Starting the fostering assessment is an exciting time for your whole household, and one of the first things people think about is getting the fostering bedroom ready for the child. As the assessment process takes approximately four to six months, you have plenty of time to plan and get this done! It is important that…
There are two regular placement officers at UK Fostering who cover our 4 regions. The role of a placement officer requires a variety of skills as matching foster placements in relation to a child’s needs, background, and practical factors, is complex and involves quite a few people in the decision-making process. Placement officers need to…
Foster Care Fortnight was started by The Fostering Network, which is a leading national fostering information charity, and is now an annual event to: “raise awareness of the transformational power of fostering and to celebrate the fostering community”. (the fosteringnetwork.org.uk, 2021) So often television, film, and other media, do not give particularly accurate representations of…
The Federation of Children’s Book Groups (FCBG) is an organisation that was started in the 1960s, in response to parent’s and carer’s desires to learn more about children’s books, and how to encourage children to read more. Children’s Book Groups were created all over the UK, and the Federation serves to link them all together.…
As foster carers you are not expected to navigate fostering alone. You will have lots of support and training from UK Fostering, including your own supervising social worker (SSW) who will get to know you, your household, and young people well. They will visit you regularly at home and be available on the phone to…
When a child enters foster care for the first time, or is moving to a new foster home, then they may be worried about where they are going and what will the people that are caring for them be like. This could be very stressful for them. Therefore, during the later stages of the assessment…
It was around this time last year when I last wrote about how we had just started to work from home following government guidance to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Like many people, the kitchen table had initially become my office, however gradually led to the spare room finally being cleared out and turned…
What first attracted me to P&C placements was the fact that I had successfully grown up my 5 children by myself and don’t get me wrong sometimes it was a struggle, not only juggling work, school as well as making sure that my children were safe at all times and staying on the right path,…
I love pets and so do lots of others, so much so that a whole month (plus some days!) have been dedicated to pets and their proper care. National Pet Month runs from 1st April to 3rd May 2021. Many fostering households have pets, and they are most definitely part of the family group. Pets,…
Easter Sunday is one of the most important Christian festivals and commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a joyful celebration after a week of prayer and reflection during Holy Week. However, many of the customs that we associate with Easter are from earlier pagan festivals around the Spring Equinox. This includes the traditions…