Fostering agency and Local Authority won’t accommodate one journey via taxi

I wouldn’t put my own children in a taxi, therefore no I don’t think it’s appropriate for foster children to be either.

Congratulations on choosing and passing to become foster carers. Im a foster carer with a LA and we are expected that 1 carer is always available. I packed in work. I think your agency have made it sound like it's 'doable ' but from our personal experience its not.
Over the years I've had to drive 50 mins to their school for drop off, 50 mins back home, 50 mins to go and collect and 50 mins back to ours. Also had to take one child to school and pick up 9-11.30 and then home due to schooling issues, for weeks. Ive had calls at all time from both primary and secondary school, child may have had extreme behaviour/absconded. Ive spent hours driving round, liaising with police etc for very vulnerable children. There's no way I could do this and work.
Children being transported by taxi doesn't sit well. Some have trauma/etreme fear with strangers in cars (from being removed auddenly and taken away in astrange car), if they've been abused etc.
I know it doesn't seem a big ask to us, but ut is for them. I know they're desperate for carers but they've explained its not appropriate and there are reasons for that. X

Well I wouldn’t do it to my child. Can a relative not assist, like relatives do with family children?

OP you said you’d been approved? Do you mean you’ve been to panel? You got through the Form F process? You don’t sound like you were grilled and prodded and had all the implications of caring for traumatised children and the importance of a good support network and the financial considerations and practical problems explained to you at all. Which surprises me if you say you’ve done Form F and been to panel?

Talk to your SSW OP. Not sure what becoming accustomed means in terms of your partner. Perhaps you need to unpick this and talk through the realities of the practicalities of having children join your family. Maybe provide respite for other fostering families for periods( I am glad to read some authorities ban taxis but it is no means every authority )

“To give my partner time to become accustomed to fostering “

I don’t think either of you are fit to foster just from that statement alone.

Op I do think you need to learn more about fostering, and the fostering board on here that was mentioned above is a good way of learning about peoples experiences as foster carers. I do think you need to consider your support network, as others have said if you had your own children you would be finding ways to manage school pick ups without expecting your child to come home in a taxi, so you would need to think the same for any potential foster child rather than thinking about what the social worker will offer.

However if you still want to try it, you may want to consider speaking to your local authority.
Most authorities start their foster carers off with short term foster placements where there is a definite end date, eg for children who are already settled in foster care and who need somewhere to stay because their carer is away and can't take the child with them, or is unwell, or for a child who has additional needs and benefits from respite care. The LAs do this in part to see how well you can adapt to fostering, and it could give you the opportunity to see if it really is for you, before you take on a child full time. Your local authority would be much more likely to need homes for children who are in school in your area.

Caveat would be - be careful of being asked for an emergency placement, as these always start off 'for a couple of days' but if the child can't go home and no alternative home is found it is inevitably longer.

I'd still do your research first, just that if you do want to foster for the right reasons, and you're willing to reflect on the advice in here, it's worth exploring.

If fostering isn't for you there are options of mentoring and being an independent visitor etc that might appeal to you. Unpaid but very fulfilling.

That all sounds like you have a rose tinted view of fostering. An 11 year old in foster care is likely to have experienced significant trauma and uncertainty, for a significant period of time. The most basic understanding of trauma would tell you children need consistency, safety and predictability especially just after a move to a new foster home.

It’s unrealistic to expect foster carers to be able to work outside of care, because the needs of the children are such that they need the carer to be available. A taxi from school separates the child out even more than they already are different, they may not tolerate after school care, or manage in a car with a stranger. It’s nothing like having a birth child and you can’t rely on the usual supports that parents use, like childcare or clubs.

I’m surprised you got through the training without understanding how and why children in care have particular needs from their carers.

This reads to me at you viewed fostering as an income source and were sold the dream of lovely perfect children. It is not a Disney movie, it is real life for a traumatised child, these children are not commodities or a way of making easy money.

I would have been very reluctant to recommend you as a foster carers with the information you have shared here. What would you do if you had a child of your own? Yes the state provides child benefit, however it is no where near the vast fees that foster carers receive, especially from the private agencies.

Fostering children is not merely about giving time, love and fun days out. It about commitment to a most likely traumatised child or young person. That means being fully committed 24/7 to provide stability. The financial aspect should be the least significant in decision making. Thank you for having the sense to see this before a child experiences more trauma.

You think it's okay to put children adjusting to life with a new family, in the back of a taxi after contact with their birth family? Wow.

Your attitude is why CEP are disgusted with the system. A child that has corporate parents shall have been through some form of trauma. They are requiring extra support from a reliable adult. Your child highly likely has a secure attachment and has not experienced significant trauma. Putting them in a taxi as though they are a parcel is not acceptable. I do not know how the potential fosters got through the vetting process. It had certainly highlighted another question for me to consider when sitting on a fostering panel.

Taxis are for when alternative transportation isn’t an option not part of childcare. What if your dp was stuck in traffic? After school club could be ok providing the children don’t have additional needs/ behavioural issues but they need to settle in first

Yes however those children are escorted and it is usually part of a routine to and from their structured lives. Children in Foster care are so so vulnerable and who knows what trauma they’ve been exposed to. The major life transition into a foster home must be terrifying and isolating for them as it is.

it’s asking too many transitions from the child.

What if there is an accident, other disruption, vehicle breaks down? My friend does work as a foster parent but she had to get special permission and have childcare in place with back up care too.

Ah crossed posts with you @Fostering2025 I see you have had a rethink. If you do want to help the children in care then you could look at being a mentor for them. This involves meeting them at regular intervals and being a sounding board - imagine a very helpful and kind aunt who understands!

11 is even more important that you are there. The older ones will be more vulnerable to bullying (not the right clothes/phone etc). There’s also the risk of running away/county lines and other risks (doesn’t take much to google for what kids in foster care face in this respect).

Whatever the age, they will feel very let down by every adult and your role is to convince them that you will not let them down ever. That means being present and giving them your undivided attention. It’s not like babysitting - it’s more like being a therapist and advocate for that child. It’s not for the faint hearted.

I don't think a taxi is an appropriate solution. Could you or your dp ask for a flexible arrangement so you can collect?

Foster carers are definitely expected to accommodate the child's needs rather than try to fit the child into their lifestyle.

and what happens when the taxi doesn’t turn up? The kids left on their own ?!?! Already abandoned or neglected and the one person who’s meant to be looking after them - and being paid VERY well to do that! - just leaves them to a what? A random taxi driver? The taxi drivers who do school runs aren’t just anyone they are very well vetted and there’s no way you’d get one of these as they will all be booked permanently by the local authority and you’ll just have any old taxi driver picking up your foster child? Awful behaviour from the start!!! Just tell your partner to go back to a proper job and when you can grow up and actually adult and parent properly consider fostering again

For those wondering why a taxi might not be a good idea, imagine this.

Your 8. You’ve just been separated from your mum and siblings. You are living with complete strangers in an area 40 miles from where you came from. A different school, teachers and all the kids are calling you weird because you don’t live with your birth family. You only have one toy, one photo and a few clothes from your previous life. You feel totally lost and alone.

Do you really think it would be ok that that child is not met at the end of the school day by a known adult who is meant to be your safe place?!!!

@Bobbybobbins it wouldn't be a consistent driver or chaperone, it never is! SEN transport is arranged differently, and they don't have capacity to get involved in these type of arrangements.
Children who are in foster care have very different emotional needs and the transition to and from school is a key part of the support.

My children both get taxi transport to and from school every day - SEN school. I appreciate the circumstances are quite different however I am a bit surprised that this would be a deal-breaker for one journey a week presumably with a consistent driver and escort.

All parenting, including foster parenting, involves you constantly putting yourself out to meet the needs of your child.