Could I be a foster carer?

[QuestPip]

Im 42 and work in early years. I am Send level 3 and have managers experience, I have also been a childminder. I am a single parent to a 22, 18 and 10yr old. I rent my house and would have a spare bedroom.

Recently I have been thinking I am not sure how much longer I want to be in a nursery and want a change. I have always thought about fostering but not sure how it works. I went away with a friend who fosters part time (respite care) and she gave me some info. I feel this would be very rewarding for me.

I have looked at my local authority and says 6-12 months to be approved.

Just looking for some info really. Thanks!

Yes based on that info you could. You could potentially be approved for siblings if the room is a decent size.

Thank you. It seems a scary process though!
I feel like I have a lot of experience though. Is it best to go through LA?

As I said I rent and have the space but if that changed and I had to move that might cause problems

There is such a shortage of carers I am sure you will be snapped up

It seems like such a lovely opportunity. I currently work 41 hours a week and Im tired and fed up and feel I could offer something more although very different to going to work and coming home.

The weekly pay isnt brilliant but then UC credits say they disregard any income from fostering.

Yeah fostering income in tax free to up to a certain point. It's an amazing job.
have a look at agencies and LA. All children come into care via LA and usually the younger children will be placed in house at least in my area.

I sit on fostering panels for my LA and would say from the information you have given that you would be ideally placed to be a foster carer. Your LA probably holds information evenings when you can find out more or they can have someone come and talk through it all before you apply to make sure you understand the scope of the job.

It takes a special kind of person to be a foster carer. You sound like you have the experience and relevant training (with more required). I know I couldn't do it, I've not got the patience. I have a neighbour who fostered for a long time and I have seen the impact it has on young lives - like no other profession. If you feel you would like to do it explore it, but make sure you have lots of support, including respite.

Good luck ... there are thousands of kids out there waiting for someone who cares

Please be aware that if the foster child makes an allegation of abuse against you (sexual or physical) your own child could be taken into care whilst the allegation is investigated. I know a couple who were interested in fostering and had started the training, they withdrew when they discovered this. If you are prepared for this then, yes local authorities are very short of foster carers

Firstly I would make sure your own children are fully on board as it will be a miserable life for them if they’re having to share their home with one or more children who they don’t want to be there.

I didn’t find the process too intensive. They do ask a lot of questions about your own childhood. We both had good childhoods so it was quite nice to chat about them. They will ask about former partners and as you have children they will want to speak to your ex to ask if there’s any reason he believes you wouldn’t make a good carer. My husband and I were in our twenties when we met and just said we’d had no significant previous partners. That was true for him. Less so for me as I’d lived with someone for almost a year but I didn’t have any children and wasn’t in touch with him anyway so couldn’t see the point of bringing him up.

The worst part we found was how long it took to get to approval panel for silly reasons like them losing paperwork. We needed two personal references to write a statement so we got them and gave them in, heard nothing for ages, chased them up and found out they’d been lost! So we had to ask our friends to write them again! So I would recommend keeping a copy of anything you need to send them so that it is easy to send a copy if they lose the first one!

The initial training that you do before you go to assessment panel is quite intense. They talk a
lot about the type of abuse children coming into care might have suffered and how that might affect their behaviour. It’s not nice to think about but you know you’re there to help children who need you.

As a pp said, the thought of allegations against you can be scary. They can and do happen but are few and far between and most are not upheld as they are usually made by birth parents angry at the situation or teenagers lashing out the only way they can. It is a bit scary while they are investigated as foster children are usually removed immediately and you can’t have any contact with them plus in lots of situations, even if foster carers are found to have done nothing wrong, the children are not returned. I’m just going off what other foster carers have said as I’ve been fostering for 11 years and have had no allegations made against me, touch wood!