About Safer Fostering
What is Safer Fostering?
Safer Fostering is a Cardiff-based, not-for-profit therapeutic fostering agency operating as a Community Interest Company (CIC). Founded in 2020 by Sarah Naish, Sarah Dillon, and Alison Douglas, the agency combines what it calls "90 combined years" of professional fostering experience with the founders' own lived experience of therapeutically re-parenting children from trauma.
The agency's name is also its mission: SAfER stands for "Secure Attachments from Empathic Reparenting." Safer Fostering supports Therapeutic Foster Parents across Wales (with the Fairer Fostering Partnership describing its remit as covering "the whole of Wales" for local authority placements from Wales and England), and is a proud member of the Centre of Excellence in Child Trauma.
The agency's founders also commissioned what they describe as "the first ever world-wide research into compassion fatigue in Foster Care in 2016 with Bristol University," a study they say has "impacted significantly on the way Foster Parents are supported."
Where will I work?
Safer Fostering is based at 2 Alexandra Gate, Cardiff, Wales CF24 2SA. The agency primarily supports foster parents and children across Wales, with the team working in a hybrid model — combining in-Cardiff coordination with home visits and remote support for foster families. Reachable on 02921 690466 and at [email protected].
What is the Safer Fostering team like?
The Safer Fostering team is small (2-10 employees per LinkedIn) and led by founders who continue to work daily within the agency — described as "leading UK experts in therapeutic parenting and child trauma." The agency leadership specifically includes practitioners who have previously led OFSTED 'Outstanding' fostering agencies.
The team's specialisms are explicit: compassion fatigue in foster parents and developmental trauma in children. Day-to-day work centres on intensive, therapeutic support for fostering families: "We combine ground breaking therapeutic training and intensive support to foster parents to enable them to therapeutically parent the children they care for." The agency replaces "outdated methods of working" with joined-up processes, including a new Therapeutic Fostering Assessment for applicants that integrates training, CPD and qualifications.
The agency's stated principle: "We put the needs of children above profit, whilst ensuring that family stability and exceptional outcomes for children are at the heart of everything we do."
Work-Life Balance
Safer Fostering is listed on 4dayweek.io as offering a 4-day work week at 32 hours and 100% salary. The agency's public website does not currently host a careers page where this is documented in the company's own words, so the schedule is reflected here based on the platform's existing record. The team works in a hybrid arrangement combining office, home visits, and remote support.
The agency's broader cultural framing centres on understanding the toll of therapeutic-fostering work — compassion fatigue is a core research specialism for the founders — so the working pattern is built to keep practitioners and foster parents out of "blocked care."
Perks and Benefits
Safer Fostering is a small not-for-profit Community Interest Company. Benefits visible from the platform record include flexible/remote work options and a small-team culture with few internal meetings. As a CIC focused on therapeutic work, the agency emphasises a mission-led environment over a long benefit stack.