Short Break Care for Children

What is Short Break Care?

Short break care is where children with special needs, disabilities or behavioural difficulties enjoy a short stay with a new family or carer giving their parents or usual foster carers a break.

Short break carers look after the children for short periods of time, perhaps for a night or weekend. While the child benefits from the new experiences and relationships, their family benefits too as they are able to have time for themselves or to spend with their other children.

Who Can Be a Short Break Carer?

Short Break Carers are people with differing circumstances, abilities, skills and backgrounds.

They can:

• be single, married, widowed, divorced or living with someone
• have children or not
• be employed or unemployed
• be from any background

You do not need to have experience of looking after disabled children. You just need to have the time, energy and desire to do so.

Short Break Carers receive:

• ongoing training opportunities
• support from a qualified social worker
• payment for each session of care provided

For further information on short break care, also known as Shared Care, visit the Shared Care Network website.

If you would like us to know more about Short Break Care, please click the following link and complete the Fostering Enquiries Contact Us/Self Referral Online Form or

• To contact the team by phone ring 01628-683201
• Send your enquiry by email to adoption-fostering@rbwm.gov.uk.
• The address to write to is: Fostering, Adoption & Respite Service, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1RF
  

How do you rate this information/service?