We would really recommend fostering. If you are thinking of making the first step, we can testify that fostering changes lives. We took our first step 6 years ago; over that time we have looked after a range of children.

Our first child was a teenager. Our role was really to prepare her for independence. She is a lovely girl and just needed gentle guidance and a loving, non-judgemental family. She stayed with us for a year and made so much progress in that time. She continues to be a close friend to our daughter and now has a good job in a hospital and a child of her own!

What’s it all about?

For us, fostering centres around helping and caring for children, and providing a secure loving home, preparing them for independence and teaching them basic life skills and values and generally teaching them about family life with us.

To the child it can be a life changing experience as they may have never experienced simple things such as a loving home, or a treat of an ice cream or outing to the zoo. Simple things we all take for granted.

It’s not all plain sailing..

Fostering of course comes with ups and downs and we have come across many challenges with different ages of children. We have had police visits and trips to A&E and have had to draw on all our skills to navigate the Covid 19 lockdowns.

Without the support of our birth children and family and friends and of course Eastern Fostering services staff, we would struggle. The team at Eastern Fostering Services, who are amazing, have a wealth of experience and staff that know us all very well. They offer an excellent training programme to keep us on our toes.

Through all the challenges, we have learned that it is the simple, everyday things that make the biggest difference: being there, being consistent, modelling healthy relationships. These things are life changing for many children in foster care.

Lucy and Jim, Essex

More than a plaster

We’ve been fostering for 5 years. We felt that in many ways you can help people without any real sacrifice. You can donate to charity and then go about your business and forget about the suffering around you. We wanted to do more than stick a plaster on the things we saw around us. And so we decided to foster.

The fruit that keeps on giving

Our first child stayed with us for 3 years. He is a lovely lad but suffered terribly due to the life experiences he had had. In coming to live with us there were so many new experiences he had to come to grips with and he wasn’t really someone who could cope well with change back then.

We saw lots of successes with him, and celebrated these, but I think our overall feeling was that we hadn’t really helped as much as we’d wanted. He was keen to move out and pursue independence and we had gently advised against this and offered for him to stay on. In the end, we let go and made sure he knew that our door would always be open to him.

Fast forward 2 years and he continues to be a part of our life. We speak every week via phone and we see him when restrictions allow. Just this week, he called me to tell me he had got 89% in a recent exam at college. Being able to tell him how proud we were and hearing the excitement in his voice as he shared his success with us felt like the first bite of an apple we’d been growing for 5 years. Sweet and worth savouring.

You can’t grow a rose without a good helping of manure

Good fostering does change lives and is a beautiful thing to be part of. But as a friend of mine says, you need a lot of manure to grow a beautiful rose. This is so true. At times fostering will feel thankless and you will wonder why you’re doing it, but there is beauty waiting weeks, months, maybe even years down the line.

While you’re in the manure phase having good friends and family around you really helps. Without it you can feel isolated and alone. We’re lucky to have them in abundance.

Choosing the right fostering provider is also important. Our agency, Eastern Fostering Services, has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to support us. They continue to provide exemplary support, understanding and development as we continue to foster.

If you would like to know more about fostering contact us via our website, facebook or email us at team@easternfosteringservices.com. We are offering virtual meetings with anyone who would like one so that we can answer any questions you may have about fostering.

The post Fostering: the simple things change lives appeared first on Eastern Fostering Services.

Eastern Fostering Services, as a small, independent fostering agency, were disappointed to find that the independent providers were yet again vilified as cash counting mercenaries who are only working in the fostering sector for financial gain. Such broad-based assumption feeds in to the negative associations that are held in relation to fostering more widely.

The bigger picture

We believe that there is a way for Local Authorities and independent fostering agencies to work together in the best interests of the children. Sadly, there are systemic failures that make this incredibly difficult for the small agencies such as Eastern Fostering Services.

It is fairly typical for Local Authority commissioning to weight their tender invitations to independent fostering agencies towards cost rather than quality. A common 70% onus on cost versus 30% on quality of care provision means that both measures are naturally driven down.

There have been innumerable conferences, consultations and collaborations focussing on more ‘intelligent’ commissioning but in over 20 years of our experience in the sector, little has changed. Local Authorities continue to have unmet needs and the tension between the public and private sector continues, translating to a poorer service for vulnerable children.

We well understand the enormous financial pressures that Local Authorities are subject to but whilst a view persists that the independent sector are a threat rather than an opportunity, unhelpful myths and misapprehensions will continue to fester further debilitating the system.

What do the experts say about independent fostering agencies?

As was correctly pointed out in the media, the Nairey report concluded that although independent agencies were slightly more expensive (we would note this is an average and does not reflect the huge price range that exists in the sector), the difference in cost is negligible versus the quality of outcomes for children who are living in foster care.

We were disappointed that this information was very much an afterthought rather than the presiding point and we are left yet again trying to justify our position as child-centred practitioners, rather than financial opportunists. Such a portrayal is damaging to our working relationships with Local Authorities and other professionals, to the public perception of fostering more generally and ultimately for the children to whom we have all made a commitment to serve.

Along with our carers, who are supported to provide long-term, stable placements, we are an important constant for these children.

Anecdotally as a small fostering agency, we are increasingly one of the few constants in the children’s lives. Many children experience changes in social worker on a frighteningly regular basis and often the agency social workers support and advocate for the children and carers and provide a safe base for exceptional care to be carried out by our foster carers. Along with our carers, who are supported to provide long-term, stable placements, we are an important constant for these children.

Is there hope?

Many small independent fostering agencies work tirelessly to promote the well-being of the children in their care, challenging poor decisions and speaking up for those most vulnerable children when their voices are not being heard. Equally, we work creatively to find solutions to problems that might impede the very best care, often supporting and bolstering Local Authority resources.

In short, we want to work with other professionals to put the needs of children first. We believe that dialogue, cooperation and a change in the cultural perception of independent fostering agencies would really help unlock creativity, efficiency and ultimately better outcomes for the children.

The post Independent Fostering Agencies: right to reply appeared first on Eastern Fostering Services.