What Makes A Great Foster Carer?

Every day, the UK Fostering team has conversations with interested parties that come from various origins, family structures, and life situations but are united by a shared interest in fostering. We frequently remind people that foster parents are regular people with a passion for supporting children in need.

Foster parents must have patience, empathy, and the capacity to comprehend the emotions of kids going through a crisis. Along with the fundamental abilities to develop, a strong sense of humour, a love of life, and faith in the goodness of children and young people are frequently necessary.

If this describes you, complete training and supervision will be provided to help you develop the traits that are already present in you, making you the ideal candidate to foster a child or young person. If you need more convincing, take into account the following:

Patience 

 Think about how long it takes to recover from trauma. There is no time limit on how long years and years of neglect and terror can take to undo. Children will grow and develop at their own rates; all they require are foster parents who will support them and have realistic expectations about how long and difficult the process will be. When your foster child is exhausted, do you still have that strength?

Empathy / Understanding

Foster parents require a tonne of empathy and understanding, building on the previous point. Children who experience trauma or neglect may experience behavioural problems or developmental delays. They might struggle to control their emotions, have odd behaviours, or have attachment problems. As a foster care provider, you receive initial training as well as ongoing instruction to help you better understand the needs of foster children and provide for them.

Resilience

Similar to patience, resilient people are those who can handle the most trying circumstances while remaining steadfast in their belief that they will ultimately make a difference for that youngster. Foster parents can give up on children far too easily, which can cause the child much more harm. The key is resilience!

Love

Love can be taken for granted all too frequently, but many kids experience a definite absence of affection as they grow up. Foster parents need to be able to love children as unconditionally as possible. Love is not always given voluntarily, and children don't always accept it either. Yet if you have the ability to love, you can be introducing a youngster to a world of warmth they may have never known. It can be very upsetting to watch a youngster struggle to accept your attention but try not to take it personally. Would you really expect a little child, who has had a difficult time in life before, to at first comprehend and trust you?

Good Communication

All child, regardless of age, needs a communication partner as well as someone to guide them towards their future and assist them in processing their past. Many methods of communication exist. One child's solution might not apply to another. Foster parents will be skilled at speaking and listening, as well as understanding when to stop talking and just give a hug. Your personal social worker will be assigned to you as a foster parent to assist you and your family in caring for and supporting your foster kid. Speak with them; they are there to listen, encourage, and direct you.

Passion / Attitude

Whatever you want to call it—passion, attitude, or something else—if you are passionate about something—humanity, children in general, or neglected, abused, or suffering children in particular—you are likely to have the drive to put your own interests aside and do everything you can for that child, taking pleasure in the good times and remaining steadfast during the more trying ones. While you might just be a small part of their young life's journey, please make it count. You might have been the first person to ever do that for your foster child, and they will remember, whether now or perhaps in a few years.

Good Sense of Humour

This is self-evident. Fostering is a challenging job, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. If you can find the humour in things, you might be able to defuse a situation or show that something isn't as serious as it seems.

Do you believe that you possess the necessary qualities to be a Wonderful Foster Caregiver? For a casual chat, kindly get in contact with UK Fostering.

Although comprehensive training is offered, you don't need any official qualifications, but any experience you have as a parent, at work, or volunteering with kids, teenagers, or vulnerable adults might be useful.