Compass Fostering Reviews 103

We have been fostering with Compass for 7 years and have always found them to be supportive and professional
Our children are well looked after by them and receive regular vouchers and gifts
As Carers we feel listened to and supported

“Under no circumstances should anyone work with this business. Management is incompetent, they falsely accuse employees, and they operate with no regard for fairness or evidence. Their so-called training is a complete lie. Stay far away if you care about your reputation and peace of mind.”DO NOT WANT TO BE CONTACTED IM DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY

Have been fostering with Compass almost 9 years, within those years we have been very well supported and looked after 10 amazing young people.

I’ve had a really positive experience during the 10 years I’ve been with Compass. They’ve been very supportive, which has been very important to me and my family. They are always there if I need advice or reassurance and available when I’ve need them. The help and guidance they’ve given to us over the years has been huge, especially during more challenging times, and it’s made such a positive impact on our fostering journey. They are approachable, understanding and genuinely care about both carers and children. I would definitely recommend them to anyone considering fostering.

We’ve been fostering with Compass for a while now, and overall our experience has been really positive. From the start, we felt supported and listened to, which makes such a difference in this role.

Our supervising social worker has been fantastic, she's approachable, responsive, and always there when we’ve needed advice or reassurance.

Communication is generally good, and we feel like part of a team rather than being left to manage things on our own.

What stands out most is that Compass do recognise the realities of fostering. They understand the ups and downs and are there to support not just the child, but us as carers too.

Like any organisation, there can be the odd hiccup or delay, but nothing that hasn’t been resolved with good communication. Overall, we feel valued and supported in what we do, and that’s what matters most.

We’d definitely recommend Compass to anyone considering fostering.

The support from our SSW is second to none.

When you foster a child and everything is going well then all of a sudden the child will be removed and friends/parents from the child's previous school emails child just to check in get wrongly accused of having a fake identity and saying things that are not true or making them up. I would not recommend anyone to use this company

I have been on my fostering journey with Compass for nearly 12 months. They are extremely professional and have been a pleasure to work with.

We’re coming upto our first year of being approved as foster carers and all I can say is what a rollercoaster! The support from the southeast team (Sarah,Malcolm&Helen) has been essential in helping us to support young people in our care. The fact that the head of fostering is happy for you to contact her directly with any issues is a testament to show that we’re all working for the same team towards the same goal!

Someone is always at the end of the phone if you’ve got questions, from your carer buddy you get when you first start, to your supervising social worker. I would recommend everyone to give compass some faith … they’re a good bunch!

We have enjoyed the recruitment experience and getting to the panel stage. Whilst obviously an in depth and detailed process, it was relatively easy to work with Compass. We felt supported and encouraged. We look forward to working with everyone there in the future!

Applied and did the whole process. Got to a certain point, around the room space and got told they would get back to me. Never heard a thing, I could now be looking after a child and making them happy. I also heard I. The radio that there’s 4 million children that will not get presents this Christmas, the way that my case has been handled has only added to the number. What a shame

I have always dreamed of being a foster parent. When I saw Compass Fostering’s advert on Indeed, I felt like life was finally opening the door I had waited for. I applied immediately, and the next day a social worker contacted me. I was excited, nervous, and hopeful all at once.

From the very beginning, I put my trust fully into the process. I shared incredibly personal details about myself, my children, my parents, my siblings—information that isn’t easy to hand over. But I did it because I believed this was the path toward helping a child who needed a home. I prepared my room, followed every instruction, and even went nearly £1,000 into debt because I thought everything was moving forward positively. I was reassured again and again that things were fine.

So when my case was suddenly closed, it felt like the ground was pulled from under me.

I had explained my family situation honestly: that my 15-year-old twin daughters are in Sweden finishing school, always with adult support present, while I travel between the UK and Sweden. Somehow this was completely misunderstood, and the version of my situation that Compass acted on was something I never said. To then be told that my case was closed and that authorities might be contacted—it was shocking, upsetting, and honestly felt like a betrayal after how open I had been.

The most painful part is that I truly trusted the process. I trusted the person assessing me. I believed I was being listened to and supported. Instead, it ended abruptly, leaving me confused, stressed, and questioning why things were interpreted the way they were. It was truly like a good slap in the face.

Different countries have different norms for young people’s independence, and I wish there had been more understanding, more communication, and more care before making such a serious decision. This dream meant so much to me, and the way things ended was deeply disappointing.

I hope Compass takes this feedback seriously so no one else has to go through the same experience.

Absolute disgrace of a company and wouldn’t piss on any of them if they was on fire! How they sleep of a night i will never know, obviously don’t have a conscience what they do to children is beyond words, causing trauma and then twisting and blaming foster carers. How they luv to gaslight! So corrupt! They don’t care about children all they care about is their pay packet! They will so quickly chuck Foster carers under the bus and trample all over them and have the kids removed in the most traumatising way just so they don’t lose their jobs from the LA instead of looking after the children and putting them first. This is why they crying out for foster carers and so many homes are opening because companies like this with gaslighting workers are just ruthless!! You shouldn’t be social workers! You don’t care about these children in care! You shouldn’t even have kids of your own!

**Review of Compass Fostering**

I regret to share my experience at Compass Fostering, where I have encountered some significant challenges that have led me to feel quite dissatisfied. Unfortunately, I have found the management team and some members of the social work staff to exhibit bullying behavior, often twisting words and using them against those who seek support.

This environment has fostered a lack of trust and collaboration. Instead of feeling supported in our roles, there is a pervasive culture of fear and intimidation. It’s disheartening, especially in a sector dedicated to fostering care and support for children and families.

I believe that everyone deserves to work in an environment that values their contributions and promotes mutual respect. However, my experience at Compass Fostering has been quite the opposite. I hope that the management team can reflect on this feedback and take steps to create a more supportive and positive workplace for all foster carers.

Genuinely, I have had a great experience with Compass. They have supported me from my first enquiry all the way through assessment and the final panel. After approval, I have also received a great deal of support and guidance. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. If you are looking at becoming a foster carer, I would highly recommend Compass Fostering.

My assessment took a while but it felt very thorough and by the time it was happening, I understood why it needed to be so intense. The social worker I had was very supportive and freindly, and kept me up to date on what was happening. I have been fostering for 6 months now and can't imagine doing anything else. I get regular check ins with my social worker and the support groups are also a nice way to catch up with other carers and share experiences.

Stay away from this company!!!
I have had a daunting and soul damaging experience with this company. Their devious process plan has wasted months of my time, my passion to become a foster parent has been dented and my personality would never be the same as I was only couple of months ago.

Clear information and regular contact through the process. We felt comfortable that we were kept abreast of the progress made and fully supported with next steps.

Diabolical assessment process.

My husband and I have spent 4 months in the assessment process and have found communication to be very poor from the get go. Disinterested staff and calamitous administration across the board.

We were pushed into a fast-tracked panel approval being told we were effectively perfect until the panel assessment manager decided otherwise and began to question everything our assessing social worker had raised with us. Out of context and for the most part, seemingly irrelevant information was dredged out of nowhere, and we were accused of lying in the process which was stunning given the fact we threw ourselves fully into the whole process, attended all training and kitted our house our ready for children.

I would avoid this agency at all costs, especially if you have a criminal record for anything at all. Compass states they are looking for "potential, not perfection" but were were described by the assessment manager as "too perfect" on paper. We understood everyone else had signed off on us including the medical advisor and we should have been going to panel, but this particular assessment manager did not want to see us proceed any further, despite our social worker's report pretty much glowing on our credentials and motivations for fostering.

Clearly a very corporate and profit driven agency who absolutely are NOT child focused at all; potential applicants are treated as nothing more than profit centres for these money grubbers.

If you're thinking of fostering, choose anyone else but these people. Unprofessional from start to finish.

We were impressed with the empathetic, sensitive assessor who made time to get to know our birth child and hear their voice during our transfer.
Our induction and welcome to Compass has made us feel very respected and supported. It really provides us with peace of mind for when a child is placed.
We have found communication (whether it be support groups, carer ambassadors, s/workers or operational managers), excellent and we know we can trust these professionals to help us therapeutically meet the needs of any child placed in our care.