Hello Garry. There are two sorts of foster care providers, social services and independent agencies, (such as Foster Care Associates). We foster for our local social services. In both cases you get initial training usually 3 or 4 days worth, and then after approval they run various courses usually a day or half day at a time. You are allocated your own supervising social worker for support and guidance. You are paid an allowance which varies from area to area. Independent agencies pay much more but the children often have higher levels of need. You do get a say on the sort of child/children that you want to foster, such as age, gender etc. We are desperately short of foster carers in this country. Its challenging at times but very rewarding. We love it.