Leave the past in the past
When getting a new placement, leave the past in the past. Think of the placement as a new start for everyone involved. Take everything at face value, the child may have history but don’t use that against them. It’s nice to have a fresh start.
Be positive
One of our carer’s got it right, we all have positive and negative traits, it’s what makes us who we are. Being positive helps in so many ways so looking for the positives in people, the situation and the future is a good way to go.
Don’t get disheartened by hurdles
During the process or even after you have been accepted and have begun to foster you might experience little set backs. When this happens stay positive and keep moving forwards, speak to your social worker or other carers. It will all be worth it in the end.
Treat the people in care like a person
One of our carers said that it important to treat their child as a person. Sometimes when there is lots of information being passed onto us about the child it’s easy to forget that when it boils down to it, they are a person and not just a name in a report with a back-story.
It’s never clear cut, treat every case differently
Treat every case differently, children rebel or play up for a variety of different reasons, talk to them and see what the issue may be. This will help solve the problem and help the same situation from occurring in the future.
Use the support available
At Fostering Ltd we have great social workers some of whom have many years experience as foster carers themselves. In addition to this we also host training and coffee mornings and all of our carer speak to each other asking questions and using the experience of our carers that have been Fostering for a while
Get all your family involved
It is a good idea to get all your family involved whether it is existing children, parents, siblings or the wider family. It will make the child feel more involved and supported as well as give them the opportunity to make new friends and connections.
