We often get asked, “ Can I foster if I have my own children?”. The short answer is Yes! Parents and their children make wonderful foster families. The long answer, although it is possible and many of our foster parents have their own children it all depends on your family situation to whether fostering a child would fit in with the rest of the family.
So how do we include and support children who will potentially become a foster sibling?
When you enquire about fostering..
When a family enquires about becoming a foster parent we will have a chat with them about how becoming a fostering family will impact on the children living at home. We’ll talk through any worries parents have about how their child might be feeling.
If you are considering fostering it is really important that you sit down as a family and full discuss what fostering might look like to everyone in your family. It’s an opportunity to find out what concerns or worries they might have. You might come away from that chat with loads of questions, if that’s the case then we will do our very best to answer them.
Application & Assessment Stage
Children, whatever their age, who live in a household that is considering fostering play an important role in deciding if fostering is for them. Part of the assessment stage will mean we speak to your children about their experiences of growing up and how they’ve been parented.
Our team will also support them with them any specific worries they might have such as having their own space, how will their needs be met and who they can talk to if they have worries about how fostering is fitting in with their family. This is often very reassuring for children and young people who will be part of that fostering family.
An Approved Foster Family
If you become an approved fostering family for Changing Futures Fostering our Supervising Social Workers will ensure that children and young people in the home are seen regularly and that their needs and wishes are understood.
We will also provide training and fun activities to ensure the birth children and young people who foster for us are fully involved in our decision making and policy lead practice.
Children have so many skills that they can bring to the fostering journey, showing kindness, supporting each other and wanting other children to experience the same parenting and safety they have had. Children and Young People are often our best truth tellers, companions and balanced friend and we want to ensure we keep it that way when you foster.