With over 20 years of experience working with children and young people, our Worthing-based agency has a dedicated fostering team and foster carers who maintain high levels of care for children and young people.
Our fostering service is uniquely embedded in the asphaleia organisation, which can additionally support carers and placements with specialist services such as CSE intervention, 1-1 mental health and wellbeing support.
To find out more about asphaleia's mission, vision and values, visit our 'who we are' page.
A photo of Worthing pier taken by an asphaleia young person
what is foster care?
Foster care provides a child with support and a stable place to live when they are not able to live with their birth parents or other family members. Foster carers are compensated for looking after children on behalf of the local authority and can choose to specialise in different types of placements.
asphaleia offer different types of foster care, which include:
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Emergency: providing a placement for a child with an immediate start e.g. for refugee children.
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Short term or bridging: placements may be made where the intention is a time-limited, task-centred piece of work. These placements may be for a period of up to two years.
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Long term: any placement for a child that is intended to last longer than two years.
Additionally to offering a placement for one child, asphaleia fostering provide placements for:
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Parent and child: we offer two types of parent and child placement and have gained specialist skills in this type of placement over the years. Assessment placements are time-limited placements in which a trained foster carer/s will observe and record key information, including parenting capacity, caring abilities and emotional support from the parent. Support placements are longer in duration, and will include the foster carer's supporting the parent to develop the skills and capacity necessary to parent their child.
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UASC (Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children)
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Siblings: where a foster carer/s offers more than one placement allowing siblings to stay together whilst they are placed in foster care.
TV and radio presenter, Pandora Christie, explains in this video how fostering changed her life
who are asphaleia fostering?
We are a small, friendly, and immensely experienced team. We began by specialising in UASC placements and have widened our knowledge and skills in our agency team and foster carers to offer quality care across different types of placement.
We work collaboratively to ensure children are cared for in a safe and supportive manner, that they are heard and are able to express themselves and their wishes, and that they are provided an environment in which they can thrive. Read our latest Ofsted report here.
what people say
OFSTED
‘Members of the leadership and management team are strong, passionate about the work, and have a clear understanding of the needs of children.’
FOSTER CHILD
l felt at home from the moment l came here.
The foster carers understand me, they speak my language, help me to keep my faith
and cook food l enjoy. That means all is very good.
FOSTER CARER
We love fostering with asphaleia. Not only do we get a huge sense of satisfaction and fulfillment from seeing the difference we are making in a young person's life but we have also received the very best support, advice and training at every step of our fostering journey.
LOCAL AUTHORITY PA
M was welcomed into the family...the [asphaleia] carers have somehow managed the balance of support and knowing when to step back, allowing him space and to become the resilient, kind and caring young man he has grown to be.
could you make a difference in a child's life?
If you are interested in becoming an asphaleia carer, we offer a competitive package of benefits, training and support networks to help our foster carers thrive and enjoy their career.
We are looking for carers who live in West Sussex and neighbouring counties.
want a fresh start and looking to transfer?
Transferring to a new agency can be daunting. asphaleia would fully support you, your family, and any children placed with you through this process.
We'd be happy to discuss this process with you in more depth. Please call on 01903 522966, or email to speak to our fostering manager for an initial chat.