It’s a beautiful sunny morning here at UK Fostering Head Office in Dartford, and we are raring to go! You may have read some of the earlier blogs about the day in the life of a foster carer recruitment officer, and the need for foster carers is as strong as ever, however perhaps it is even more of the case now. Many of our current fostering households are full, due to the high demand for safe, caring homes for children during what is often a very difficult time in their young lives. We would love to be able to offer more children and teenagers a place to stay and receive support, for as long as they need it.
Therefore, with cuppa in hand (although my mind is drifting to Friday morning when our boss will be getting in breakfast from the local café), we start the day. For my lovely colleague Robyn and I, this starts as usual with checking of the voicemail, website, and emails, and are ready to respond to the many varied and interesting enquirers 😊
From our Head Office in Kent we cover all of our 4 regions in responding to initial requests for information about becoming a foster carer, the process and requirements. Robyn and I are happy to answer any questions that you may have. We will also get some information from you – about who you are, where you are, and your skills and experience that you can bring to fostering.
Once we complete the initial discussion stages, if you and we are ready, we would arrange for a colleague from your regional office to meet with you to see your home. This gives you a further chance to tell us about yourself and why you want to foster, and for us to see your home and get to know you further, hopefully also meeting any others in the household – including the pets!
You can foster as a couple or single person, be born in UK or living here permanently, be a homeowner or renter, be LGBTQ+, have a disability, and be with or without children of your own. Many foster carers are already parents, but others have work or volunteering experience that also bring skill and perspective to the fostering role. All kinds of families are needed.
We also work very closely with our colleagues in the Family Finding Team to ensure that we are working to find the right people for the children that are referred to us. We want to ensure that we can match to best of our ability, the needs of each individual child with their foster family. Foster families come in all shapes and sizes, and this can be a great positive as children all have different needs (and own preferences) for foster carers that help and support them.
Fostering can be challenging as foster carers are often caring for children who have experienced trauma and abuse, which can affect their behaviour and may need time to engage and trust their foster carers. As a foster carer you get initial, and regular, ongoing training, as well as you own social worker whilst fostering, to share the highs and to support you when the going is tougher.
So far today we have emailed our new enquirers an information brochure and left several messages to offer a further chat. One lady that we speak to does not have children of her own but has worked with teenagers as a mentor, however she lives in a multigenerational home with her parents who have brought up four children, potentially built in back-up carers for advice and support! She is going to speak with her parents to see if they would be happy to be an involved part of a fostering household, and a follow-up call is arranged for next week.
A man calls in to say that he is thinking about giving up work to be a stay at home parent for his two young primary aged children, and interested in fostering. His wife will continue to work full time in a school. We discuss the need for foster carers to take foster children to their school, and he advises that his wife can work flexibly and can continue to do the school run for their own children. The family have two cars so he would be available for the foster child’s school run. They have already discussed fostering with their children, so after getting further information about the family, we arrange for a colleague to come and meet him and his wife at their home to discuss further and see the fostering bedroom.
Another man lives with his teenage son, and is wanting to know if single men can foster. Yes they can! He has a disability that mildly affects his mobility, although he is active and is able to drive. He also has his sister and brother in law nearby as a local support. He says he needs to do some decorating to get the spare bedroom up to scratch, and also to discuss fostering with his son. We arrange a call for next month so that he can get the decorating done.
Just like today’s potential future foster carers, could you be that caring, resilient individual, couple or family that can offer a safe and supportive home environment for a child – either in the short or longer term?
Please get in touch for more information – Robyn and I look forward to speaking with you further 😊
By Lynsey Dobbs, Senior Recruitment Officer
