Basic information about fostering
Fostering is about caring for a child in your own home. For a whole variety of reasons there are over 38,000 children (in England, 2001) who are placed with foster carers by social services departments. Many of these children will eventually return to their families. In some cases this may take a matter of days or weeks; in others it may take much longer.
If a return to their families is not possible a decision may be made to find them a permanent new family, possible through adoption.
In the vast majority of cases children in foster care will have regular contact with their families and all parents continue to have responsibilities towards their children throughout the time they are in foster care.
Foster Carers
Foster carers are people who look after these children. In the past we used to refer to them as foster parents but this term is misleading. The children already have parents and "foster carers" better reflects the often temporary nature of the task.
Foster carers can be single or a couple, they do not need to be married. They can be hetrosexual or gay. Most fostering agencies welcome applications from people who are in their mid twenties and it is quite common for people to foster children up until their 60's and beyond.
One of the things we find when people are thinking about applying to become foster carers is that they can sometimes make assumptions about what is involved that are simply incorrect. For instance, some people think they have to own a large house or have a certain income. Neither of these assumptions are correct!
Why do children need to be fostered?
There are a lot of reasons why families are unable to look after their children. Many of these reasons will only apply for a short time. For instance, some children may come into foster care for a few weeks when their parent has to go into hospital. In other cases children might need to be fostered for much longer. It may take two or three years before a child is able to return home while social workers and others try to resolve more serious problems within the family.
What kind of children are fostered?
The children who are placed with foster carers come from many social, ethnic and religious backgrounds. They may have experienced a variety of problems in their life. Many will be deeply upset about being away from their families and may be "difficult" to care for when they first come in to foster care. However, this does not mean that all children in foster care are "problem children" and many, given sufficient time to settle, are likely to be as "difficult" as any other child.
Some of the children placed with foster carers, because of their history, will have more problems than most and will offer a considerable challenge to their foster carers. This does not mean that they should not be placed with foster carers as this may still be seen as being in their best interests. In some cases children will be identified as needing a specialist fostering placement when their needs are great and where they will place great demands upon those who care for them.
Who gives foster carers support and advice?
All the LondonKIDS participants are organised so that a particular worker or team of workers are regularly in contact with their foster carers. They also encourage foster carers to meet up regularly for training and mutual support.
Every child placed with foster carers will have their own social worker who will also give advice and support to foster carers.
If you want to find out more general information about fostering and foster care visit The Fostering Information Line web site.
