About Us
We have over 35 years’ experience in training and developing therapeutic foster parents and making an extraordinary difference to the lives of children in care.
Founded in 1987 by a small but passionate group of foster parents, we became the UK’s first independent foster care agency. That gives us the benefit of over 35 years of fostering experience and we’re still going strong!
The founders of ISP recognised that children in care – especially those who’d had very difficult starts in life – needed specialist support. So right from the beginning, they put the child at the centre of their thinking and surrounded them with an integrated range of support services. In fact, that's what ISP means: Integrated Service Programme.
Over the years, this circle of support has increased to include a whole range of professionals that children and foster parents can tap into, whenever they need to. This includes social workers, fostering advisors, teachers and therapists, who all work with our foster parents and the children they look after, helping them understand and manage even the most challenging situations. This is what’s known as a ‘therapeutic approach’ to fostering and it’s something that we pioneered.
Experts in therapeutic care
What we began over 35 years ago, many other independent fostering agencies now follow but we remain a leading practitioner in therapeutic fostering.
Our expertise is widely respected and in demand across the UK by many local authorities, who value the seamless support of our extended team of qualified therapists and fostering professionals.
Our journey
From our small beginnings, we’re now providing the highest quality foster care and education to children and young people across the country.
Today, we are a strong organisation with a very clear idea of our mission: to enable every young person in our care to get to know who they are and to help them grow and live in harmony with themselves and others. This is supported with a clear set of values which underpins our work.
Providing specialist all-round support and care for harder to place children is what made us different in the beginning, and it’s what makes us different today too. It’s also one of the key reasons why people choose to become foster parents with us.
Already fostering and looking to transfer?
Learn about the process of transferring and the amazing benefits of working with ISP.
Part of the UK’s largest leading communities of children’s service providers
We’re proud to be part of the Polaris Community, a large national network of brands that specialise in foster care and children’s services.
Being part of a larger network of children's services gives us additional relationships we can call on to provide extra reassurance and peace of mind to our foster parents and even more opportunities for the children in our care.
As a community, we have a united commitment to measure and maximise our social value; defining it as ‘The positive emotional, environmental and economic impact we have on the Polaris community and wider society’. We will measure this commitment through our Social Value Pledges giving us a year-on-year benchmark to increase the Social Value we provide. This includes opportunities we offer staff, foster parents, adopters and our children and young people, but also how we work with suppliers, create job and training opportunities and our impact on the environment.
Start your fostering journey today
Please make sure you read our terms and conditions because you're agreeing to them by submitting an enquiry. It's also worth reading our privacy policy and cookies policy so you understand how we collect and use your personal data. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.