If you’re considering fostering for the very first time, you’re bound to have a huge number of questions. Embarking on a career in fostering is one of the most exciting and rewarding decisions you can ever make.
However, you need to be sure you have experienced and skilled support behind you, so you can meet any challenges with confidence. At Tree House Care, we’re behind you every step of the way.
Fostering means providing safe and supportive homes for children and young people when they need it most.
If you are a foster carer, you look after a child in your own home. This could be for a number of reasons, such as bereavement, illness or difficulties at home.
As a foster carer, you work in partnership with social services departments, the fostering agency and the child’s parents to make sure that the child has a happy, safe and supportive home life in which they can thrive.
Every single child’s situation is different, but Tree House Care always strives to find the best individual solution for their needs.
A foster placement can be short or long term, lasting anything from a few days to several years.
It is vital to have the right personal attributes to meet the demands of fostering. Although incredibly rewarding, there is no question that fostering can be challenging.
The most important thing is to have the right approach and personal qualities.
These include flexibility, patience, a natural empathy with young people and an ability to handle difficult situations if they arise. Having the knack of not taking things personally is also a big advantage.
As you would imagine, it also helps to have first- hand experience of looking after children.
This could be as a parent yourself or experience through your work.
Of course, your home must also be suitable and you must have a spare bedroom for the child.
At Tree House Care, we mainly focus on children aged over 8 and in particular we place many teenagers in foster homes.
The reasons that a young person may need a foster home are varied. In some cases, their parents may be ill or have died.
In other cases, children may have suffered neglect or abuse by their parents. Sometimes the situation is simply a breakdown of family relationships.
Whatever the reason the loss of what is familiar is traumatic for children and they will need your support and understanding to adjust to their new circumstances and go on to create a positive future.
As a foster carer, you can make a vital difference to a young person’s life. Ask yourself; in what other role could I make so much of a difference?
A foster carer has the potential to transform young lives so it essential we make sure that only people who are truly suited to the role are selected.
The selection process takes about six months. During that time, we spend many hours with you and your family, getting to know you and assessing the impact fostering is likely to have on your family, as well as identifying the strengths you can bring to it.
We carry out several statutory checks including a Criminal Records Bureau check.
We’ll also ask you to undergo a full medical examination, so we can be completely confident you’re in good health.
And it goes without saying that we’ll take up both work and personal references.
However, the process is not all one way. You’ll also have the opportunity to consider whether fostering is really right for you and your family, as we put you in touch with experienced foster carers, so you can learn first- hand about its highs and the lows.
This will hopefully give you the insight you need to make an informed decision as to whether you want to take the plunge and become a foster carer.
We are accredited Investors in People and this reflects our dedication to helping all our staff and carers reach their full potential.
We see our foster carers as colleagues first and foremost. We are at the end of a telephone 24/7 to provide a helping hand and expert advice.
The period leading up to your approval as a foster carer provides time for useful initial training to set you on the path to success.
You’ll build on these initial foundations through workshops every month or so, looking in depth at a wide range of complex subjects, such as dealing with children who have suffered loss or abuse and keeping children safe.
As a foster carer with Tree House Care, you’re never left unsupported. We meet with you at least once a month and make sure you have all the help and guidance you could want.
Foster children invariably need a high level of care and support and so it’s important that at least one carer is at home full time.
However if you’re working at present, we wouldn’t expect you to give up work until your foster child is due to arrive at your home.
Many foster carers have children of their own.
However, it is important to understand that fostering does have an impact on your own family dynamics.
Because your own children have to share you with a foster child, who may be quite challenging, we advise new applicants to wait until their own children are settled in secondary school.