The children that need your help are not ordinary children. In their short lives they may have faced many great problems and trauma. They may have been neglected or abused, they may have received little love or affection. As a result, you will need to be prepared for and able to cope with difficult behaviour.
You will need to be patient and give love, affection and understanding to help a distressed and troubled child settle down. But in time, you should have the reward of watching them grow and develop into happy, confident young people.
Examples of children who may be in foster care
Please note these are not real children as we need to protect the identity of the children in our care.
Carlie
Carlie is 9 years old and has been in care now for just over a year, after a series of non accidental injuries raised concerns over the care her parents were giving her.
She was not the easiest child to care for initially as she was finding it difficult to live with a family that is caring, stable and has rules, as well as missing her family. She has been with her current carers now for almost a year and she feels part of the family.
Carlie has a statement of special educational needs, which means she receives a lot of extra support at school. Since being in foster care her behaviour at school and her abilities in class have began to improve steadily.
Daniel
Daniel, aged 14, who lived with his mother had been in all sorts of trouble, he had been excluded from school, in trouble with the police, aggressive to his younger sister and wouldn’t do anything his mother asked him to do. His mother requested that that he come in to care as she felt she couldn’t cope any longer. Daniel had not seen much of his father since his parents split up when he was 10 years old. Daniel needed foster carers who could understand him and manage his behaviour.
Sue and John have been fostering for 5 years. They take teenagers like Daniel when their families are at their wits' end. Sometimes they need to have a break for just a couple of months, sometimes a bit longer.
"We help them to settle down, often they are not doing well at school, are in trouble with the police and constantly arguing with their family. Living with us gives them and their family time to work on building up their relationships again."
"You need to be able to understand teenagers and their angry behaviour. They may be hurt about things that have happened in their family and need help understand events to build up self confidence and pride. It’s great when we see them doing this and are pleased when they can go home. We are still in contact with the teenagers and their families we have had and they keep in touch by phoning or calling in to say thank you. It is hard work but a great reward to know you have helped."
Information Evenings
We rely on the help of families and individuals to provide for and meet the needs of children who cannot live within their own families.
Please take the time to look through the various sections under fostering to give you a feel of what to expect. The next stage would be to attend an information evening. These take place bi-monthly. You will be able to speak to a social worker and other foster carers or adopters to get a feel for what to expect and ask questions you may have.
The meetings are informal, confidential and there is no pressure for you to make a commitment during the evening. An interpreter will also be available for families who speak Punjabi or Urdu. The building is wheelchair accessible. Should you require any other assistance for the information meetings please telephone us on 01274 434331.
The meetings start at 6.30pm and operate on a drop-in basis, so you can come along any time between 6.30pm and 8.00pm. If you are arriving by car, you can park in front of our building if there is space, or you can park down John’s Street (between Wycliffe Primary School and Northcliffe Garage).
For future meetings you can call our recruitment officer on the telephone number above.
