FOSTER carers who can help young people with complex needs are being sought by Gloucestershire County Council.

The carers would work within a new intensive support scheme called IRIS (Intensive Recovery and Intervention Service).

The scheme is aimed at a small number of young people aged over 11 who have complex needs and present multiple times to a range of services across Gloucestershire, including hospitals, social care services and mental health services.

Anyone interested in applying will need suitable experience, for example in mental health, social care, teaching, nursing, fostering or similar.

Rachel Besien, who has been a foster carer since 2015, said: “I spent 15 years working in pastoral roles with young people in different educational settings.

“I decided that I wanted to use these skills outside of the normal nine-to-five to help children feel safe and, hopefully, to support families to get back together.

“I considered fostering many times and finally got to a point where I had a good support network around me and the time was right.”

Linda Uren, director of children’s services at Gloucestershire County Council, said, “We are looking for people who are committed to helping young people in the county.

“They’ll need to have relevant work experience and skills, as well as a willingness to make a difference to young people that need support.”

For more information visit gloucestershire.gov.uk/fostering or call the fostering service on 01242 532654.