Why Foster Care
You may be wondering, why is foster care important? Many people underestimate how many children are currently in care in the UK. In fact, in a survey we carried out, people thought the number was around 27,000. In fact, the actual number is nearer 55,000. And that’s growing every year.
Fostering is a way of providing a safe and nurturing environment for a child or young person when they are unable to live with their birth family. This is often a temporary arrangement, and many fostered children return to their birth families once the problems that caused them to come into foster care have been resolved. Sometimes however, they may stay living with their foster family for many years as it is the best place for them to be.
There are thousands of foster families around the country and everyone’s experience with fostering is different. That’s why foster care is so vital, we can enable each individual child is found the most suitable foster family for them. You can view some of our foster carer’s stories to find out about their fostering journey.
Why should you become a foster parent?
You might have heard about fostering through television programmes or from your friends – you might even know children or young people who are living with foster carers or who are part of a fostering family.
Becoming a foster parent can be one of the most rewarding, lifechanging things you could do. As a carer, you are providing a safe and stable home for children and young people that may not have had the best start in life.
We are looking for adults who want to make a lifestyle choice to foster and are committed to encouraging the children and young people they care for to thrive in every area of their development. A foster carer is expected to promote education, social awareness, health and hygiene and provide an enriching lifestyle with good role models for children to aspire to.
You should be able to communicate with young people in an age appropriate and understanding way. A good foster carer will be able to put boundaries in place to manage their behaviour in a positive way, to enable children to grow up to be well adjusted adults.
Our foster carers receive extensive support, generous allowances and everything they need to help children and young people find emotional stability and security. We know that while fostering is often highly rewarding, it can also get challenging at times. This is why we constantly look at new ways of supporting our foster carers to minimise any challenges and support your fostering family.
There is still a national shortage of foster carers in the UK, if you can provide a stable and loving home for children that need it, please get in touch with us. Our friendly team of professionals would be happy to take you through any questions you may have about fostering.
