considering a future as a foster carer but have questions

[morelovetogive]

Hi, I have always thought that fostering might be something i would like to do one day. I am currently on maternity leave after having my daughter 5 months ago and am considering what direction i want things to take in the future. After some thought and consideration with my DH i have decided to look into the possibility of becoming a foster carer in a couple of years time. I have been scouring this site and others for info and have learnt so much but there are a few things i'm still not clear about, some trivial, some less so. So, now for the questions!

1. If i choose to foster through a LA, does it have to be the LA we live in or could it be a neighbourng LA? We live on the border of two counties.

1. If we had a foster child/children and lets say hubby decides to treat me to a romantic meal out one night (!) then is there some sort of system for family members/close friends who would babysit our daughter in this instance to also be approved to babysit fc?

1. We have 2 mad dogs! Very friendly and well used to children. What sort of checks and assessments would be done on them?

1. I am considering short term fostering of the sort of 0-5 age group. Do fc have to be younger than your own dc? and is there a need for fc who can cater for this age group atm?

1. Are there other people who have started forstering when their own child/children were very young? Did this have any sort of negative affect? Is it easier because its always been normal for them?

1. We will have one spare room avaliable, its not a huge room but i figured if we put bunk beds in the room it would allow us to take siblings. If we were to take a baby under 6 months then would the expectation b that the baby would room in with us as is recommended for babies under 6m or would they be expected to be in their own room?

1. We currently love camping holidays, is camping with fc feasible or will we have to learn to love a different type of holiday!

I think i had more questions but i can't think right now!

[Minnerva]

Hello,

I shall answer as many queries as I can-we have been approved since the end of Feb and are currently caring for a four week old baby.

1/ DH and I foster with a neighbouring local authority-our county has a social services dept with a terrrible reputation and we were not keen to work with them so were thrilled when informed that it didn't have to be within the borough that you live.We also live on the border of several counties so logistically it's not too much hassle (yet!).

2/When you are approved to foster you nominate a back up carer so that in an emergency-or when you need a break-the back up carer is authorised to take care of the foster child-it cannot be anyone who is not approved by ss though and is not a long term solution-you couldn'tgo away on holiday but for a dinner date would be fine.My mum is my back up carer.

3/Pet checks were carried out on our 1 dog and 3 cats-we had to show their vaccination cards from the vets etc and an assessment form was completed.

6/The spare room does not have to be huge-just enough room for a bed and a child to confortably move around I suppose-babies do share a room with you-ours does with us at the moment.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Minnerva
xx

[morelovetogive]

Thanks very much thats really helpful. I have sent off for an info pack from our LA but will get one from next LA too. How did you find out that yours had a bad reputation? Did you already know other foster carers?

[nymphadora]

7/ is fine! Obviously depends on contact visits as for a younger child they are likely to be more often.

[morelovetogive]

Excellent! Thanks

I know that the LA will have their own guidelines on this but i wonder what exisiting foster carers think about what the minimum age our birth child should be before we begin fostering? From the things i have read i was thinking of aiming to begin (LA permitting) when she is about 2. Presumably this will limit me to the 0-2 age range intially?

[sumum]

hi, I started fostering when my girls were 3 and 1 and they have grown up with it, also had another child now 6 whilst fostering.

I have had mixed ages throughout, lots of babies but older ones too.
It is hard on your birth children and does change their life as well as yours, but my now grown up girls think of it as positive.

Its best not to make hard and fast rules and to match each placement as your child grows.
Always younger may work but for us older and same age has also worked equally well. Good Luck.

[Minnerva]

We did a little research online-ofsted reports are a good place to start-they should give you a little insight into how the ss department is run.

When you go to your la recruitment information evening you will meet the social workers-quiz them about the support and training that they offer their foster carers-you should be able to get a feel for things by talking to them-go with your gut instinct.

[morelovetogive]

Thank-you. I have requested info from the two nearest LA's and based on that info one stands out as being much better than the other with lots of talk about support, opportunities to progress and develop your skills with training. They say that birth children should be at least one year old. So i am planning to begin the application process after christmas when my daughter will be one. I am going to email them to let them know this. In the meantime is there anything that you would recommend we do in preperation? Things in the house, or for ourselves personally? We will get the spare room in order although this LA do say that it isn't always necessary for a fc to have a seperate bedroom (i think this might be because of a shortage of carers in the area). We will be childproofing the house more and more as lo gets on the move anyway. Is there any good reading material you would recommend etc?? I will ask the LA this same question too.

Thanks for all the helpful info so far