Fostering families

Fostering involves the whole family. Children of foster carers play a key role in the fostering household in welcoming children, and should be included at all stages of the assessment and fostering process.

It can be challenging for children who find themselves sharing their parents with other children. However, many say that they have enjoyed their parents’ fostering and learnt from it including: how lucky they are, the importance of empathy, being kind, and the difference being a foster sibling can make to a fostered child or young person’s life. There is evidence that a proportion of children and young people from fostering families go on to become foster carers themselves or enter the caring professions, and feel that fostering enhances their empathy and life skills.

Foster Carers have to maintain confidentiality of the children and young people in their care so will be unable to share lots of information about them.

Confidentiality has to be considered in the online world as well and will be part of a family’s safer care policy. Wider families members need to understand the reasons for this, and ensure they do not post photographs on any online or social media sites of family events that include the foster child unless this has been agreed with the fostering service/local authority and the child/young person. Safer caring training should address the issue of visitors to the fostering family household with the aim of reducing risk to keep everyone safe.