Has anyone's children been in foster care/ respite?

[essbee]

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My mum did respite and emergency foster care for a number of years (only stopped because of a longer term foster placement which turned into an adoption)

The respite in particular really seemed to work for both kids and parents - the kids had a few days away from home, almost like a mini holiday and the parents got a much needed break.

As I got older I actually taught some of the children who came to my mum, and can say that the fostering didn't seem to have a negative impact - children who are fostered are already living in a difficult situation (hope you know what I mean) and in many cases it was actually a positive thing.

If the help is being offered I would take it, bue be clear about the kind of help YOU want.

I really hope you somehow get a break and the help and support you need.

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Is that for me or essbee harman?

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essbee- in answer to your- would it f* them up forever- depends hos its done I should imagine. If they thought THEY were going on a holiday then I can't see how it would mess them up.

Hope you get sorted soon xxxx

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My nephew lives in Sweden and their provision is fab for him (he has severe SN and is blind)

His paretns have respite for him once a week adn also occasional weekends. This country really sucks when it comes to helping people with Sn.

There's a forum here which may be of some use to you. It's run by a friend of mine who runs the ASD base at the school where I work.

There's also this links page - you may be able to find some help there.

When we had the same problem with my sister (my parents needing respite from looking after her), their most useful port of call was their GP. They have to help you set up a care assessment.

Good luck essbee, hang on in there.

sorry x-posted ....

essbee, like Fio said, lots of children with SN go to respite and it's considered perfectly normal and not 'shameful' to do so, and is regarded as being beneficial for all concerned.
In our area respite is provided by Barnado's volunteers and Social Services love referring people because it's free for them. They do only look after the child with SN though.

The other option is trying to get something called Direct Payments, basically this is money given to you so you can employ a helper - they will also look after siblings if you wish.
Direct Payments are very hard to get though - it's taken me 2 years to get 3 hours per week.

Do you have a Carers' Organisation near you? Check here . They're very good and ours also offers a babysitting scheme - we get three hours a month free.

Sorry you're having such a shitty time

hi. my dd1 is going back into respite for the first time since dd2 was born. she kept getting ill in there with chest infections and ending up in hospital so i stopped her from going but since then i haven't had a break and that's been almost 10 months now. social services said they'd get a support worker to come and take her out for a few hours a week, they're a load of w*ers as we've never had anyone come and provide this for us. i feel awful letting her go, what if she comes back ill again and ends up back in hospital? it's worse her coming out like that for us but we've been told they'll make sure she isn't exposed to any ill children this time. she has digeorge syndrome and with it the poor immune system (as well as many other problems). it's so hard we have nobody like family or friends who will help us. i feel guilty all the time.