Looking for a career change? Much-needed fostering in Edinburgh offers a paid role supporting young people

placeholder image — Dean & Cauvin Young People’s Trust

For people working in health, social care or education—or those looking for a more rewarding work-life balance —fostering offers a meaningful career change with real financial stability and professional support.

According to Government data almost 12,000 children were looked after last year in Scotland – 80% of whom had to live away from their families.

Over a quarter of those young people (28%)* were placed in foster care. But says the Fostering Network, Scotland has a shortage of foster homes and estimates the country needs to recruit around 350 more potential foster carers this year.

For many people, this is not just a chance to help young people —it is an opportunity to build a new, sustainable career in care.

Dean & Cauvin Young People’s Trust, an Edinburgh-based charity with nearly 300 years of experience, is looking for people ready to take that step.

What motivates people to foster?

The Fostering Network asked foster carers to selection its motivations for fostering, and the top answers were:

• ‘I want to make a difference to the lives of children in care’ (94%)

• ‘I want to offer children the opportunity to be part of my/ our family’ (74%)

• ‘I enjoy working with children’ (66%)

Dean & Cauvin Fostering helps brings together purpose and profession—a career where your values and your work are aligned.

And they offer all the support and training you need to become a fulfilled foster carer.

To take the first step, all you need to do it call for an informal chat with someone in their friendly fostering team and find out more. It could be a life-changing experience for you and a young person.

What Dean & Cauvin foster carers say

While Fostering is a paid, professional role - it offers far more than a traditional job. And Dean & Cauvin Fostering is a small service, where carers feel they know each other and the team of staff who support them.

Vicky said: “Fostering is not just a job, it is a passion to provide stability and belonging to the young people in our care.”

Whilst Jen used her personal experience to help others. "Teen mum and baby really appealed to me” she said. “I had been a teen mum myself and I don't think age is a barrier to being a good mum. You can be a good mum in your teens. There's no barrier in terms of age."

"I’ve always felt 100% supported and that was one of the reasons why I chose to go with Dean and Cauvin. With a smaller charity you get more 1:1 support."

"Everyone is so lovely and professional and just so caring. Everybody just goes out of their way to make you feel welcome."

Foster carers say they felt secure knowing they could get hold of someone on the phone, and that the organisation was there to support and care for them, as much as making a success for the young people being looked after.

Jen said: "I got much more from Skills to Foster with Dean and Cauvin than I did with the local authority."

It was a huge leap of faith to go from giving up a permanent job with a pension to the insecurity of not having a placement but I would just recommend anybody to just have the courage to do it.

Foster carer

With financial incentives to make fostering possible as an alternative career, the service offers £665 per week per young person, and most foster carers will pay no tax on their earnings.

Why is there a shortage of foster carers?

Whilst the number of children in care in Scotland has been falling since 2012, the number of foster carers has been falling even faster.

The Fostering Network in its State of the Nations Foster Care report** said: “Unfortunately, since our last report in 2021, we have seen existing pressures in Scotland’s care system grow, compounded by a cost-of-living crisis, demographic changes in the foster carer population, and the increasing challenges faced by children and young people today.”

As a result, there is a growing need for people to consider fostering not only as a calling—but as a viable and supported career choice.

Who can be a foster carer?

You don’t have to have a family, to become a foster family. Couples, single men and women would be very welcome. Most of the young people looked after through Dean & Cauvin are teenagers – it specialises in over 11s, which means most of its foster carers are in the 40-60 age bracket.

This role often appeals to:

People in health, care or education roles
Empty nesters seeking a second career
Mid-career professionals looking for a different purpose

The first step begins with an informal conversation, giving you the chance to explore fostering as a potential career path.

The service has a mix of two-parent, families, single people, parents and individuals who have never parented but have experience in supporting young people.

Guide to becoming a foster carer

As a smaller organisation, Dean & Cauvin currently works closely with all its foster carers.

Carers for short and long-term fostering placements are needed, for young people aged 11-years-old and over. The organisation is also looking for those who could become mum-and-baby foster carers to teenagers. Foster carers who can provide short breaks over weekends are also being sought.

What you need to know

Start with an initial chat, then a supervising social worker will meet with you. It’s your chance to ask lots of questions, as they also find out more about you.

A state-of-the-art training programme called Skills to Foster provides the help that you need. Then ongoing support is provided with a 24-hour on-call service. Supervising social worker Iain says that the state-of-the-art training makes it the ideal time to start your fostering journey.

Fostering with Dean & Cauvin offers the opportunity to build up a close working relationship with support staff, as well as other foster carers. Training, meetings, family days and events show that you’ll be joining one big fostering community family. You become part of a professional, supportive community.

Carers benefit from: