Parent-child fostering is when a foster carer provides support and guidance to both a parent and their child. The aim is for parents to learn how to handle parenthood in a safe environment as they receive assistance from an experienced caregiver on how to meet their child’s needs.
So why might a prospective foster carer in Lewisham, Leicester or any other part of the UK choose parent-child fostering?
One of the advantages of parent-child fostering is that foster carers don’t just get to experience the satisfaction of watching a child develop in a nurturing environment, but they also witness the parents learning and growing as they gain confidence in their abilities.
Providing support and help to both vulnerable individuals and their children offers carers the opportunity to positively impact more than one person’s life.
While the foster carer provides practical help and emotional assistance to the parent and child, they also get support from experienced professionals.
Foster carers receive specialised training to equip them for the role’s demands and have access to a support network, including regular visits from social workers, access to a helpline for on-demand support, and frequent reviews with their local authority.
In parent-child fostering, the parent isn’t the only one to learn. Often, the foster carer also develops their problem-solving skills and ability to deliver high-level support. This is thanks to both the specialised training provided as part of the placement and the experience gained on the job.
As you learn about the parent, their abilities, and their child, you gain valuable insights into what it means to nurture, teach, and support.
When fostering children, the emphasis is typically on providing a safe environment and care. With parent-child fostering, however, the foster carer has a slightly different role—one of a role model and supervising figure.
The ultimate aim in parent-child fostering is to empower the parent to live with their children independently. So, while you might help with childcare tasks initially, eventually, the parent will develop the experience to take over. The trick is to know when to intervene and when to remain on the sidelines.
As stated in the Children Act 1989, children are always best living with their own families. Parent-child fostering aims to prevent children from entering foster care in the first place by stepping in at the beginning to help struggling parents develop the skills needed to look after their children.
For parents suffering from the effects of trauma or domestic abuse, or who had difficult childhoods themselves, support and guidance are pivotal in breaking the cycle and creating a family unit that is strong and stable. This has an invaluable effect on society as a whole.
All fostering has the potential to be incredibly rewarding. However, parent-child placements are particularly gratifying as the foster carer has the chance to help and support more than one individual. They may even gain valuable insights themselves, as well as playing a vital part in keeping families together.
If you’ve been thinking about fostering but want further information about it first, please speak to our recruitment team today, as they can help provide you with answers.
