Any foster carers on here?

snipzychick

My DH and I are planning on applying to be foster carers and would really like to know more about the application process. We've heard that it can take about 6 months sometimes more, so what's involved? Are other members of our family interviewed or is it just us and our DS? How do they determine whether we would be suitable or not?

I'd really love to hear anyone elses experiences, good and bad, if you don't mind sharing

We spoke to the fostering team on the phone today and they are sending out an info pack and initial form to fill out and i'm actually quite excited but a little bit nervous too!!

Savvy_Sue

Yes, there are some about, and you can search this board for foster carers. However the most useful threads are probably here and here and here.

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

We are privately fostering our niece (ie no involvement with social workers) if I can be of any help?

baby_balloon

my parents have fostered for 40 years (im 27) so I grew up as a natural born child in a foster family... PM me if you think i can be any help! x

cherrycake

Hi,

I am a social worker that solely assesses potential foster carers for a private agency. People attend a training course initially then if considered suitable an in depth assesment is completed called a Form F. This involved interviewing family members and at least two references from each person (one must be a family member). The length of time this takes varies but 6 months is a good guideline. Hope that helps!

libbyc3

hi snipzychick,
I'm a foster carer and have been for 2 years so the assessment process is still fairly fresh in my mind. Our assessment took nine months but that was after we waited 9 months to go on the 'skills to foster' course which is compulsory - so don't expect a foster child anytime soon!!
We didn't have a particulary good experience with our assessing social worker who was on a bit of a power trip, but got there in the end. There were 2 references each for me and my other half collected and one of these was interviewed themselves - by telephone.
My sister was spoken to as she is a regular visitor to our house so would have regular contact with potential foster children.
CRB checks were done. A medical assessment. and our children's school were contacted to see if they knew of reason we should not be considered.
On top of this we had monthly visits from the assessing social worker who went quite in depth into our upbringings, attitudes and general outlook on life, and obviously experience with children! He also interviewed our own children.
It all sounds quite heavy I know, but well worth it - just make sure you retain your sense of humour all the way through which will stand you in good stead for when the little cherubs start arriving!!

gingernutbizkit

hi, i'm a foster carer too. The biggest advice i can give you at the moment is to go with an independent fostering agency rather than the local council. They'll pay better, give you much more support and ultimately have more resources to benefit the children.

PM me if you want any more info

lostinrates

I know this is a very old thread but we have been thinking a lot about fostering (following re-discussing it recently when prompted to think again by a thread in DT) and wondered if any foster parents are still around to answer a few questions.

DH and I are a childless couple, 31. we do not wish to have fertlity treatment and have accepted we will not have children. Rather than mope, we are wondering if there is something we can do to help other peole's children. We ade tentative calls about fostering before and were rather ut off....the L.A> person we spoke to felt we would not be ideal, having determined DH worked as a professional in the city and is away weekdays, and that I am well spoken felt we were ''too middle class'' and that our lifestyle might in fact be detrimental for children.

Is this actually so?

Secondly, and presuming we are appropriate, LA versus agency?. I read above that private offers more support. As non -parents I think that would be a very good option for us, but it concerns me that it also will offer the more ''challenging'' children, and perhaps it would be better to gain experience with more easily placed children? How sdoes one decide which agency to approach?

Thirdly, we also might be having my (fit and able but retired) parent live with us. we would all pass police checks etc and the parent is supportive of our decision. would this ''untraditional'' set up be a problem, both for the suitability of us for children, or indeed to children themselves?


We would not be doing this for the financial incentive, nor seeing it as a ''substitution'' for our own childlessness, more as something we feel positive about in its own right.

Savvy_Sue

I can't comment on your suitability for fostering, however have you considered offering respite care? This could be regular short-term placements, and they can be an absolute lifeline to some families.

lostinrates

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I can't comment on your suitability for fostering, however have you considered offering respite care? This could be regular short-term placements, and they can be an absolute lifeline to some families.

I think we would open to it. We'd need significantly more training though, I would imagine.

Thank you for the response.

LearntMyLesson

Some local authorities offer respite or short breaks services for children not in care, just when the family has requested extra support at a difficult time. This is a flexible option, which you could fit in with your exisiting lifestyle as you can specifiy weekends, holidays etc. It's something to consider against traditional respite, often for children with disabilities (although training is ample for foster carers).

Just to put in a seperate side, I think you need to be quite careful about choosing your agency. If you want younger children, then you'll need a local authority. I think local authorities are very "realistic" (almost to the point of pessimistic) about the reality of fostering. Comfortable middle class homes are a massive shock to some children in care (and the children are a massive shock to some of these foster carers) but ultimately it's your personal characteristics which will shine through. If you feel sapped already, maybe you have to ask yourself if you have "stickability" foster carers need to be able to advocate for the children in their care. (Personally, your motivations sound genuine and positive).

Get a few info packs from everyone in your local area and go to a couple of info days, meet foster carers, the agencies and speak to their young people in care and then make your decision on these meetings rather then glossy info packs. Sit on your decision for three months if needed. Don't worry about easing in, ask your agency how they treat new carers? Do they start you off with respite for other carers? With regard to your home situation, I think it's a positive not a negative.

I'm not a social worker or foster carer but someone who has researched the area academically, possibly an informed neutral party (?). Ethically, I have some reservations about private agencies. There is a place for specialist care but the trend of outsourcing dilutes the pot for other children in care and places the responsibility for children outside the local authority (better local authorites don't outsource many children). Support for foster carers is generally very good both in private and LA and some LA's pay well too. You can also check out agencies reports on the ofsted website (privates are much better at ticking the boxes here!). Good luck with your application.