Bristol Fostering

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer shared foster care and cover emergencies. Shared care is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency care are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this over a dozen times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 24 kids to date. Monday - no kids On Friday it had been agreed that I would take a girl from today for the week however as I had not heard much by about lunchtime I rung Placement team and turns out that another carer had been found for her who could keep her for longer. Placement then asked me to take two brothers, however I was not keen to take both feeling that one might constantly set the other off. I agreed to ta

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer shared foster care and cover emergencies. Shared care is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency care are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this over a dozen times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 23 kids to date. Monday - kids Lilo and Stitch are still with me but were due to go back to their main carer this morning, however she's asked for an extension due to illness. You can't just pass kids between you however so we sort it via our social workers. I let school know the kids will be staying with me until Tuesday too. They get off to school well and the evening is all good too. We play games and have

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer shared foster care and cover emergencies. Shared care is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency care are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this over a dozen times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 23 kids to date. Monday - no kids Still no kids. No kids. And no kids. Eight days of no kids. I don't know what to do with myself. Well, except I do. Some work from home. I get rather a lot done with no kids. Still, I'd prefer some kids. Tuesday - no kids Again no kids today but I'm okay with that because I have two meetings today. One about and for me with my new social worker and their manager. I have

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer shared foster care and cover emergencies. Shared care is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency care are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this over a dozen times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 23 kids to date. Monday - no kids I have training all day today but am marked as available for kids should the need arises. Training is multi-agency as in not just foster carers but there are also GPs, teachers, physios, police, nursery workers, basically anyone who comes into regular contact with children. The purpose is to help us identify signs that children might be being abused or neglected. It's a really good

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer shared foster care and cover emergencies. Shared care is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency care are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this over a dozen times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 23 kids to date. Monday - kids! Difficult day today. I had a violent day, unfortunately. Hassan's behaviour had been deteriorating and it got to the point that I had to call 999 - he was threatening to punch me - and so this is the right course of action. Whilst on the phone he legged it so became a missing person, but later returned and tried to kick the door in. Literally kicking for about 10 minutes. Good thing I

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer shared foster care and cover emergencies. Shared care is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency care are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this a few times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 22 kids to date. Monday - kids! Today was a difficult day as I had a funeral to go to in another city. I am marked as available with social services but not until late afternoon or evening. Mid-afternoon I get asked to take a girl I have had before but, knowing her behaviour since she was last with me, I am hesitant to say yes. Eventually I say no but get rung back within 30 minutes asking to take a boy who is under police

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer respite foster care and cover emergencies. Respite is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency placements are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this a few times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 19 kids to date. Monday - no kids (but nearly kids) I am marked as available to take up to two kids today as my rooms are currently free. Early in the day I get phoned about two kids. Not related; completely seperate. A teen girl and an asylum seeking child. I ask for the referrals and these are duly sent. I have a good read, then read them again. The girl troubles me. There are quite a lot of difficult behaviours, but t

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer respite foster care and cover emergencies. Respite is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency placements are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this a few times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 7hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 19 kids to date. I've decided to start twice a month keeping a diary of my fostering experiences as such a carer. Monday - kids! I finished work this morning and barely had I been in my home five minutes before placement rang. This is the team who try to find children places to stay. The social worker tentatively enquires: 'The system shows your room is free... is that correct?'. It is. But I think whether I w

Hello! For those of you unfamiliar, I offer respite foster care and cover emergencies. Respite is where you give either another foster carer or a child's family a break by having their child for usually 1-7 nights, quite often just one or two nights. Emergency placements are where Social Services phone you and ask you to take a child that night for at least one night. I've done this a few times and least notice I've had is 15mins and most 5hrs. Some of these kids have stayed just one night; longest was 21 nights. I've looked after 18 kids to date. I've decided to start twice a month keeping a diary of my fostering experiences as such a carer. Monday - no kids I don't have any kids in the diary today and I'm away Weds onwards so though I'm marked as available I don't really expect a phone call because any kid would only be able to stay with me until Tues evening. One overnight is generally not that handy. If you're only free