Fostering is a rewarding experience for foster carers who provide children with a safe and welcoming home. Every foster carer has a different experience, but there are some common things they can do to ensure successful fostering.
Unsure About Fostering? Start Slow
Many people who want to become foster carers have not done it before and do not know where to start. To gain some experience with fostering, you could provide respite care. Being a respite provider means caring for children for anything from one night to regular weekends every month. It will help give you an idea of what fostering is like and help you understand the needs of the children in care.
You can also foster older children if you have the skills and knowledge. Doing so is advisable for potential foster carers who might not be comfortable starting with a young foster child. Fostering a teen who is a few years from graduating will give you more experience of supporting foster children, how to network with other foster carers, and where to find help if you need it.
Honour Their Birth Parents
When foster children leave care, the hope is to return to their birth families if these families can meet their needs. As a foster carer, honouring birth parents and avoiding saying negative things about them is important.
It is important to understand that while foster children come with trauma, their birth parents might be facing the same challenges. Support foster children to keep a connection with their parents, in line with their care plan, as doing so helps everyone involved. It also makes it much easier for foster children to reconnect with their birth parents once they leave foster care as their bond and relationship were not broken.
Get the Support You Need
As a foster carer, you will need help from time to time. Start by doing your research to find out the resources and services that are available to you and your foster children through your foster agency or other organisations.
Secondly, take part in support groups. Foster care agencies support foster carers in different ways, including through dedicated social workers and support groups. If you are fostering in Swindon or thinking about it, you can learn more about the support foster carers get at fosterplus.co.uk, where you can also learn more about the fostering process.
Lastly, build connections in the foster care community. These connections give you access to the support and encouragement you need and are the backbone of successful fostering.
Celebrate Everything
There is a lot of celebration in the foster care community. Celebrating growth and connections is important in foster care settings, even for the smallest things such as a foster child learning something new or making a new friend. There is always something to celebrate, and you should be on the lookout for them.
Foster carers should be open to new opportunities and experiences, learning and building connections and relationships. They should connect with foster children and give them a safe and welcoming home. Doing so will help them provide children in care with a new start that can change their lives.
Speak Your Mind