Which Type Is Right For You?
- Fostering isn’t a one-size-fits-all, as every child and foster parent is different, which is why different types of foster care placements are available to ensure all needs are met
- What are the different types of foster care placements?
- Which type of foster care placement is right for you?
Fostering Isn’t A One-Size-Fits-All…
This is because all children and young people will have unique needs and requirements. This is the same for foster carers, who will have different schedules, varying commitment levels, available space, and responsibilities. Therefore, foster care placements often need a bit of flexibility to ensure that everybody in the care system has their needs met. This is why at Changing Futures, we specialise in a variety of different foster care placements to help our foster parents and vulnerable children and young people find the perfect fit!
What Are The Different Types Of Foster Care Placement?
Here’s an overview of the main types of foster care placement…
This placement tends to be for children or young people who are unable to stay with their birth family and parents for a period of time. Short-term fostering allows them a safe, comfortable, and caring place to stay until their birth family is in a better place for them to return home. Alternatively, short-term placements are available until a child or young person’s needs are better understood and the best possible long-term foster home can be found. Short-term placements can last anywhere from a day to a few years, and are vital in ensuring the safeguarding of a vulnerable child or young person.
Not all fostered children or young people can ever return home to their birth family. In these circumstances, the most beneficial thing for them is a long-term placement, which means that they can make a new home with you. Long-term fostering placements mean providing a loving, fun and safe environment for them to grow until they’re young adults and are ready to stand on their own two feet. But from experience, they’ll never be too far away. Long-term foster care is incredibly rewarding, as if you foster a child long-term, they become a part of your family for the rest of your life!
Parent and child fostering involves providing a short-term home to one parent and their child, baby, or children. It can help to inform a process that means the safe care of children by others, and can keep families together. They are sometimes required to look after or help teach young parents, or because there are concern about the parent’s ability to look after the child, perhaps if they have had a child, young person or baby removed from their care previously.
Respite fostering, also known as short break care, is a placement that enables foster parents and the children in their care a little break to recharge their batteries. We’re all only human, and sometimes unexpected events occur or stress levels rise, and everybody may need to step away. This has been proven to help strengthen relationships and keep them healthy and happy. Respite fostering is also incredibly beneficial for foster parents caring for young children or young people with a disability or higher levels of care needs.
Emergency Foster Care:
Similar in some ways to short break care, emergency foster care provides a short notice safe environment for children or young people who desperately need a place to stay. Whether an unexpected event has occurred in their birth family or foster family, emergency foster care ensures they are looked after until any issues have been resolved by their birth family, a social worker, the local authority or any fostering agencies involved.
Which Type Of Foster Care Placement Is Right For You?
Short-term foster care is typically better suited to foster parents who can commit to fostering a child or young person for a set number of years, or to fostering young people of certain ages – for instance, people with experience with older children or people close to retirement age.
A long-term foster placement requires a high level of commitment, with the foster child or young person becoming a part of your family permanently. Also, if they’d like, young people who are fostered long-term can stay with their foster parents after they turn 18 under ‘staying put’ arrangements.
When it comes to emergency and respite short break care, these placements tend to suit those who can’t foster permanently but can still provide a caring, safe home for a short period. They are also well-suited to foster carers who are just starting on their fostering journey, as a way to test the water and learn without high levels of commitment.
We do also require some foster parents willing to take on more specialist placements, such as parent and child fostering or for children that require a really high level of therapeutic care. For these placements, we look for foster parents with the required skills and experience to deal with these circumstances. If you’re in need of some further personalised advice about which type of fostering placement might be right for you, then please feel free to get in touch, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have!
At Changing Futures Fostering, we’re all about providing our foster parents with the support they need to really make a difference in a vulnerable child’s life. If you need any more information on the different types of foster care placements that we offer, or which might be the right type for you, please click here to contact us, or send us an email at admin@changingfuturesne.co.uk to talk to our brilliant fostering team! Alternatively, feel free to call us on 01429 363 127.