Being A Foster Carer
Can a foster child share a bedroom with one of my own children?
There is no rule to say that they cannot, or there are many local authorities have polices, in case, which require foster children to have their own bedroom.
How do the social services support me whilst fostering?
Well, you will be assigned your own Social Worker. And that Social Worker will keep in touch with you. They'll visit you. They'll find out how specific placements are preceeding. But they'll also want to know about how you're getting on and whether you need additional support and additional training. Every year you have a review, an annual review and that will look at the previous year. It will look at your training, what you've achieved, whether you need additional skills.
Do I need to stay in contact with the birth parents?
It is very likely that you will need to do that. Most children in foster care go home and so keeping in touch with the birth family is really important. Of course it will depend on the individual child and the individual circumstances but you may for example be asked to take the foster child to meet with their birth family, the birth family may come and visit you in the foster home.
Am I allowed to choose how to discipline my foster child?
Discipline is likely to be set up really clearly in a policy which the local authority agency will have and will explain really really clearly to the foster carer. What we do not want is children experiencing very different levels of discipline from different foster carers. That would just be incredibly confusing to the child.
What do I do if I can't cope with a foster child?
If you can't cope then what you must do is talk to your social worker and explain why you can't cope and I would expect any social worker in that situation to listen and to be supportive and to talk to you about what's happening. Obviously, if the relationship with the child isn't working then that child would need to be moved.
Is there a limit as to how many children I can foster at one time?
In England and Wales there's a limit of three unrelated children being in foster care in your home at any one time. In occasional circumstances, say for example if you have a sibling group of, say, four children, that could be waived by the agency.
Can foster parents stay in touch with the foster children when they no longer need support?
Many do. Many children develop fantastic relationships with their foster families and will keep in touch with them for the rest of their childhoods and into adulthood. But there may be specific situations where, for whatever reason, they are unable to stay in contact.
