well as an out-of-hours social worker available every day of the year. We also provide further support when necessary, through our pool of therapists and counsellors.

If you are looking to work with an Ofsted Outstanding rated independent agency that has been praised for the support and positive impact, we have had on our foster carers, staff and young people in our care, then please get in touch.