Staying in touch if child returns to their parent

[thehedge]

Hi,
Is it ok to do this? Have you done this? Social care seem to think it's not a good idea.
Cheers

Yes we have. We had a good relationship with the family whilst the child lived with us for a year. Once the child returned to the family we stayed in touch and they continued to visit us from time to time, call and email. We were guests at the child's 16th birthday party too.

SS encourage us to keep in touch - it's an extra pair of eyes for them that they don't have to pay for! Plus support for the family.

I keep in touch with a few of my ex FC, but whilst I adore the children it is extremely hard work seeing them once they go home. You also have to be careful about who the parent is now so the child doesn't get confused. I've also had parents see me as a soft touch and look for handouts, knowing that I won't see the child go without. Maybe thats the lines your SW is thinking along?

I think it depends on the age of the child. When they are younger, we feel that parents will do their best to erase that part of the children's life, and so, even if we got on well with the parents, they may not really want to stay in touch. I have heard many carers say they put pictures of themselves with the child in the memory box, but we only put pictures of the child in photo albums (a lot of them!). We feel if we put any pictures of us with the foster child they will only go in the bin. Our sw said it was fine to keep in contact though as they are no longer LAC.