Norfolk County Council Fostering Service
Norwich · Local AuthorityRegional
Norfolk's dedicated public fostering service. Delivered by Norfolk County Council Children's Services—rated 'Outstanding' in all five areas by Ofsted (February 2026).
What to know about Norfolk County Council Fostering Service
Norfolk County Council Fostering Service is the region's dedicated public fostering service. Their primary focus is ensuring every child in care across Norfolk has access to a safe, loving, and stable home close to their school, friends, and local community.
As the local authority, Norfolk County Council places children directly with their own foster carers first. This gives their carers high placement consistency, dedicated local support networks, and the opportunity to make a meaningful, direct impact in their own communities.
norfolk.gov.ukSupport at a glance
A dedicated supervising social worker throughout your fostering career, plus a dedicated therapeutic fostering support clinician for your first two years of fostering.
A clinical psychologist, therapeutic fostering clinicians and support practitioners help foster carers to develop therapeutic skills, using psychological, emotional and social strategies.
An on-call fostering social worker is available 24/7 to help with any emergency fostering situation.
Practical support plus peer support (including Mockingbird) opportunities for all foster families, plus occupational therapist practitioner and specialist supervision and guidance for carers for children with disabilities.
An extensive local training and professional development programme to build foster carers' skills and knowledge.
Fun activity sessions and outings for foster carers' own children to meet children from other fostering families.
The Mockingbird Family Model
Norfolk uses the national Mockingbird Family Model to build extended support networks around foster carers, rather than leaving each household to manage alone.
Fostering households are grouped into small networks of around 6 to 10 families.
Each constellation is anchored by an experienced carer who offers peer advice and a familiar base.
Constellation families meet up regularly, so children and carers build friendships beyond their own household.
Children can stay overnight with a trusted constellation family, giving carers planned breaks.
Types of fostering offered
Fostering allowances
Norfolk pays foster carers a weekly allowance for each child, set by the child's age, plus a weekly fee set by the child's needs: standard, enhanced or complex. The allowance ranges from £201 to £267 a week and the fee from £260 to £925 a week, including a holiday allowance and money for birthday and Christmas presents. Pay arrives every two weeks. Norfolk's payments increase with the age of the child to reflect the higher day-to-day costs of supporting older children and teenagers. Norfolk gives these examples as monthly totals:
Depends on the child's age.
Depends on the children's ages.
Depends on the child's age. Further allowances and an extensive support package are added depending on the child's needs.
Norfolk sets different fees and allowances for other types of foster care, such as supported lodgings and parent and child fostering. It explains these during assessment and approval.
Figures checked October 2026. Allowances are reviewed annually in April.
Shortlist to confirm what you'd be paid
Areas covered
IP: IP20–22, IP24–27
NR: NR1–2, NR4–9, NR10–31, NR34–35
PE: PE14, PE30–38
What Ofsted say
Ofsted inspected Norfolk's children's services on 23 to 27 February 2026 and judged them Outstanding in all five areas: the impact of leaders on social work practice, children who need help and protection, children in care, care leavers and overall effectiveness.
"Children in care in Norfolk receive exceptional help and support that enables most to make significant progress."
"Foster carers spoke positively about the training they receive and praised some areas of support offered by the service, including the use of hubs, network support groups and events for children."
"Fostering recruitment approaches have been effective and the number of foster carer households has increased. Foster carer assessments are robust."
Exceptional partner
Norfolk County Council Fostering Service meets our highest standard: rated Outstanding by Ofsted in all five areas, with 24/7 out-of-hours support, a therapeutic fostering team, Mockingbird peer support and ongoing training.
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