Who can foster ?
Fostering is for adults who are able to put their energy, emotional strength, love and commitment into supporting and caring for children or young people who have had a not so positive experience of life some of the time.
You need to be patient, understanding, and passionate about making a difference, whilst at the same time providing firm boundaries in a nurturing and loving way. You need to be open and willing to support children or young people through what may often be a difficult time by showing empathy and respect for them and their birth family.
We strive to recruit foster carers who will be resilient, committed and able to provide a safe caring environment as well as promote the young person’s ethnicity, religion, education, language, dietary needs and more. We would consider the applicant’s motivation, availability, extra room, household composition and the age of the children in the family.
How does it affect my family?
Fostering is a life changing experience, involving all members of the family in one way or another. This includes the family pet.
Fostering means changes in the way you do things as a family. We will work with, and provide support to all members of your family to help them understand what changes need to be made, why, and help them adapt to such changes.
Fostering usually has a positive impact on the family as it helps the family develop a good understanding of others better. Sometimes, the family learns from the child or young person placed.
It is important to discuss fostering with members of your family before you apply. This is important, as birth and adoptive children will have to share their parents, and facilities in the home. They may have to, in some circumstances witness and cope with some difficult or behaviors which may be challenging. This experience may be enriching for all involved.
Often children and young people may have had difficult start in life or may have experienced some trauma, making their experiences very different.
They need a stable home to have a fresh start.
Types of Placements
At HFS we recognise that every child or young person is an individual, as a result of which the requirements for placements will be different. To meet the individual needs of a child or young person, we provide a flexible service. This could be
- Short term: These placements are usually for short periods of time, this may be to enable the birth family make the necessary changes with a plan for the child or young person to return home
- Long term: These placements are often for extended periods of time, when a decision has been made that it is not in the child or young person’s interest to return to the family home. Stability for the child or young person is key in such placements
- Emergency: Such placements are usually unplanned, and required at short notice. They may last for a few days, or the children or young people may remain in the placement for longer, depending on their care plan
- Respite placements: Respite placements are there to provide other foster carers with the opportunity for a break, or may be available to parents to support them in their caring role
- Parent & baby placements: These placements are usually for young mothers or fathers with their babies who need to be supported in developing their parenting skills, monitoring, advice
- Sibling placements are provided to enable children from the same family stay together with the same carer(s) in order to keep them together and maintain their bond by settling and making progress together.
Matchmaking
We recognise the importance of matching in the lives of the children/young people placed with us. Appropriate matching is key to placement stability and continuity for children/young people. As a result of this, we make sure that as much information is sought about the individual needs and circumstances of the child/young person. We consider the carer’s skills, knowledge and abilities, terms of approval and the carer’s own personal circumstance. Issues around diversity and specialist needs will be fully considered.
Considering becoming a foster carer
Contact us
- 07445 609479
- 0208 0900964
- info@hatolsfostering.com
