Foster carers offer children and young people a safe, loving and nurturing home when they can’t live with their birth parents. They support them in their day-to-day life, including their educational and social wellbeing, while also managing sometimes challenging behaviour. Foster care job carers are paid a daily allowance to help meet the needs of the child or young person they are looking after. They also attend meetings and work closely with the wider fostering team. Some foster carers are also expected to help the child’s birth family – whether it’s their mum, dad, brothers, sisters or aunts and uncles – stay in contact through regular visits.
Foster Parenting in London: Challenges and Rewards with Your Agency
Getting involved in foster caring jobs can be incredibly rewarding and make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable children. However, if you aren’t ready to become a foster carer, there are other ways you can still get involved and change someone’s life for the better.
She insists that foster care social workers are fierce advocates for their families and don’t look for reasons to disqualify them. Rather, they want to see “foster families thrive” and “be part of seeing healing in families’ lives”. The best foster carers have many different skills and a diverse range of experiences, and are prepared for the demands of the role.