Job Location: Flexible Pay scale: Voluntary - Expenses only Hours: Six meetings per year (3 Board / 3 subgroup) We’re looking to attract talented inspired people to join our crew and help us to achieve our vital mission by becoming a trustee and joining our board. As a trustee, you will work collaboratively with the other members of the board to navigate CFC’s journey towards achieving the mission.
Please find full role description below and email your application form to info@communityfostercare.co.uk in the first instance. The application form can be downloaded here. Job Opportunity with FFP Member, Community Foster Care: Family Finding & Compliance Officer20/11/2023
Location: Gloucester office Salary: £25,878-£29,688 per annum Hours: 37.5 hours per week Closing date: 04/12/2023 We are currently seeking a Family Finding & Compliance Officer to seek families for children referred, supporting a successful effective transition.
Alongside this, they will monitor on behalf of CFC to ensure that we are compliant in terms of fostering regulations, GDPR and Health & Safety to assure a safe service and positive outcomes for the child. Please click here for full job description and application form and email your completed form to sarahs@communityfostercare.co.uk CVs will not be accepted under any circumstances; all applicants must complete an application form. Full details and application documents here Job Location: Flexible Pay scale: Voluntary - Expenses only Hours: Six meetings per year (3 Board / 3 subgroup) We’re looking to attract talented inspired people to join our crew and help us to achieve our vital mission by becoming a trustee and joining our board. As a trustee, you will work collaboratively with the other members of the board to navigate CFC’s journey towards achieving the mission.
Please find full role description below and email your application form to saraha@communityfostercare.co.uk in the first instance. Our Vision A world where all children and young people grow up in families rich in the essential ingredients required for them to realise their ambitions and dreams. Our Mission To create a community that gives individuals the strength and foundation to realise a better future for young people and families. Our Purpose Every young person has the right to a bright future. Role Summary Community Foster Care’s (CFC) trustees are essential in ensuring that we can continue to strive towards our mission. As a trustee you will ensure that CFC remains on course with delivering its key activities. At CFC we are committed to creating a culture driven by our values and based on diversity, exploration, critical reflection, courage to challenge and belief in the power of people. Trustees have the overall legal responsibility for a charity. The law describes charity trustees as ‘the persons having the general control and management of the administration of a charity’ (Charities Act 2011, section 177). Charity trustees are those responsible under the charity's governing document for controlling the administration and management of the charity. This is the case regardless of the terminology used to describe the role. For CFC, the charity trustees are the board of trustees. The Role of the Board At its simplest, the role of the board of trustees is to ensure all of CFC’s assets are safeguarded and applied to the charitable purposes of CFC. The board of trustees must always act in the best interests of CFC, exercising the same standard of duty of care that a prudent person would apply if looking after the affairs of someone for whom they have responsibility. The trustee board must act as a group and not as individuals. Key requirements of which you should be aware Trustees are expected to attend an induction session with CFC prior to their first board meeting. Trustees are expected to attend all board meetings. Board meetings are held three times a year, usually in the late afternoon – early evening. The meetings tend to be held at our Kingsholm Office in Gloucester, but participants can attend via remote video call. From time to time there are additional meetings and planning sessions.
Main Duties and Responsibilities The duties of a trustee board member are to:
In addition to the above statutory duties, each trustee should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have, to help the board of trustees reach sound decisions. This may involve leading discussions, identifying key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives, and evaluating or offering advice on other areas in which the trustee has particular expertise. What we require from all our employees and volunteers:
Community Foster Care is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service clearance at enhanced level. CVs will not be accepted in any circumstances; all applicants must complete an application form. Person Specification Each trustee must have:
It was August 2021 when I received an email from Community Family Care manager, Sasha, entitled ‘The Amazing Casey’. It was my first introduction to the, then, 18 year old who would go on to bravely share her story on film with myself and her Support Worker, Gemma. Now, Casey would never identify with words like ‘amazing’ or ‘brave’ - in her eyes, it is simply her life story, but it has become clearer to me over the years, that Casey cannot yet see herself as all those who meet her and hear her words do. Writing in 2023, Casey is now 19 - due to turn 20 this summer - the level of self-awareness, how much processing of her trauma she has already done and the kindness she shows towards other children and young people in care, is honestly astounding. Inner work that many adults either come to much later in life or never at all, Casey has already been doing for years. One day, I hope, Casey will be able to recognise these huge achievements for what they are - the confidence for an 18 year old to meet a stranger for coffee and lay her whole, harrowing, life story on the table on our first meeting, the strength it takes to recount traumatic events over and over, the diplomacy and grace she affords those responsible for what happened to her - it blows my mind but enough about my experience of The Amazing Casey, read on and watch Casey’s film above (and keep an eye out on the BBC…) Author: Hannah Reynolds, Marketing & Recruitment Officer Fostering stories from the perspective of looked after children are few and far between, largely because of safeguarding but also due to the stigma many children in care feel at being fostered in the first place. Children in foster care are protected by extremely stringent safeguarding practices, for a multitude of reasons, and so sharing their stories is virtually impossible. Of course, this is for (many) very good reasons - namely, safeguarding these vulnerable children and young people, which comes above all else. However, every now and then an adult emerges out of the care system with a need to share their experience. Often, this comes years, if not decades, later on in life. Perhaps because this allows the time often needed to process trauma, to feel a distance from any stigma or discrimination they faced or simply with the experience of aging and ‘coming into oneself’. We at Community Foster Care feel truly honoured to have been entrusted with sharing the story of one of our young people who lived in placement with CFC foster carers from the age of 13-18. Let us introduce, Casey. Casey had her first interactions with Social Services very early in life. She found herself in and out of different foster homes before entering foster care permanently at the age of just four years old. With difficult circumstances in her birth family, followed by this frequent relocation, Casey’s childhood had extremely disruptive and traumatic beginnings. When her local authority placed her with a single foster parent under a Special Guardianship, she believed she had found her forever home. For a time, she felt safe and somewhat settled, although, on reflection Casey identifies that her upbringing there was very strict and not what a ‘normal’ childhood should look like. Having only ever known turbulence and change, Casey thought her life was ‘normal’ and didn’t question any of the rules she had to abide by. When Casey’s foster carer met a new man, they both welcomed him in to the home. Casey describes those early days as a ‘honeymoon' period’ but sadly, this was all to change. What followed was years of horrendous abuse, which she shares in her film. At the age of 13, Casey escaped the hands of her abuser and, on arriving at school, reported to teachers what had been going on at home. From that moment, Casey had taken the first of many brave leaps to protect herself and survive. Police, hospital, social services and more were to suddenly become a huge part of Casey’s young life. Casey re-entered the care system and after a few more fostering placements, she finally came to settle with her Community Foster Care carers, where she would stay for the next five years until she turned 18, when she chose to move on to independence. In that five years, Casey jumped into life with Community Foster Care, taking every opportunity that came her way, from residential trips and activities to getting involved with foster carer training. As a young adult, Casey has become a keen advocate for looked after children. Her motivation to share her story comes from a place of wanting to offer hope and support to others who may have or be experiencing similar to what she went through. Having been the child whose possessions have been in a bin bag, she was keen to create welcome boxes for foster children coming into placement with CFC. Now, she is keen to explore everything media has to offer in order to raise awareness of the reality of children in foster care. So when the call that a BBC commissioned film looking at teenagers leaving care came in, we knew exactly who would jump at the opportunity! (More on this to follow…) We are so proud of Casey and so grateful that she actively chooses to be so involved with us - a fostering agency - when she would be fully within her rights to leave ‘the system’ as far behind her as she could. But that’s not Casey, she is a woman on a mission to make positive change and we will continue to do all we can to support her in that journey and to push for better for all children and young people in foster care.
If you believe you could offer a safe, loving and understanding home for children and young people like Casey, please do get in touch. Source: www.communityfostercare.co.uk/news Location: Gloucester Pay scale: £25,387 - £29,105 per annum Responsible to: Business Development Manager Contract Length: 12 months Hours per Week: 22.5 - 37.5 depending on candidate Closing date: 24th April 2023 What we believe
Our Vision A world where all children and young people grow up in families rich in the essential ingredients required for them to realise their ambitions and dreams. Our Mission To create environments, enrich families and harness communities that enable Children and Young People to overcome adversity and abuse, by creating an enduring sense of belonging. By doing this and by working together, we will have the courage to overcome barriers, through tenacity and creativity we will release their potential. Key drivers of considerations As a Team Leader, you will at all times:
Key requirements of which you should be aware You may occasionally be required to work outside of office hours to:
You may be required to carry out other appropriate duties not outlined in the Team Leader Job Description, where required. Main Duties and Responsibilities Organisation Wide
- Collate information on referrals - Use the organisation’s shortlisting criteria to filter referrals - Send referrals that meet shortlisting criteria to relevant Supervising Social Workers - Make appropriate recordings on database - Ensure correct paperwork is collected e.g. IPAs - Collate and format foster carer profile formats - Co-ordinate effective referral responses, through the finalising of expressions of interest. - Follow up outcome with foster carers. - Work with Senior Leadership Team to develop this process and ensure the organisation is best placed to make quality expressions of interest. - To ensure a process is in place so that this process is always active.
What we require from all our employees
It is the nature of the work of Community Foster Care, that tasks and responsibilities are unpredictable and varied. All staff are therefore expected to work in a flexible way when the occasion arises where tasks are not specifically covered in the Job Description and have to be undertaken. Community Foster Care is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service clearance at enhanced level. CVs will not be accepted in any circumstances; all applicants must complete an application form. Person Specification Team Leader Note to Applicant: When completing your application form you should demonstrate the extent to which you have the necessary education, experience, knowledge and skills identified for the post. The shortlisting process will be completed in line with these key factors:
Qualifications
- Essential, shortlisted criteria, evidenced by the application form Experience
Skills and Knowledge
Abilities and Aptitude
- Internet Browsers - Charms (desirable) - Online survey tools (desirable) - Secure email systems (desirable) - Telecommunication devices Miscellaneous Full current driving licence - Desirable, shortlisted criteria, evidenced by the application form Full details and application documents here Location: Lancaster Pay scale: £30,846 - £39,483 dependent on experience + c.£2.5k Out of Hours per annum. Hours: Full Time - 37.5 hours per week Closing date: 14th April 2023 Car user essential
You: We are looking for an energetic, creative and courageous qualified Social Worker, who can demonstrate a tenacity and enthusiasm in making a positive difference to the lives of children who we look after. We are looking for a passionate person to support our foster carers in the North West of England to provide loving stable homes to children and young people who have experienced trauma. We are a small team and positive relationships are valued. Therefore, it is essential that the post holder is able to work effectively with others with a flexible and adaptable approach – always demonstrating their commitment to working to the highest possible standards whilst remaining at all times child centred. Community Foster Care: Community Foster Care is a small Children’s Charity operating as a Therapeutic Independent Fostering Agency, as well as providing other Children’s Services. All of our practice is trauma informed and critical reflection is entrenched in all areas of the work. All our staff must actively engage in our therapeutic reflective discussions, which require a willingness to think about themselves, their values, work relationships and personal impact on and of the work. We are passionately committed to our values and to enabling children and young people to thrive, be ambitious and to dream. Working for Community Foster Care means you are too. The post holder will be based in our Lancaster office, however, they will be required to support carers across the north west and work closely with our colleagues in Cumbria. A driving licence and access to a car is essential. You will also be required to participate in an Out of Hours Duty rota. Applicants must demonstrate:
The role will require the post holder to be involved in the recruitment, assessment, training and support of foster carers. You will be required to support the children we look after to ensure that they are provided with the highest possible standard of care and the best opportunities to achieve all their ambitions. The safeguarding of children is paramount, this post will require the successful applicants to undertake an enhanced DBS check. What you get by working for Community Foster Care
- Family Support Workers.
An informal discussion about the role with registered manager, Emma Weaver is required before making an application. Emma can be contacted on 01524 489388 or emmaw@communityfostercare.co.uk Following this discussion completed application forms should be sent via email to emmaw@communityfostercare.co.uk by the 14th April 2023 Job share is an option Full details and application documents here Last week was half term in Lancashire and in the BRAND NEW CFC office (any chance to brag about this), we hosted some of our children and young people to learn all things life skills! There was pizza making, arts and crafts, volunteering in a care home for the elderly, shopping and budgeting and lots of laughter along the way! Our Supervising Social Worker, Sam, joined in the activities and said: The young people were great. They were engaged and worked really well together as a group. Seeing them doing arts and crafts with the people at the care home was incredible, they made heart shaped decorations for each of them, finding out what they liked and the residents were so pleased! There were smiles all round that day, I was so, so proud of each one of them. They are incredible young people and are positive contributing members of the community. They really picked up on how important this was and that it's linked to us being called 'Community' Foster Care, and this is why it was part of our activities. They represented our agency so well and should be incredibly proud of themselves! Our Support Worker, Rachel, who organised the activities said:
Most of us take for granted learning life skills and if, by the time we leave home, we don’t have that many we usually have family members or friends to call on for help. Children and young people in foster care might not have these support systems when they age out of care and if they find themselves moved from home to home, their learning is interrupted and may not be consistent, depending on who’s looking after them. That’s why it’s so important to host these life skills events, not only to give them the insight of what adult life is like but to give them the confidence to take on these tasks. It was a brilliant couple of days delivering the Life Skills course to a group of young people in our new Lancaster office. It was lovely to see them interact, have fun with each other and engage in all the activities and challenges. We covered budgeting, responsibilities and much more! On day 2 we had an interactive Q&A session from a care leaver who has gone on to be a successful businessman, this was aspiring for our young people. Seeing them in the Care home “giving something back to the community” was lovely to see. The residents enjoyed the Valentine’s themed activity and biscuits, whilst one of our talented young people played his keyboard for them. We had some great feedback from the young people too, they particularly enjoyed the food planning, shopping, prepping, and eating task! Job Location: Gloucester Contract Length: 12 Months with possibility to go permanent Pay scale: £19,300 to £22,500 Hours: Full-time - 37.5 hours per week Closing date: 16th Jan 2023 Main Duties and Responsibilities
Job Location: Worle (with the expectation to travel throughout North Somerset) Salary: £12-14 per hour Hours: Sessional What would you need to do?
As a Family Group Conference (FGC) Co-ordinator at Community Family Care you will be driven to promote the child or young person’s voice and enable them to thrive through delivering high quality family group conferences. You will do this by using best practice to bring family members and friends together to look at how they can collectively provide safe, supportive, and sustainable solutions to the problems being experienced in caring for children within the family. What we need from you?
Please see full job description and email your CV to amandac@communityfamilycare.co.uk in the first instance. An application form can also be downloaded frpm the link below. Closing date: this is a rolling recruitment and will close when the right person is appointed. Full details and application documents here Dawn and Gary have been married for 32 years and fostering for seven of those. They have one birth son, Simon, 30, who is married with four children. Family are a huge part of Dawn and Gary’s lives and while their much-loved grandchildren “unfortunately don’t live here”, the family get together often and remain very close. Dawn shares, “Si was an only child and we always wanted lots of children, it just didn’t happen but when Simon was growing up, even though he was an only child, I don’t think I ever cooked for less than six kids at night, especially when he was a teenager – When he went in the marines my husband, Gary, had to say, ‘Stop buying so much food! They’re not all coming every night, he’s left home!’ So, we always had a house full and we think it’s important siblings stay together – I mean we’re grandparents to four and if anyone split them, oh wow, it would be devastating. We had three little [foster] girls and they’d split them and it was awful, it was dreadful.” Dawn was a baker for 35 years and still loves baking (the CFC Cumbria office can attest to her fantastic skills!) Gary worked in the Kangol hat factory until their close and so, due to his love of fell and road running, he re-trained and now works as a self-employed fitness trainer. “My experience of growing up was wonderful” says Dawn, who was the youngest of four, with an 11-20 year age gap between her siblings and so, grew up much like an only child.
“I had a wonderful childhood, memories of me mam learning me to knit and sew and embroider and bake. Memories of dad in the shed – always in the shed – making things and the smell of wood.” Both Dawn and Gary share the responsibility of fostering, with Dawn attending lots of the meetings and covering admin and Gary spending lots of time with the children when they’re not at school. Dawn says, “We couldn’t do it without each other.” On asking how their experience of fostering siblings has been, Dawn says, “Great. Much easier than fostering solo placements – in all the years of fostering we’ve only had two solo placements – fostering siblings is so much easier because they come together and they support each other. It’s hard – I can’t imagine – being a foster child, you see their faces when they come in and they don’t know you and they come into a strange house but if they’ve got each other, they cope better.” “Ours were both 9/10 when we got them and they both left other siblings, they all went separate places and that’s hard.” “When you’ve got siblings - the oldest one has nearly always been the primary carer – to get them to trust you and give that responsibility over to you so that they can be a child is amazing, it’s just lovely.” Speaking of a sibling group of two, Dawn shares, “The oldest gave me control the same night [they arrived]. Her sister knocked on her bedroom door and I said to her ‘You don’t have to knock on your sister, just knock on us if you need anything in the night, we’ll look after you’ and her sister said, ‘There you go, you don’t have to knock on me anymore because Dawn and Gary are gonna look after us both’ – I was in bed crying!” “But three girls we had [before], it took the oldest one quite a while to hand over the responsibility, it took a couple of months – when they do it’s amazing. They just need to be children, doesn’t matter whether they’re 2 or 13, they still need to be kids and have their own life instead of looking after other people.” “We love watching them learning to play together – most of them don’t know how to play because they’ve never been in an environment where they felt safe enough to play. Interacting together – there are so many positives but they’re my biggest ones.” When asked what had been challenging while fostering, Dawn says, “Because we only had one [birth child] and only ever had friends here, friends don’t fight like siblings do and they literally fight! We had one little boy – I was on the phone, and he hit his sister so hard – and I just put the phone down and I said, ‘What are you doing?!’ and he said ‘Well she was annoying me’ – she wasn’t! She wasn’t doing anything but that was what he’d been brought up with, he’d seen people hitting his mam and he thought it was acceptable - that was challenging.” “When one attaches to us and the other one doesn’t because their loyalties are still with parents, that’s hard because it kind of causes a divide between them. The one who’s attached is like ‘Well I don’t know why you don’t love it here, it’s lovely’ and the other one is like ‘Yeah but we’re not with mam and dad’ and that’s quite challenging, actually.” On asking Dawn what keeps the two of them going during the hard times, she says “We couldn’t do it without each other. The first placement we got was two sibling boys and the oldest one was on the autistic spectrum, and I’d never ever dealt with it” Dawn felt out of her depth, especially given it was their very first experience of fostering, but the boys’ social worker reassured her that it would be fine as he went to a [mainstream] and participated as all the other children did. As it turned out, the boy did attend [mainstream] school, but he was in the special learning unit and Dawn found his extra needs very challenging to deal with. “I phoned Sue [a veteran foster carer] so many times – her and Gary, if it hadn’t been for them two, I would have packed in, I’d have stopped fostering after six weeks because it was so much of a shock. I suppose if you’ve got an autistic child, you know their traits from birth, you know their quirks and things that trigger them – I was like a fish out of water, I kept saying to Gary, ‘I just know how to bake, that’s all I know how to do’ and he said ‘No you don’t! You know how to mother’ We sat up the fell one day and I was absolutely in tears, and he said, ‘We’ll get through this, we will.’” “Our support network’s really good – Simon’s wife, her grandparents ran a children’s home in London so she’s really wonderful – she’s got loads of stories. One of my children wouldn’t eat and that’s a big trigger for me and I rang Bec and said ‘Oh my God, you need to ring your grandma and ask her, and her grandma said, ‘If he wants jam sandwiches, give him jam sandwiches. Just don’t think you’ve got to give them dinner and pudding – they’ve not had it, so it’ll just freak them out. If that’s what he wants to eat for the next month that’s fine!’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s not getting any nutrition from what he’s eating’ and she said ‘It’s fine! Give him plenty of fluids, give him what he wants to eat, even if you think it’s rubbish, you’ll get through it’ and we did!” “If it’s more serious, we just ring CFC, you know there’s always someone at the end of the phone – it just makes you feel better, knowing that you’re not the only one going through what you’re going through.” When asked what she would say to anyone thinking about fostering, Dawn says, “Do it, just do it – that’s what my son told me. We were going to foster when Simon was about eight and we went quite a way through the process and it was at a time when the families had to come to your house for contact and I said, ‘No, I can’t do that when I’ve got my own son at home, he’s my priority, I’ve got to keep him safe and I can’t have people coming in my home.’ So we just stopped and then when he went in the marines, I got proper empty nest syndrome. When he got married and had [their first child] – we talked about it again and we kind of felt guilty when they were expecting because we thought ‘What if they think we’re pushing them away?’ So, I rang him and I said, ‘Listen, me and dad are thinking about fostering’ and he said, ‘I’m actually sick of you thinking about it, I’m sick of this conversation’ he said, ‘You would turn around and say to me ‘Just do it!’ and then if you’re no good at it or you don’t like it, you’ve tried.’ So that’s what I’d say to everybody really, you don’t know unless you’ve tried and the difference you make is amazing. When you look back at photographs from when they first came to when they leave – you don’t see it when you live with it every day because it’s just a process – it’s just a journey but when you see the end result, it’s just amazing. Don’t hesitate to try because that’s all we can do, is try and I’d always say, siblings are the easiest to foster, in my opinion.” We asked Dawn if she felt there was anything in particular that helps them with their fostering and she says, “We put our success down to where we live – we’ve lived in our village forever – we know everyone, we have really good links with both schools. We know if the children go out they’re safe because everybody knows us – and where we live, as regards to the lakes and the fells and the beach – so the kids love that. Most of our children have been local, fairly local, and they’ve never seen them, never been to the beach, never walked up a fell, never been to a lake and they love it. When they go outside, it’s like freedom. It was actually our little boy who was autistic – we were sitting down at [the lake] – and he said ‘Oh this is so peaceful because you don’t have to think, you can just sit and watch the ducks and the swans’ – they love running around in the open spaces and getting in the lake, even in the winter! They go to the beach, and we’ll say, ‘We’re not getting in the beach today, guys, because it’s November!’ and they always end up in the beach and you always need to pack a towel! It's the freedom – where we live, and the community we’ve got around us.” “It’s essential to make them part of your family, include them in everything” One child Dawn and Gary fostered asked their son, “Si - will you be our big brother?” and Simon said, “Oh no problem, I’ll be your big brother” According to Simon’s wife, he got in the car, and had to pull in round the corner because he couldn’t drive for crying. When the family visited a few weeks later, Dawn tells us, “[Simon] kept saying, ‘This is my sister’ to anyone who asked, and her smile just got bigger and bigger and bigger.” We asked Dawn what she and Gary take from fostering - “I personally love hugs and cuddles and sitting and watching Disney movies and hot chocolate and all those nurturing kind of things. We both love watching them thrive, seeing the difference, achieving at school, making friends – that’s what we personally enjoy, both of us.” When considering fostering brothers and sisters, we wanted to know what the two of them notice their young people take from remaining with their siblings - “They keep their roots and the security, that they’ve got each other – they’re still sisters, or sister and brother or brothers, they’ve still got their identity as a family, but we also really make an effort with birth families. We always buy them presents and make a fuss of birthdays. They like to know they’re safe and looked after.” There was a serious incident at school recently to which Dawn went straight down to the school to pick up M and on picking her up, M said, “It was such a shock but when I knew you were just dropping everything and coming for me, I just thought ‘she always comes.’” Dawn says, “It’s just so nice, nice to feel safe and feel loved and feel wanted. [One of our children] was doing an exam and [they] walked out, [they] got upset, it overwhelmed [them], and I said ‘We don’t care if you pass or fail, we’re not bothered, as long as you do your best, that’s all you can do in life, is your best. Don’t ever worry that you haven’t been good enough because you’re always good enough if you’re doing your best.’ It’s things like that that make them feel safe - Keep them safe, make them feel loved and wanted and part of your family.” Fostering siblings inevitably brings extra practicalities into consideration, especially given young people must have their own rooms, which can pose a problem for many foster families but Dawn and Gary fortunately didn’t have any worries, “We didn’t have to think about any practicalities - Even though we had an only child, he was never an only child we always had all his mates sleeping over – we always had a house full; it was just the same really.” We asked Dawn if they had any worries ahead of their first sibling placement. Dawn says, “I think you have worries for every placement – will they like you? Will they settle? Will they like your house? Will they like your food? Will they relax? And I think you do that for every placement, it doesn’t matter whether it’s your first one or your last – you worry that you’re gonna get it right.” On asking if they’d been shocked by anything while fostering, Dawn says, “One of our [children] weed in the corner and then just carried on playing and thought it was perfectly normal – one [child] took my Sellotape and in the middle of the night I heard this strange noise and they’d bound their legs together – really tight. Some of them don’t know how to eat at a table.” “Most of our foster children have been affected by contact a lot. So what we do, in the summer we go to the beck – every time after contact and sometimes we take a picnic, sometimes we get sausage and chips and we sit and throw stones in the beck because we found, with all of them, that when they go to bed after contact, their memory is what’s happened in contact - and if you do that, if you distract them – in the winter we get the paints out on the table and we all paint pictures or we watch Disney movies snuggled up under the duvet with hot chocolate and biscuits – that’s the memory they’re taking to bed, not contact – distraction is a wonderful way to deal with things with them – otherwise, some of them have really bad nightmares. We’ve found with siblings and contact, one of them enjoys it and the other won’t.” When we asked how fostering siblings differs to solo placements, Dawn says, “It seems to be, they settle easier if they’re together. Solo placements – it’s much harder for them.” Dawn shares the reason they chose to foster with a not-for-profit fostering agency rather than local authority or other independent fostering agencies; “We liked that they were like a family – We like that if they’re having a day out, we can take our grandchildren as well and then we’re all a family together and really, that they’re not-for-profit, that they’re charity based. We had to ask, what, specifically, did Dawn and Gary like about fostering with Community Foster Care; “We like that there’s always someone at the end of the phone – and also, if you are having a crisis, they ring you back to check how things are going and if things have settled down. I like our support groups and we can all chat about what’s happening with our children and it’s a safe environment and you know it’s not going to be repeated and usually if you’re having a problem, someone else in the group has dealt with that problem before and can give you tips – that’s really nice.” Source: www.communityfostercare.co.uk |
News & JobsNews stories and job vacancies from our member agencies, the fostering sector and the world of child protection and safeguarding as a whole. Browse Categories
All
|