Fostering – What is fostering?

1. Fostering – What is fostering? Fostering is a profession for those who want to care for children and provide them with an environment which is warm, nurturing and safe. When you foster you care for a child or children on behalf of the Local Authority, whilst the child is unable for various reason to stay with their parents. Sometimes you can foster a child for a few weeks, months, or years this depends on what is best for that child if the child can or cannot return home. The children who come into the care system may have had experiences which are traumatic, they may have witnessed trauma, the child may have fled another country and have no adult with them meaning they need looking after. Whatever the reason, what is common to all the children, is they have experienced attachment, separation, and loss and this will have an impact on their behaviour and some children can present with more challenges than others. Who makes the rules? Within the UK the need to protect children and promote their welfare has been raised since 1875. In 1945, England saw a 12-year-old boy named Denis O’Neil to die at the hands of his foster carers which led to a national enquiry into an overhaul of the fostering provisions in the UK. In 1946, we saw a set of new duties which included: Regular visiting of the child (minimum six weekly) Written reports on the welfare of the child to the Committee Doctor to examine the child after coming into care and at least once a year after this. –Barring of person with any criminal conviction rendering them unsuitable to be a foster parent Child not to be placed in any environment likely to be detrimental to them. From 1945 to present day the government and local authorities have worked together to try and make robust mechanisms for safeguarding children and improving the services and the care they receive. This will not stop, services will continue to develop and improve and all professionals involved in safeguarding children including foster carers will be expected to keep updated with the changes and work within the legal framework. So as a foster carer a lot of what is expected of you is informed by government guidance and legislation. At this point of reading this article I want you to note fostering is a complex process, fostering is skilled work but also needs sound common sense. Qualifications necessary to become a foster carer To be referred to as a foster carer you need to be an approved foster carer, there is an assessment process which includes a home study about your household and an assessment of the skills you have which can transfer to fostering this study is called a Form F. For example, you may be an experienced parent, a teacher or even

2. someone who has been through different experiences in their life’s where they have become more resilient and can face the challenges of caring for someone else’s child. The fostering assessment process and what we need to do as an agency is also led by government regulations so alongside your Form F we need to make sure you are medically suitable and also complete police checks and local authority checks. There is also a preparation training course which is 3 days, this course aims to answer questions you have and also prepare you and further inform you about what fostering is. What kind of training is involved? Fostering is a complex process and it is skilled work, a foster carer will need help to develop their existing skills and learn new skills. Sometimes foster carers will benefit from supporting each other. Fostering is a profession that for all those involved areas of development will be outlined and training is ongoing for us all. As an agency, we have a duty to provide training and support, in turn, we need people who can commit themselves to this aspect of fostering and understand why training is part and parcel of fostering.