Our foster carers come from all sorts of backgrounds and bring their own unique strengths and abilities to the fostering experience. At Compass Fostering, we focus on building the strengths of our carers through the REACH approach. This approach underpins everything that we do at Compass and is a great starting point for how to be a good foster parent.
What is the REACH Approach
Underpinned by positive psychology, REACH is unique to Compass Fostering and supports both carers and children in making the most of fostering.
Resilience
Children in care often come from unstable backgrounds, and the ability of successful foster carers and workers to stick with it despite the challenges that come up is really important in helping a child feel secure.
That’s why we support every foster parent to build your strengths and develop true resilience. You’ll learn how to bounce back when things go wrong and nurture a connection with your foster child that will last through the good and the bad.
One of our foster carers, Alison, learnt the value of resilience when her family of five accepted a foster child into their home for the first time. “Nothing could have prepared me for the little boy of just four years old who came to live with us,” she says.
“He was broken, vacant and presented worrying behaviours and we have all, including him, worked so very, very hard to find the beautiful, bright, clever and funny boy that now lives with us. We love him dearly.”
You can read more about Alison’s experience – both the challenges and the rewards – in this post.
Education of carers
Changing the mind and behaviour of a child begins in the mind of their caregivers. Our training explores how attachments are formed and gives you actionable tools and approaches based on positive psychology.
You’ll become better equipped to meet the needs of your foster children and help them develop positive and secure attachments. Approach the process with a willingness to learn and you might be surprised how much you and your foster child can achieve!
Acceptance
Young people in care often have low self-esteem – but the acceptance and appreciation a foster child gets from their carer can make a huge difference in their ability to accept themselves.
Our parenting courses will help you build your child’s self-esteem, provide creative opportunities for your child to accept themselves, and guide you and your foster children in building ‘happy habits’.
Child-centred
Empathy is a vital quality for foster parents, and our child-centred approach encourages it. You’ll discover how to put your child’s needs front and centre and manage your own feelings to give your child a positive model of emotional literacy.
To support this process, there’s plenty of ongoing peer supervision and support from psychologists too.
Holistic
We want the children in care with Compass Fostering to feel a part of their birth family, their foster family and their community. That’s why we take a holistic approach to build a sense of belonging that will help the child accept who they are.
When you foster with Compass, you and your foster child will join a supportive and close-knit community. Through group activities and social events, you’ll both build meaningful relationships that last.
Our wrap-around service helps you support your foster child in accepting themselves and managing complex relationships in the short and long term – ultimately setting them up for success.
If the approach outlined above sounds like it could work for you, there are a few requirements you must meet in order to qualify as a carer, like having a spare bedroom. To find out more about what it takes to become a good foster carer, please get in touch.
