Book Description
This short, general guide to fostering in the UK will be an ideal starting point for anyone considering becoming a foster carer. It describes the sorts of children needing to be fostered; who can foster; caring for children in your home; the rewards of fostering; how to go about it - who to approach if you want to apply; selection, training, getting started, dealing with problems; money and the legal requirements; what happens when a child moves in (and out) and what happens when they can't go home; becoming part of the fostering team; finding a fostering agency. The book is brought to life with photographs and short case examples and the full list of fostering agencies around the UK will encourage potential foster carers to take the next step.
About the Author
Henrietta Bond is a freelance journalist and media consultant, specialising in children and family issues. Her interest in looked after children began when she became BAAF's press officer in 1990, and since becoming freelance in 1995 she has worked with Fostering Network, The Who Cares? Trust, NCH, Barnardo's, TalkAdoption, A National Voice, and many other children and young people's organisations and local authorities. She has written for Guardian Society, Children Now and Young People Now and recently wrote a new edition of BAAF's Advice Note Fostering: Some Questions Answered.
Excerpted from Fostering a Child: A Guide for People Interested in Fostering by Henrietta Bond. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1 Children who need fostering
"I like being in care. Where I live now they are kind and loving like a proper mum and dad." - 12-year-old fostered boy
Fostering is usually a temporary arrangement to provide a child with family life when the child can't live with their own family. Many children who are fostered return to their own families although some will stay in foster care for long periods, or may go on to be adopted.
Children of all ages - from babies right through to teenagers - may need to live with foster carers for anything from a single night to several months or several years.
Why do children need fostering?
There can be many reasons why a child or young person needs foster care. It's often because their family is having problems and needs help to sort these out. It might be that the parent is unable to look after the child because of illness or mental health problems. Or the parent may have a drug or alcohol-related problem which seriously affects the safety or care of the child. Or it might be that someone living in the family home has seriously neglected or physically or sexually abused the child.
Sometimes it's because there are major problems in the family and a teenager feels that they need to be away from home for a while. Sometimes a young person has been remanded by a court into foster care. In Scotland they may be required to live in foster care as part of a supervision order. Foster care can also be used as a way of looking after unaccompanied refugee and asylum-seeking children.
Families of disabled children or children with severe behavoural problems may also benefit from short breaks - where the child enjoys time in a new environment and the parents have some time to themselves.
"My foster parents treat me better than my mum because she was alcoholic. They are capable of looking after me." - 14-year-old foster girl
"I like being in care. Where I live now they are kind and loving like a proper mum and dad." - 12-year-old fostered boy
Fostering is usually a temporary arrangement to provide a child with family life when the child can't live with their own family. Many children who are fostered return to their own families although some will stay in foster care for long periods, or may go on to be adopted.
Children of all ages - from babies right through to teenagers - may need to live with foster carers for anything from a single night to several months or several years.
Why do children need fostering?
There can be many reasons why a child or young person needs foster care. It's often because their family is having problems and needs help to sort these out. It might be that the parent is unable to look after the child because of illness or mental health problems. Or the parent may have a drug or alcohol-related problem which seriously affects the safety or care of the child. Or it might be that someone living in the family home has seriously neglected or physically or sexually abused the child.
Sometimes it's because there are major problems in the family and a teenager feels that they need to be away from home for a while. Sometimes a young person has been remanded by a court into foster care. In Scotland they may be required to live in foster care as part of a supervision order. Foster care can also be used as a way of looking after unaccompanied refugee and asylum-seeking children.
Families of disabled children or children with severe behavoural problems may also benefit from short breaks - where the child enjoys time in a new environment and the parents have some time to themselves.
"My foster parents treat me better than my mum because she was alcoholic. They are capable of looking after me." - 14-year-old foster girl
