Sandwell Children's Trust Fostering
Oldbury · Local AuthorityLocally run
Ofsted: GoodSandwell Children's Trust Fostering is the not-for-profit fostering service run by Sandwell Children's Trust, caring for children who live in the Sandwell borough.
What sets Sandwell Children's Trust apart
Sandwell Children's Trust is a not-for-profit fostering service responsible for all children in care in the Sandwell borough. They only place children who live in Sandwell, which means carers are far more likely to be matched with a local child or sibling group — with local schools, professionals and family connections all close at hand.
As part of the wider Trust, the fostering service shares a trauma-informed, relationship-based practice model with the children's social workers, schools and health partners who already know the children. There are no commercial margins — every penny goes back into supporting Sandwell's children and the carers who look after them.
fostersandwell.co.uk165
Approved fostering households (86 mainstream and 79 connected carers)
226
Children living with Sandwell foster families
Support at a glance
Your own supervising social worker visits regularly to offer support and guidance in your fostering role.
Office-hours duty social worker plus 24/7 telephone support — advice and help whenever you need it.
Regular groups to meet other carers, share experiences, and work through challenges together.
Informal meet-ups with an open agenda, set by the carers who attend.
Trauma-informed, relationship-based and strengths-based training shared by the wider Trust.
Sandwell Children's Trust actively supports employees who foster, in partnership with The Fostering Network.
Types of fostering offered
Sandwell Children's Trust offers short-term and long-term mainstream fostering, alongside specialist options including parent and child placements, short break / respite, PACE (overnight police-protection beds), and specialist step-down placements for young people moving on from residential care. They also assess and approve connected (kinship) carers for children who can stay within their wider family network.
Allowances & career progression
Foster carers receive a payment for each child they care for, alongside generous tax exemptions. Sandwell operates a six-stage career progression fee so carers earn more as they build skills and experience. Connected carers receive the same financial arrangements as mainstream foster carers.
What Ofsted say
The agency was judged Good overall, including for the experiences and progress of children, and how well children are helped and protected. Leadership and management was judged requires improvement to be good, reflecting a period without a permanent registered manager — the senior leadership team has since taken action to promote stability.
Inspectors highlighted strong safeguarding, thorough assessments of prospective foster carers, and a proactive approach to supporting carers to apply for Special Guardianship Orders so children can secure permanence within their fostering family.
Ofsted inspection quotes
"Foster carers and staff are strong advocates and have high aspirations for the children they care for. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points."
"Children form positive relationships with their foster carers and are valued members of their foster family."
"Safeguarding is a high priority in this agency. Managers have an operational overview of all issues that affect the safety and well-being of children."
"Assessments of potential foster carers are thorough and analytical. Preparation training and ongoing training support carers to understand the fostering role and meet the needs of their child."