Separate FC placements and introductions

[Torvy]

Hi all,

Has anybody had experience of introductions with children who have been placed in separate FC placements from birth?

Any advice or insights (positive, negative or speculative) appreciated. It doesn't seem very common. Also, what questions would you ask a social worker where this was the case?

Thanks!

Do you mean siblings who are placed in separate FC placements?

Do you mean two siblings placed in separate foster placements with them now being placed for adoption together? That’s very unusual - how old are the children. I’d be wanting to ask:-

• why were they placed separately


• what contact have they had with each other


• where has contact taken place


• how has contact been between them


• what assessments have been done to establish they can now be placed together


• how many children are there in their respective foster placements and what ages (ie are they used to focussed attention from foster carers)


• what are the children’s views about being placed together


• what work has been done with them to prepare them for placement together


• is the plan to place them both at the same time, how will that work practically for you

Its going to be complex so what support is planned for you - get a clear plan in place from all the social workers in terms of who will check in with you, when and how.

Those are really helpful questions to ask, thank you! They were placed in separate placements, one since very young and one birth. Children are now nearly 2 and 3. The reasons ģven on paper for the separation are that it reduced the amount of disrupted placements for both children due to FC capacity and the pandemic rather than any specific issues between the children.

We will be asking more about the thought process behind them being placed together, and what support will be offered for this specifically.

Does anybody happen to know of any interventions or resources that may be useful and we could suggest to the SW that we could use if the match were to go ahead? Or what assessments beyond the typical together or apart one could be used to help?

Here’s a link to a really useful resource from Family Futures which might help you think about the placement including some pointers in assessment and placement.

Family Futures

Wow, this sounds a very challenging prospect for you, and the kids- any chance of them being placed with you sequentially? For both kids to have the move to you, and gaining a full time sibling, is a lot of change all at once. I can see arguments to doing it both ways, though. Are there two of you parents, so you can each mark one and then swap? In the longer term, being placed together could mean so much to these children, but in this situation, I wouldn't attempt it without BOTH parents being on adoption leave for a significant period of time, although I suppose at 2 and 3, you could get them both in nursery in shifts to get 1-1 time.

I would consider whether you could take the 3 year old first, with parent A on adoption leave, get settled, them in nursery etc, then a few months later take the 2 year old, and parent B take adoption leave, so you're off together.