It’s Foster Care Fortnight from 11th – 24th May, a time when we celebrate the fantastic and humbling part that foster carers play in children’s lives all over the country.

That commitment to supporting and caring for children is especially important in our current climate of isolation, lockdown and caution.  Fostering doesn’t stop. It is ongoing, and it is so important that we acknowledge, celebrate and thank foster carers everywhere. 

As a not-for-profit fostering organisation, we continue to fully support our foster carers and children through this period.  We post regular resources to the two intranet areas on our website (Carer and Kidz Zone), and we continue to directly support via telephone and video conferencing.

We have received some beautiful, inspiring, positive and creative photos showing works of art, made by the foster and birth children of our carers – many of which we are able to feature on our intranets.  This art has included rainbows, messages of support for our wonderful NHS and keyworkers, and even some creative baking!  A big thank you to our foster carers and children for these fantastic photos!
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Foster Care Fortnight is also an opportunity to attract new carers.  Here at FCC, we are usually able to organise and attend a series of fostering events around the country.  These enable us to meet and have face-to-face conversations with people interested in fostering.  This gives them the chance to ask any questions they may have, whilst also introducing them to the social worker that will, in many cases, be their appointed worker throughout the application process and beyond.

Whilst we are not able to offer these events under the current restrictions, all fostering applications can be processed online, using the aforementioned video conferencing technology.  This makes it an ideal time for those interested in fostering to make a no-obligation enquiry.  The fostering application process can take between 6 and 8 months – meaning that the date of foster carer approval will most likely be when our country is at least back on track to being ‘open’ once again.

You can start your fostering journey here.

So, once again, a big thank you to our foster carers for bringing care, commitment and skill in order to help make a difference to children’s lives.

And thank you to the children too.  You are doing a fantastic job under extraordinary circumstances.

Source:
www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk

At The Foster Care Co-operative (FCC) we remain committed in supporting our children, current foster carers and anyone who may be interested in fostering in the future. This means that despite the current lockdown measures, FCC’s wealth of knowledge and experience is still here for you!

We have now moved to working from home for all staff members to prevent spreading the COVID-19 virus. You can continue to reach us as normal on our central office telephone numbers and 24hr support remains in place at all times.

Now, more than ever in these uncertain times, we need your help.  Children are in desperate need of care.  You could make a real difference to a child’s life. 

New foster carer enquires and applications, are very welcome and the following steps are in place:

• All new foster carer applications can be processed online, from the comfort of your own home.
  
• Any physical visits that would normally be required can be performed online via video chats.
  
• FCC are always here for you, via the telephone, video conferencing and email – to answer any questions you may have.

Additionally, as applications can take between six and eight months, now is a great time to apply. 

Why not make a no-obligation enquiry HERE to see if you qualify?

Source:
www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk

We are seeking to recruit two experienced and enthusiastic Supervising Social Workers for our friendly team, working primarily from home.

There is flexibility in terms of days and hours worked, and the geographical location of the successful candidates.  However, we are ideally looking for Social Workers wishing to work 22.5 hours per week.

There will be involvement in recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality fostering service for looked after children. The role involves recruitment of foster carers, travel to the homes of our foster carers as required (which will sometimes involve travelling distances), leading occasional projects, running and delivering training and support groups, and taking part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (3 times a year).

Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people skills. Applicants must hold a Diploma or BA in Social Work (or equivalent Social Work qualification) and are required to be registered with Social Work England.

To allow our Social Workers to provide a thorough, personal and meaningful service to our fostering families, FCC believe that caseloads need to be manageable. We are a not for profit organisation, putting the needs of our children and carers first and are looking to appoint Social Workers who is as passionate about this as we are.

Application Closing Date: Monday 23rd March, 2020

For more information, including contact details, job description/ person specification and application form, visit:

https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk/supervising-social-worker-east-midlands/

We are seeking to recruit two experienced and highly motivated Supervising Social Workers to work 22.5 hours per week, working primarily from home.

The role involves recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality, child-centred, fostering service. In addition, the successful candidate will be involved in the recruitment of foster carers, be required to travel to the homes of our foster carers as required (which will sometimes involve travelling distances), lead occasional projects, occasionally deliver training and support groups, and take part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (3 times a year).

Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people skills. Applicants must hold a Diploma or BA in Social Work (or equivalent Social Work qualification) and are required to be registered with Social Work England.

To allow our Social Workers to provide a thorough, personal and meaningful service to our fostering families, FCC believe that caseloads need to be manageable. We are a not for profit organisation, who are morally driven in all that we do. We put the needs of our children and carers first and look to appoint Social Workers who are as passionate about this as we are.

Application Closing Date: Monday 23rd March, 2020
Interviews will held on: 26th March/15th-16th April

For more information, including contact details, job description/ person specification and application form, visit:

https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk/2-x-part-time-senior-supervising-social-workers-fostering-yorkshire-north-west/

We’ve had an early spring clean, tidied up the content, added some images and generally made everything look nice and fresh!

The main change is in the What We Provide section.  Historically we have always steered clear of highlighting the fee paid to carers – but it’s something that we thought we should at least give examples of.  Carers are highly skilled individuals who invest a lot of time in the assessment process, training – as well as the amazing and wonderful way they transform children’s lives every day.  So, whilst not a ‘job’ in the traditional sense, it’s important to acknowledge that there is a fee – just as there would be if fostering for a local authority.

In our About Us section, we’ve added in a video which serves as a nice introduction to the ethos and approach of The Foster Care Co-operative.  We hope you like it!

Our values, as a not-for-profit, are very important to us – so we’ve highlighted those too in this section.

The Fostering With Us section has been edited to offer clear and concise information about becoming a foster carer with us, and we’ve added some feedback from our foster carers and care leavers too.

Our accessibility button is located on the left side of the screen, no matter where you are on the site.  It’s there to adapt the site in a number of ways including options to make the text larger or to read the page out audibly.

For those interested in fostering, there is now a floating ‘Become a carer’ button on the right-hand side of the screen.  This means that you can have a good look around our site, and make a no-obligation preliminary fostering enquiry at any time.

So, have a good look around, we hope you like what you see – and we’re always here if you have any questions.

Source:
www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk

+ 45p a mile travel, ‘out of hours’ payment, 40 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays FTE) and 10% employer contribution pension scheme

​We are seeking to recruit two experienced and enthusiastic Supervising Social Workers for our friendly team, working primarily from home.

There is flexibility in terms of days and hours worked, and the geographical location of the successful candidates.  However, we are ideally looking for Social Workers wishing to work 22.5 hours per week.

There will be involvement in recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality fostering service for looked after children. The role involves recruitment of foster carers, travel to the homes of our foster carers as required (which will sometimes involve travelling distances), leading occasional projects, running and delivering training and support groups, and taking part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (3 times a year).

Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people skills. Applicants must hold a Diploma or BA in Social Work (or equivalent Social Work qualification) and are required to be registered with Social Work England.

To allow our Social Workers to provide a thorough, personal and meaningful service to our fostering families, FCC believe that caseloads need to be kept low. We are a not for profit organisation, putting the needs of our children and carers first and are looking to appoint Social Workers who is as passionate about this as we are.

To discuss this role further, please contact Steve Field – Director of Child Care or Barbara Bull – Head of HR/Deputy CEO, on 01684 892380.  

Full details and application documents here

​We’re pleased to be celebrating Sons & Daughters month again this October, a time when we truly acknowledge and thank the amazing contribution to fostering that the birth children of our foster carers make every day.

The children of our foster carers play a key role in the fostering household, and without their acceptance, energy and compassion, our carers would not be able to make a difference to other children’s lives.

Every year, The Fostering Network, one of the UK’s leading fostering charities, instigates this celebration – with a different theme each year.  This year’s theme is based around what fostering teaches you.  The ‘birth’ children of carers are encouraged to consider what they have learned from being a part of the fostering home. 

The Fostering Network have launched a competition here.  We have an internal competition, open to the children of all our carers.
me!

‘You can be gay, straight, single, married, living together, with or without your own children, from any ethnic background and you can hold any religious belief.’

This is a line directly lifted from The Foster Care Co-operative’s brochure, designed to be read by perspective foster carer applicants.  It is an attempt to highlight the need for diverse foster carers – from all sections of society.  In reality, it doesn’t even come close to an exhaustive list.

So why do FCC need such diverse foster carers?  Sure, fostering should be inclusive – with everyone given the chance to become a carer if they satisfy the basic requirements.  Apart from anything else, the need is so great for carers to look after an unfortunately high volume of vulnerable children in the care system, that the more doors you can open for people wanting to help, the better.

FCC advertise for diverse carers because the children who need a home are equally as diverse.  Of course, foster carers have the ability to be flexible with any child in their care.  Some adjustments may need to be made within the home to cater for, say, a religious-specific diet.  But generally, foster carers are able to adapt, adjust and care for a child no matter what their background or needs may be.  And that’s why they are amazing people.

Sometimes, however, there is such a specific match required that it demands a certain type of person with specialist experience or a specific skill set.

Last year, FCC approved their first deaf foster carer – a teacher of British Sign Language.  Local Authorities were contacted, and three months later our carer was able to offer a short-term home to a deaf young person.  Due to the outstanding ‘match’, the carer had an excellent understanding of the child’s needs. Consequently, the young person is currently thriving in his foster home and his social worker has commented that the carer offers him ‘good wrap-around care’. The carer has gone on to recommend FCC to another deaf colleague, who has since made an application to become a foster carer.

On a different note, one of FCC’s social workers is taking part in ongoing research with the University of Worcester, into breaking down any barriers that disabled people may face when wanting to become foster carers.  For this, there are currently challenges to often used phrases such as having to be ‘fit and healthy’ in order to become a carer.  Alternative phrasing being considered is ‘Do you have the capacity and stamina to foster?’, with a possible footnote stating that having a disability or health (physical or mental) condition won’t preclude you from becoming a foster carer in itself.

There are, however, general fostering regulations that dictate the basic initial fostering requirements.  Applicants would still need to have a spare bedroom in their home and be 21 years of age or over.

Inclusion isn’t a tick box or a gesture of diversity.  At FCC, it’s based on finding the best possible carer-to-child match.  That means finding, training and nurturing a diverse range of foster carers.  That way, children’s time in the care system can hopefully be the best that it can possibly be.

You can read FCC’s Frequently Asked Questions about becoming a foster carer here

Source:
https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk

​Mick has been a foster carer for the Foster Care Co-operative since 2007.  In 2002, he and his partner Sian joined their families together – which in turn guided them towards caring for others.  In 2017, he wrote his first book – ‘Are Difficult Children difficult, or just different? What if we can change to help them’ – on the subject of adapting to the needs of children in care.  We caught up with Mick to find out what inspired him to take time out to write it.

What inspired you to write the book?

My reason for deciding to write a strategic publication on how adults working with or caring for children can change their approach to suit the differing learning and progression needs of a child in their charge, came mainly from a passion for building strategies for young people ‘outside the norm/realms’ of traditional teaching and parenting styles, which clearly cannot work for all.

Who is the book aimed at?

‘Are Difficult Children difficult, or just different? What if we can change to help them’ is aimed at any adult involved with young people who do not present or behave in line with the majority of expected behaviours and traits in children aged between 5 and 16 years old. They are tried and tested example strategies that have evolved in focused programmes for a variety of young people – displaying what could be described by many as ‘difficult’ behaviour traits.  The focus is on the adult changing their approach, in lieu of attempting to change the brain pattern of the ‘difficult child’ – bringing them in line with more traditional methods that quite simply do not work in the long term.

Did you base the advice/guidance purely on your own experiences as a foster carer, or did you draw from other sources?

Having ‘looked after’ the 8 children in our long-term care as a full time Foster Carer (in addition to our five birth children – 13 in all!), I have enjoyed the reparation strategies involving areas of concern, including serious neglect, disorganised/insecure attachment disorders, sexual abuse, domestic violence and special educational needs. I have, over the years, extended my learning to become better qualified in understanding the traits and behaviours that are caused by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Autism, Asperger’s and the Human Brain. I have been directly involved in the organisation of conferences for Foster Carers, Adopters, Care and Medical Professionals, and have presented workshops on FASD, Complex Educational Needs & introducing strategies for children with behavioural issues. I regularly present the three day ‘Skills to Foster’ programme that is a mandatory part of the selection process for prospective Foster Carers and my role is very much to allow them to gain the ‘reality’, whilst they work alongside qualified Social Workers learning the legislation and logistics of the task.

Two of our birth children (the oldest girl & youngest boy) along with two of our Fostered children have forged their pathways to attend University, whilst we have adult children currently serving as a Police Intelligence Officer, a Lance Corporal Paratrooper in the British Army (II Para), an RGN Nurse in ICU, a part-time removals man, a Call Centre operative and the Director of a Construction Company. We currently look after three children aged 12, 13 & 17 on behalf of their parents and the Local Authority, whom are all in Long Term Permanent placements here that commenced, 7 (the two youngest siblings) and 9 years ago respectively – all have a very different background story with extremely differing needs, behaviours, complexities, diagnoses and educational capabilities. As a running total I have parented children across approximately 120 years – I hope I do not look that old!

I have also worked closely with at least four Head Teachers, three Virtual Head teachers, several Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs), numerous medical professionals and a large number of Parents, Carers and Adopters.  They have consistently but independently voiced ‘you should write a book, Mick’, so I decided to finally take their advice!

Was any of the subject matter hard to write, emotionally?

It was obviously a very emotional process writing the book, but also extremely therapeutic and a great reminder of the successes and positive outcomes that all of the children continue to enjoy as children and well into their adulthood, still making mistakes, but able to review, assess and build on each experience.

How long did it take you to write it?

I penned the book across 6 months in 2017, approached Publishers in early 2018 and signed the Publishing agreement in May 2018.

‘Are Difficult Children difficult, or just different? What if we can change to help them’ is available to order now here, or from all good book stores.

Source:
www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk