Hampshire County Council had 1,711 children in its care in May 2026. Nearly one in five children looked after by Hampshire are placed outside the county and more than twenty miles from home, according to Department for Education figures for March 2024. Twenty miles is a different school, a different bus route, and friendships that quietly fall away.

That distance is the thing local foster carers fix.

Ofsted rated us Outstanding

In January 2026 Ofsted inspected South Coast Fostering and rated us Outstanding in all three judgement areas: the experiences and progress of children, how well children are helped and protected, and the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector raised no requirements and no recommendations.

Their summary: “The independent fostering agency provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good.”

We look after just over 20 fostering families. Ofsted counted 16 households when it inspected us in January, so we are growing, but we intend to stay small. The reason we can work like this is that nobody here carries a caseload they can’t do justice to.

What we pay Hampshire foster carers

£479.50 a week for a child aged 0 to 10. £507.50 a week for a child aged 11 and over. Per child, every week, whether the placement is a fortnight or five years.

Caring for a child with additional needs pays £550 to £850 a week. Parent and child placements, where you support a young parent and their baby together, pay £987 a week. We also contribute between £330 and £1,500 a year towards your council tax, rising the longer you foster with us.

Most fostering income is tax free under HMRC’s qualifying care relief, and we’ll walk you through what that means for your household before you commit to anything.

Ask us and we’ll go through the numbers with you properly, including what your household would actually take home.

The support behind it

Your supervising social worker visits at least every four weeks and sees the child at least every eight. That’s a floor, not a target, and in practice it’s usually more.

There’s telephone advice twenty four hours a day, every day of the year, including a dedicated out of hours team. Fostering doesn’t keep office hours. Placements break down at eleven at night, not at half past two on a Tuesday.

Training runs from before you’re approved and carries on afterwards, funded by us.

Where Hampshire’s shortage actually bites

Southampton is the clearest example. The city had 142 fostering households at the end of March 2025, down from 168 the year before and 255 in 2017. Its own scrutiny panel put the consequence plainly: “With fewer carers, there is greater risk that siblings will be separated, children may be placed out of area or into residential care.”

Portsmouth’s Cabinet said something similar in June 2026: “too many of our children are being placed in unsuitable and costly placements, separated from siblings, or located far from their communities.”

Across Hampshire, 372 children were in independent fostering agency placements as of February 2026, roughly 40% of all fostering placements in the county. The council is not meeting the need on its own and is open about it.

What Mark and Helen say

Mark and Helen foster just outside Tadley.

Helen on the first weeks: “At first she was very quiet and unsure. But after a few weeks she started to relax.”

Mark on whether you’re the right sort of person: “You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to care, be patient, and give a child a stable place to call home.”

Who you’d be working with

Sharron is the supervising social worker for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. She is the person you would actually see every few weeks, and the one who picks up when something has gone sideways.

Sally Barnett is our registered manager. She fostered before she managed, which changes the tenor of most conversations. Ofsted named her in the January 2026 report.

“It’s a privilege to work alongside fantastic foster families and to see the children they care for thrive and climb their own personal mountains.”

Richard Norwood is our director and Melanie Yearwood is our responsible individual.

Do you qualify?

Most people who assume they can’t foster, can. You don’t have to own your home, be married, be under 55, or have children of your own. You can work, though you’ll need genuine flexibility during the day.

You will need a spare bedroom for most placements. Babies are the exception: a newborn can sleep in a crib in your room at the start.

If you live in rural Hampshire you’ll need a car. Contact sessions, health appointments and assessments can mean several trips a week, and public transport between villages won’t cover it.

Already fostering somewhere else?

Transferring is more straightforward than most carers expect, and because you’re already approved it moves faster than a first assessment. If you have a child in placement, a transfer protocol meeting protects their stability throughout. Read more about transferring to South Coast Fostering.

Where we cover in Hampshire

Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke, Andover, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Eastleigh, Farnborough, Fleet, Alton, Petersfield, Romsey, Lymington, Ringwood, Whitchurch, Tadley, Stockbridge, Odiham, New Alresford, Emsworth, Fordingbridge and Bishop’s Waltham. We also cover the Isle of Wight, where we’re one of only two independent fostering agencies operating on the island.

Talk to us

Call 023 8235 2020, or send a message on WhatsApp if that’s easier. The first conversation takes about fifteen minutes and commits you to nothing at all. Ask us the awkward questions: what happens if it goes wrong, and what the money really looks like after tax.

We’d rather you asked now than found out later.