question

[Valkiria]

Hi,
Im waiting for a visit from social work regarding my fostering application. Ive read this forum and I can imagine what fostering is about. I get that there are lovely kids with less issues and those who cause trouble, all needing care and an adult in their lives. My only concern is that I live on my own and dont want to be scared for my life (or life of my pets) feel threatened in any way. Im sure that you cant really chose and pick, you will be taking care of whoever is needing care at that moment (especially if its respite care) I feel I would rather not look after teenagers . To be honest I dont have my own kids, im 41 ,and teenagers scare the sh**t out of me as the ones I see on the streets are terrifying . Will I be able to avoid looking after them?
Another thing is I work full time (always have) and I dont mind changing it to part-time or not working at all . To be honest I would rather not work or work little, as fostering/raising a child/looking after one etc is a big task and I would like to focus on it instead of being pissed off and tired coming from work after a long day.you know what I mean? will I be able to afford it? I live on my own in 2 bedroom house so I pay all bills and all the living costs like keeping car in working order, by myself . From what I can see on the leaflet from local foster agency you get aprox £150 a week (allowance) there is something called fostering fees with levels 1-3 (aprox £150 a week) £300 a week would be good I think.
Oh reason why I would like to become fosterer (I guess I need a good answer to give to social care from the agency) I would like to help someone and pass the skills I have to make someone elses life better. I never wanted to have my own kids , my plan was to -if ever finding someone I want to raise a child with - adopt.Not keen to do it by myself as its a very hard work (especially that I like to sleep;)) . I havent found that special one and I would like to make someones life better. I havent had the best childhood myself , pretty bad start into adulthood and everything I own or accomplished I done without anyone's help.
what you think? What else should I expect?
Does having mental health struggles (anxiety, spectrum autism) disqualify me?

You can specify what age child you would prefer and you can refuse to take a child if you don’t think you can meet their needs. Be aware though that as there is such a shortage of carers you will be pushed to take a child that you may not be confident taking, you really have to stand your ground.
As for the payments you need to be able to show that you aren’t dependant on them. If you don’t have a child for a few months how would you cope? £300 per week sound a lot but out of this you need to pay for clubs( our child’s clubs are £22 per week) school dinners (£20 per week) pocket money (£10 per week ) savings (£10 per week) and transport to and from school and contact ( our first school run was 52 miles per day)
You will also be expected to take your child on holiday, add in clothes, Christmas and birthdays and you can see that £300 doesn’t go far.
If you have mental health problems I would think about it really carefully. It can be very stressful.
I have lots of support and frequently find myself at the end of my tether and nearly in tears. You can constantly be battling to get the best for your child and your own health takes a back seat.
Have you had a look at the foster wiki pages?
The link is on this fostering forum somewhere.

toolkit for new foster carers
fosterwiki.com/new-foster-carers-toolkit/?fbclid=IwAR022vcYUORn9zZUpKkk-0Stnzmwc4EFu-fbYjahN3oXpKCkk1C3FZ2mc0Q

Hi!
thank you for your reply. I will check out the link. I thought if you give up your work (since they dont mind single carers) the foster agency and government cover all the costs. Obviously I wont have extra money cos where from and I would depend on that fostering money. That doesnt make sense. Doesnt seem very fosterer friendly system. I think I wont go ahead

Some offer a bridging payment between placements but not all so you would have to check , also you would need to know how much it is and how long they pay it for.

I think you may be able to claim some benefits if you have no child with you but the way things are at the moment that’s not a path you would take lightly.
I know a couple of single carers, they have 3 children ,this means you get extra money but also extra stress. Not something I would do, your own health comes first and if you read the previous poster it can be very difficult to move children on.
If you check out the foster wiki link you will see that there are an awful lot of carers leaving. This is really bad for children coming into the care system. Fostering needs a big shake up.