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Fostering

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on fostering.

Fostering with a history of depression

1 reply

Han1194 · 29/01/2019 22:58

Hello, myself and my partner are currently going through the fostering application process. We have just completed our skills to foster training, are in the process of completing our medicals and have sent off our DBS.
My question is this- I suffered with depression about 4/5 years ago after some health issues (my bladder failed), I did CBT and started taking antidepressants. Once on my ADs I was very stable and didn’t have any symptoms of depression. About 2.5 years ago, I felt ready to come off the antidepressants and haven’t needed them since (I am very sure the depression was down to the other health issues, so once I got my head around these and felt more positive about them, my depression subsided). I haven’t suffered with any depression since then and I feel like the CBT really equipped me with good tools for dealing with general emotion in day to day life. I am confident in my ability to become a Foster Carer now, and confident in my emotional stability. Realistically, is my history of depression going to be a massive hurdle in our journey to be foster carers? I have been very honest with our SSW about this in our intial visit and she was obviously happy for us to further our application but it’s still worrying me. Any advice would be appreciated!

OP posts:
JacobMalloy02 · 30/01/2019 14:26

Hi, some years ago this would have been an issue in a fostering assessment. However, there has been some movement in regard to depression and fostering.

The assessment will focus on this however and look at what the initial triggers were. This is to get you and the social worker thinking about fostering and if there was any regression how you would manage it.

In my view (as a Manager of an IFA) I would want a prospective carer to be honest about the depression and how they would work with the agency if there were any concerns in the future. Fostering is hard and you never know how it may affect you. I would suggest you have a good support network and build in regular time for yourself when fostering for hobbies and family time to ensure you look after yourself.

Best of luck with the assessment, I hope it goes well.
J

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