A foster carer is someone who looks after children who are taken away from their birth families. The reasons vary, but the role remains the same. You open your home to a child in need and you meet their needs regardless of what comes along. There are a number of support options in place to ensure that you have what you need, and every journey is different. These are some ways to have a positive experience.
Establish Positive Relationships with Your Agency
Agencies like Fosterplus will ensure that you have a social worker as a point of support and reference. This is who you can call when you have a question that needs answering, or you want to just talk an idea over with. They will be there for you, and you can reciprocate by ensuring you use their professional experience because that’s what it is there for. Establish a positive relationship with your agency, and make sure that you are using every tool in their kit to help you be the best carer in every circumstance.
Treat Each Child as a New Story
You will never meet two children that are exactly alike. It is your job to ensure that each time a new child comes into your care, you are treating it as a new beginning. There will always be different facts and varying circumstances that brought this child into your life, and while you may never learn it all, you can be open-minded. Each assignment is different, and you must embrace that as a positive thing.
Get into a Great Routine at Home
Having a great routine is an absolute must. It is hard to deny the many benefits that come from knowing what you’re facing on any given day and having things in place to help you feel as though you can handle the good and the bad that may come along. It is important to have a routine for your children and for yourself, and these two things can coexist peacefully if you find a rhythm that works. Make sure you are taking time to look after your mental health and self-care and be a role model for positive habits.
Make Sure Your Training is Up to Date
Foster carers have constant opportunities to improve their skills. Depending on who you foster with, there will be certain obligatory modules to undertake and a range of elective training opportunities as well. Things like first aid, safeguarding, attachment, and behaviour management are regularly featured and you will need to do these at certain intervals in order to ensure your skills are as fresh as they can be. It is all there to help you be a great carer and get the most out of the experience for both you and the child.
Being a great foster carer means embracing the unknown and facing things head on, with both your head and heart along for the ride. It is possible to have an amazing experience, but you have to embrace a positive attitude for that to happen. Whatever comes along can be good fun and completely life changing.
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