Fostering – Taking the high road and the low road
Lucy Stevens - 10th February 2021
A foster carer’s perspective The UK is suffering a severe shortage of foster carers. One of the many reasons for this is that people generally don’t have a full understanding of what fostering looks like. So, why do people foster? What do they love about it? Where do they find the joy in it? We’ve asked some of our foster carers across Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire what they love about fostering and what they find difficult. This week we’ll be hearing from Julie, Nigel and Lesley. Julie, Foster Carer, Suffolk I love fostering and get real enjoyment and satisfaction from bringing out the best in a child. Fostering makes a huge difference in the life of a child but these
Tags: foster carer perspective, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, independent fostering agency
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The Virtual Reality of fostering
Lucy Stevens - 26th February 2020
Virtual reality and fostering, why? Independent agency, Eastern Fostering Services are using virtual reality in their fostering training. But why? And how? In reality, fostering is hard. Foster carers are expected to be able to cope with a range of challenges within their own home. Children come into foster care with all manner of grief, pain and damage and this can manifest itself in many ways. Virtually anything can happen... Challenging behavioursAttachment issues or disordersPost Traumatic Stress Disorder AnxietyDepressionSelf harmDrug and alcohol misuseViolence or aggressionSleep disordersMental health problemsConfusionDelayed developmentHypervigilance The list goes on. Indeed, foster carers need to be able to cope with whatever fostering throws at them. Many foster carers will say that they are prepared for any eventuality!
Tags: Eastern Fostering Services, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, fostering training
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The Fostering Assessment – Step 4 in becoming a foster carer
Lucy Stevens - 16th September 2019
What is the fostering assessment for? Your Fostering Assessment will be carried out by one of our friendly, experienced assessors. Once you have completed your application form and we have carried out the necessary checks, we will begin your fostering assessment. A fostering assessor will be assigned to you and your family. All of our assessors are friendly, keen to put you at your ease and experienced in producing fostering assessment reports. The job of your assessor is to provide a detailed report on you, your partner and your family. This report will look at your life experiences, motivation, strengths and qualities . It should also flag up training opportunities. In addition to this, the report will give your fostering
Tags: becoming a foster carer, foster carer, fostering, fostering assessment, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering form f, fostering Suffolk
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The Fostering Application form
Lucy Stevens - 12th September 2019
The next step in becoming a foster carer. How do I proceed with the Fostering Application after the home visit? Completing the Fostering Application form is not difficult...just a little time consuming. Last week we shared a blog about the home visit. Once you have had your home visit and you, your family and the fostering provider are keen to go ahead with your fostering application, you are ready for the next stage of the process. The fostering application form. What information does the fostering application form require? We need quite a bit of information from you in order to proceed with your fostering application. The assessment will consist of information gathering both behind the scenes and directly from you
Tags: becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, fostering, fostering application, fostering assessment, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, how do I become a foster carer
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How do I become a foster carer?
Lucy Stevens - 4th September 2019
Step 2: The home visit Once you have done your research and have decided you want to become a foster carer, you can arrange a home visit. An important part of your journey to become a foster carer is to ensure you are well informed. To this end, the home visit is an excellent opportunity to ask any questions you have about fostering and becoming a foster carer. I want to become a foster carer.What questions should I ask? Deciding to become a foster carer can open up all sorts of questions and worries. Therefore it is important that the fostering service you are speaking to are open and responsive to your questions. You can find a list of the
Tags: applying to be a foster carer, becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, essex foster care, Essex fostering, fostering agencies near me, fostering application, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering children, fostering Suffolk, how do I become a foster carer, Suffolk fostering
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5 steps to becoming a foster carer
Lucy Stevens - 28th August 2019
Step 1 - Register your interest Thinking of becoming a foster carer? How do you find out which fostering providers to approach? As with anything in life, when it comes to becoming a foster carer, you should do your research. As a foster carer, you will need excellent support so you should look for local fostering providers who offer quality, 24 hour support. Smaller agencies are often better placed to offer quality, tailored support. The Fostering Network have a tool on their website that allows you to search for local fostering providers. Moreover the internet is an excellent source of information. However, you need to know what you are looking for when deciding which fostering provider might best suit you
Tags: becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, foster care, fostering, fostering agency, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering in Peterborough, fostering near me, fostering service, fostering Suffolk
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Fostering Refugee Children
Lucy Stevens - 12th June 2019
What should carers know when it comes to fostering refugee children? When it comes to fostering refugee children, carers must learn to navigate a whole new world. Let's start with semantics. The language people use when discussing the needs, provision and challenges associated with fostering refugee children is specific and fluid. In the UK we tend to brand all migrant children as refugee children or vice versa. In fact, whether someone is a refugee or not is specified in law. Moreover, it often directly relates to that child's legal status at the time. It is highly likely that if you are fostering a refugee child, you are actually caring for an Unaccompanied Migrant Child. But you could equally be looking
Tags: fostering, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering refugees, fostering Suffolk, Fostering unacomapnied asylum seeking children, Refugee Week
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Fostering trans young people
Lucy Stevens - 3rd June 2019
7 things trans young people need from their foster carers We know that children and young people in foster care are highly vulnerable and need their foster carers to support and advocate for them. We also know that trans young people are vulnerable to discrimination and oppression. So how should carers prepare for fostering trans young people? What should foster carers know about what it's like to be a trans young person? One could say that generally our society does not treat young people well. Teenagers are often treated with suspicion and criticism and a degree of contempt. For young people in foster care, these attitudes are largely exacerbated. When it comes to fostering trans young people, the challenges can
Tags: foster care, fostering, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, fostering trans young people, how can I foster?, how do I become a foster carer, how to foster, LGBT fostering, trans, transgender
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Becoming a foster carer: 5 things you should know
Lucy Stevens - 28th May 2019
Becoming a foster carer will change your life. Here are 5 things you should know. Fostering is hard but rewarding Becoming a foster carer is one of the bravest steps you can take. It is a job that takes place in your home, 24/7. Fostering will require you to make changes to your life. Not only will you be fostering the most vulnerable children in society but you will be working within a difficult system too. It's hard work. BUT the rewards are beyond anything you could expect in any other job. If you're in two minds about fostering, simply ask yourself, "in what other job can I transform lives?" With the right support, from the right fostering agency, fostering
Tags: becoming a foster carer, becoming a foster family, becoming a fostering family, families who foster, foster care, foster carer, fostering, fostering agencies near me, fostering agency, fostering application, fostering assessment, fostering babies; #ProudToFoster, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering families, fostering in Peterborough, fostering provider, fostering service, fostering Suffolk, how can I foster?, how do I become a foster carer, how to foster
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Could you #changeafuture
Lucy Stevens - 7th May 2019
Good fostering can transform lives This May sees the start of Foster Care Fortnight, the UK’s biggest awareness raising campaign for foster care. In the UK, it is estimated that over 8000 additional fostering families are needed . “In the East of England alone, we need over 600 additional carers to allow us to provide well matched foster carers to the children who need them,” says Eleanor Vanner of Eastern Fostering Services, an agency who look after children across Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. “Every 20 minutes in the UK another child comes into care needing a fostering family; it’s vital that we have a good pool of carers for these children.” Fostering offers children and young people the opportunity for
Tags: foster care, fostering, fostering agency, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering in Essex, fostering in Peterborough, fostering in Suffolk, fostering information, fostering information events, fostering service, fostering Suffolk
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