Skip to main content

Week in the life of a foster carer 25


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 25 kids to date.

Monday -kids!

I still have Kenneth with me but only for one more complete day as tomorrow he is going to a different carer for Christmas as I'm away. His social worker emails me first thing in the morning asking if she can visit as she wants to check in on him. It's totally fine so I say yes.

In the meantime we have a few things to do. When his social worker pops by he's not phased and chats to her for a bit. I chat to her on my own afterwards. She leaves him a booklet to help understand what is going on with his situation.

Rest of the day is all good.

Tuesday - kids!

Kenneth is going to another carer in the afternoon but two things. He's very excited and can't read the time, so even though I've said he's not being collected until 2pm, at 9am he is fully packed and waiting by the door.  I do double check what he's packed to ensure he has what he needs for his mini trip to another carer.

We play games until two but he's quite impatient to leave. When he does I have a couple of hours to work before I leave myself to get a train to my family home for Christmas.

In the evening I get a text to let me know that Kenneth is doing well.



All the best, BF

 NB Bristol Fostering is a personal blog and not affiliated with any fostering agency. The author just happens to be a foster carer in Bristol, UK

 We do recommend Bristol Council though as they're fab. Bristol Council fostering inquiry form

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The courage to ask to stay in care

We once looked after a lad who came I to care quite late. He had been on social services radar for quite some time and had a social worker, but his situation had never been quite bad enough for him to be brought into care. This boy had witnessed his grandparents and mother being beaten by his father. He had seen a man set on fire. He had been in a car crash with his siblings and drunken father. He had normalised drug taking and dealing having witnessed it daily his home. He owned very few clothes, was very skinny and small for his age. He was neglected. Since the get go.... but for years the actions of his father weren't quite enough to bring him into care. You may wonder how that is possible. I'm not one to second guess these things and assume social services would have removed him sooner if they could. The day he came into care something had happened that was the final straw. I won't go I to details, but it was severe and the council got the necessary court ...
Post a Comment
Read more

When good kids do bad things

Unfortunately not every day of fostering is a good day. Some kids you look after are troubled, and need extra guidance. Sometimes you, as the carer, do everything right, and things still go wrong. We have a kid at the mo who is into knife crime. Like all carers our knives and other dangerous items are locked away, and boundaries and rules have been set to minimise the risk to ourselves. But despite that, they still managed to steal some knives over the weekend then took them to school. They will be sanctioned by social services and there will be negative consequences. However what's more important to us, is getting this kid back on the right path. Why did they steal? What did they think they were going to do with the weapons? Why do they think they need them? What are the alternatives? How can we help them escape crime and point them in the right direction? These are big questions, and there will be a series of small steps put in place to hopefully turn them around. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

LGBT foster carers

Someone once told me that if just 1% of LGBT+ adults in the UK fostered then there would be no national shortage of foster carers. Unfortunately the situation is bleak - there are far more kids in care than foster carers available. You may come under the LGBT+ umbrella and would like to do something to help children but haven't considered fostering yet. Or you may have looked into it, tentatively, but not taken the plunge yet. You may be worried, apprehensive or even scared. Well.. For starters your application will not be treated negatively due to your gender identity or sexual orientation. It's illegal for one. As it happens I to come under the LGBT+ spectrum and my social worker couldn't have given a monkeys. In a good way. It was a complete non-issue. In fact during my assessment those many moons ago it was a positive - because I'd be able to identify and help LGBT+ youth in care. Maybe you're worried about how any child who comes into your care will r...
Post a Comment
Read more