Musings of a foster carer – The early days of fostering.
Lisa McBride - 12th August 2022
I’ve been a foster carer for some years now. Recently, I welcomed a new child into my home. Every time a new child arrives, it takes me right back to the very first time I fostered. A path well laid. I feel that I’d been really well prepared for fostering during my assessment with Eastern Fostering Services. I spent a lot of time with my assessor talking about the realities of fostering, what I could expect, what the challenges might be. I’d seen anonymised referrals and had the chance to understand the impact of loss and trauma on children, their development and their behaviour. I’d gone to the skills to foster training which had opened my eyes to the realities
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Musings of a foster carer
Katie Walton - 3rd August 2022
That must be rewarding! When people find out that you are a foster carer, they will often comment on how rewarding it must be. I’m never quite sure how to respond to that in an honest, authentic way. The truth is that a lot of the time, it is hard work. At times, you can feel like a vessel, pouring out and never quite being replenished. I think one of the things committed foster carers have to be able to do is to keep looking for the small encouragements. There are always plenty of them but you have to stop and look. Eyes up. Sometimes, it will take someone else to notice a subtle change in your child or point
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The Fostering Journey: The story of Angela and Mark*
James Roderick - 13th July 2022
“Are you sure you want to do that”? Angela and Mark’s* fostering journey began nearly a decade ago. They are both keen to share the story of their journey with Eastern Fostering Services in order to help others who may be thinking about fostering find out what it’s really like. This is the first in what we hope will be a series of blog posts in which they talk to me about their experience. When I first met Angela and Mark I was really struck by how warm, friendly and relaxed they both are – though they assure me that the fostering experience, while one they both say has been richly rewarding, hasn’t always been the most relaxing experience! Now
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Children in the UK urgently need foster carers.
Lucy Stevens - 10th July 2022
The other day, a foster carer said to me, “If people knew how dire the situation is for children in foster care, they would be shocked and would feel moved to do something.” At Eastern Fostering Services we absolutely agree with this statement. Each week, we receive hundreds of requests for children who require foster carers. Each week, many of these children are turned away because we don’t have enough carers for the sheer volume and needs of the children and young people. This basic truth echoes across the whole of the UK, leading to thousands of young people in improperly matched fostering arrangements or unsuitable accommodation. The children of the UK urgently need more foster carers. What sort of
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Reasons People Foster
Lucy Stevens - 24th June 2022
There are many reasons people chose to foster and it may be you are searching your own motivation at the very start of your fostering journey. Motivation is an important factor in successful fostering, and keeping sight of it and true to it is important as you progress along your journey. People foster for many reasons, but for the most part, people foster because they want to help. Good foster carers do so because they know they can make a difference in the life of a child. What drives them to want to make or be that difference may vary however. Reasons people chose to foster Your own childhood. People will generally fall into one of two camps here. They
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How does Eastern Fostering Services match children and foster carers?
Lucy Stevens - 18th June 2022
Matching children and foster carers is one of the key factors that ensures positive fostering experiences for children and foster carers alike. Faultless matching is difficult for many reasons, perhaps the greatest being that you can’t foresee character dynamics until foster carers and children are living together day in, day out. However, having a robust and thorough matching process allows Eastern Fostering Services to give things the best possible chance. What are the principles that allow for good fostering matches? At Eastern Fostering Services, our fostering matching process hinges on some key principles: Understanding our foster carers and their familiesBeing as well-informed as possible when it comes to the needs of the childrenAnticipating practical considerations and obstacles before the child
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Fostering Healthy Attachments
Lucy Stevens - 9th June 2022
Right from the beginning of your journey into fostering, the one word you will hear regular mention of is attachment. What is attachment theory? Attachment theory concerns the relationhips between humans. Its most important assertion is that in order to have healthy social and emotional development, young children need to develop a trusting relationship with at least one primary care giver. If, in the early years of life, a child cannot rely on their primary care giver to meet their needs and respond to them, it can lead to attachment difficulties and disorders. Why is attachment important? The attachment style we develop has the potential to influence not only our childhood relationships, behaviours, social development and learning and educational development,
Tags: applying to be a foster carer, Eastern Fostering Services, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk
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Fostering Communities: The professional community
Lucy Stevens - 21st May 2022
It often comes as a surprise to prospective foster carers when they first realise the number of professionals that work with children in foster care. Often the first introduction foster carers get to the professional community is during the Skills to Foster training, which takes place during the assessment process. “It was the first time, I fully appreciated just how many professionals are involved with the children and how important it must be to invest in these relationships,” said one of our recently approved carers. This was an astutely made point. It is indeed important to build good relationships within the professional community, to understand their roles, their objectives and how best to work with them to promote the well
Tags: becoming a foster carer, fostercare fortnight, fostering, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex
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Fostering communities: fostering social workers
Lucy Stevens - 18th May 2022
Reflections of an old Social Worker Today, I am reflecting on one of those life events that makes being a Social Worker for nearly 30 years worthwhile. I claim no credit for the achievements of this incredibly special woman, I am just grateful for being part of her journey. I first met ‘Belle” (she is a Disney fan, so we agreed on this as her pseudonym) in the 1990’s as her fostering Social Worker. She was a feisty, mixed-up teen, rightly angry with the world but also clearly possessing a strong and positive spirit. We immediately struck up a great rapport that has now stood the test of time, having just been to her wedding in 2022. As I write
Tags: becoming a foster carer, fostercare fortnight, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk
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Support communities
Lucy Stevens - 14th May 2022
This Foster Care Fortnight, we’re taking a look at Fostering Communities and celebrating the role they play in successful fostering. At Eastern Fostering Services, we recognise that one of the most important functions of all fostering communities is to offer support to foster carers and the children and young people they care for. So, today we want to look at take a look at the Eastern Fostering Services team and the role it plays as a vital Fostering Community. Who is the Eastern Fostering Services team? The team at Eastern Fostering Services is small but perfectly formed. In every area of the agency, we have been able to attract people who are passionate about children and the opportunities fostering can
Tags: becoming a foster carer, fostercare fortnight, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk
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