Fostering Agency Support
All agencies will say their support is brilliant. But in reality what does this mean? Support is about you being given the knowledge to be a skilful and confident carer who provides the best care and enjoys being a foster carer. Suport is about being in touch with you on a regular basis, both by phone and visits to your home to discuss any concerns and for you to be able to get extra support if necessary.
All agencies will claim to deliver 24 hour support, seven days a week, 365 days per year. In extreme circumstance are they able to get support out to you quickly? You need to be confident that they are able to deliver what they say they can provide. Ask, how local their support is.
Fostering agencies operate a support system. When circumstances demand, a carer can access a local duty officer, a senior social worker or a Director depending on the nature of the emergency.
Ask to speak to foster carers from the agencies you have contacted, ask them what the support is really like and any
examples of how it has worked for them or if they have been let down.
examples of how it has worked for them or if they have been let down.
Support should also include Carer Support Groups when agencies arrange groups of carers to get together to share
experiences and offer mutual support. Ask how frequent they are, how are they organised and what the groups discuss.
Properly organised and run, these groups can be an invaluable resource for a carer. If not they quickly become poorly
attended and a waste of time.
experiences and offer mutual support. Ask how frequent they are, how are they organised and what the groups discuss.
Properly organised and run, these groups can be an invaluable resource for a carer. If not they quickly become poorly
attended and a waste of time.
Some agencies will also run specialist support groups focused for example on Men who Foster and Children who Foster for the birth children of foster carers who also have a part to play in the fostering task. The best fostering agencies see support groups as invaluable. They are a great forum for allowing agencies to understand what issues currenty concern foster carers, enabling them to react in the best way. Most agencies will also have a calendar of social events for foster carers and the looked after children.
Thank you
We hope that you have found this useful and that it has given you a better insight about how to find out if an agency is
right for and your family.
right for and your family.
Hopefully you will decide to take the next step and if so, we at Simply Fostering would like to thank you for becoming a
foster carer and helping the most vulnerable children in our society.
foster carer and helping the most vulnerable children in our society.
We value all foster carers, you are special people.
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