INFORMATION FOR WEBSITE FOR FOSTERING AND FAMILY CARE SERVICE

The Fostering and Family Care Service was established in July 2007 following consultation with the existing foster carers and young people they care for. Please read on and you will learn how and why people like you become successful foster carers.

Is fostering for you?

Fostering is one of the most rewarding experiences you may ever have. You don’t need to be well-off or well-educated to foster. You do need to have strong positive values, patience, a sense of humour and space in your home.

Each year, many Island children are taken into care because they have been abused or because their natural parents are no longer able to look after them. These children are almost always vulnerable, sometimes angry and, without exception, are frightened of their future. Unless a foster family can be found for them (and there is always a shortage), such children may be in residential children’s homes. Placing a child in a foster home, with all the love, attention and support that goes with a real family, gives them a chance to rebuild their lives, to find security and stability they need.

What you will need

Practically you will only need to have a spare bedroom – we will provide training, support and a generous financial allowance. Personally, however, you will need to be patient, caring, interested in the child’s education and well-being, sympathetic and dedicated. You will need to be prepared, and so will your family, if you have one – for the ups and down of fostering; possible angry outbursts and also times when the child may withdraw. There may be times when your foster child suddenly wants to talk about painful feelings (and times when they want to keep those feelings to themselves). You will need to be sensitive to their experiences and their temperaments, but also prepared to give them firm boundaries when appropriate. You will need, above all, to show a willingness to understand them.

The practical details

The process of becoming a carer is not complicated, and the fostering and family care team will arrange and supervise each stage. Once you apply to foster, you will have a short, friendly interview, in your home, with our Fostering Support Worker, the person who will always liaise between you and the agency. The Fostering Support Worker will answer any queries you have, and will talk to you in more detail about the process of becoming a carer and the experience of fostering. You will need to fill out a number of forms, with which you will receive assistance if required – these include a Criminal Records Bureau check form, which is designed to ensure carers pose no risk to the children who are placed with them. All the forms are confidential. After this meeting, you will take part in the foster care training. The training takes place locally, at times we hope will suit you.

An Independent Assessor will undertake your fostering assessment which will include face to face sessions with the Assessor and you undertaking ‘homework’ so that an evidenced report can be written. If everything has gone smoothly, and you are happy to proceed, you will then be formally approved by our Fostering panel, who will decide, along with you, what type of fostering you can do e.g. age ranges, babies, teenagers, sibling groups, disabled children, long term, short term or respite.

Types of Fostering

Fostering provides overnight care in your home. There is a need for different kinds of care for children and young people and one of these may suit your family.

• Short Breaks : carers are needed to look after children for short breaks. This is called respite. There are various ways this is needed e.g. regularly once per week or school holidays or one off for one or two weeks.
• Emergency : sometimes children or young people need somewhere quickly and safe for them to stay.
• Long Term : sometimes the child or young person cannot return home to live with their own family then a permanent new home is needed.
• Specific Purpose : carers may be needed to look after children and undertake specific tasks to achieve their Care Plan.

A wide range of children may need any of these types of fostering from babies to teenagers, and we are developing the services we offer to disabled children and their families.

Starting to Foster

We will provide you with on-going support from the day your fostering experience begins. The dedicated team of Fostering Support Workers and Social Workers are all here to help you become a successful Foster Carer. We offer an on call service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to deal with emergencies. Your Fostering Support Worker will be in weekly contact with you so that you can raise issues and concerns as they arise. At least every 3 weeks your Fostering Support Worker will visit you to talk about issues that may concern you. We are always available between these visits and in the early stages of any placement additional support will be provided. Should it become necessary we can draw on other professionals who will help and advise foster carers in the management of the child in their care.

Your weekly allowance, which covers all the expenses of raising a child, will be paid to you weekly by cheque. If you foster a child over the long-term, arrangements can be made for you to have short periods of respite, when the child will go to stay with other foster carers.

Being a foster carer can at times be tough, and although you will receive the support you need you are the people doing all the hard work. Fostering is a big challenge but if you are able to guide, support and care for the children we place with you, you will not only have achieved something remarkable for yourself, you will have made positive changes to a child’s life.

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