About Us

Who We Are

Five Rivers Fostering is a fostering organisation which places children at the centre of everything we do. Established in 2002, we were the first independent fostering agency to operate in the Republic of Ireland and the only one to operate as a social enterprise. Over the last 21 years we have grown a dedicated multi-disciplinary team who are working with families in every county in Ireland. This means we can offer a very broad range of supports to children and young people in care and to foster families. Alongside dedicated social worker support, we offer access to play therapy, psychology, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and social care. These services and supports are also being developed to support other children and young people outside of Five Rivers Fostering who may need these services.

Five Rivers Fostering is an inclusive organisation that embraces diversity. We are proud to welcome children and young people as well as foster Carers and staff of all nationalities, cultures and backgrounds. We also place value on collaboration and we continue to work very closely with the children and young people themselves, foster families, Tusla, schools and other agencies who are involved in supporting children and young people.

Over the years Five Rivers Fostering has continued to work very closely with children, birth families, Tusla, schools and other agencies who are involved in supporting children and young people and foster families.

Five Rivers Fostering has built a multi-disciplinary team from the outset. With social care, play therapy and psychology input. In 2014 we welcomed our first psychologist to the team. Since 2019, Five Rivers Fostering has been building a Multi-Disciplinary Team to broaden the range of assessment and supports available to our foster families and children and young people in their care. We have recently added an occupational therapist and a speech and language therapist to our team. These services are being developed within our Multi-Disciplinary Team providing assessments for children and young people who are not placed with Five Rivers Fostering families.

Why Choose Five Rivers Fostering?

Five Rivers Fostering are the longest established Fostering Organisation in Ireland. We see and believe in the potential in every child and young people in care and we know that fostering offers lasting, positive impact on their lives. When you open up your heart and your home to a child or young person in need, we will ensure that you always know and feel that support is available. To this end we have built trust in homes and communities in every county across Ireland over 21 years and we have a strong reputation as a leading provider of Foster Care services in Ireland. Our Directors, Senior Management and Core Teams are well established and very experienced in supporting children and young people experiencing care. We are the only fostering organisation that is a social enterprise, meaning that all funds go back into directly supporting the children, young people and families that we work with. Five Rivers Ireland values foster families and is entirely committed to ensuring that people who foster are provided with the relevant support, training and resources needed to empower them to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care. We have developed a unique multi-disciplinary team which provides all the consultation, assessments and supports that you may need. Five Rivers Fostering is a registered Fostering Organisation which operates within all of the required legislation and to very high standards.

Our Vision

Our vision at Five Rivers Fostering Ireland is to create a world where every child and young person in care has the opportunity to thrive and the chance to reach their full potential.

Our Aims

At Five Rivers Fostering we believe that fostering provides a unique opportunity to make a lasting, positive impact on a child or young person’s life. Therefore we aim:

To provide a safe and stable home for children in need of foster care for as long as they need it.
To ensure that foster carers and families know that support is always available to them.
To support children and young people in care to achieve their full potential and lead fulfilling lives.
To recruit, train, and support foster carers to ensure high-quality care for children and young people.
To work in partnership with children, young people, families and other professionals and individuals.
To promote the rights and welfare of children and young people in care and advocate for their needs and interests.