Guide for Children of Families Interested in Fostering
If you are considering fostering, you may have some questions about what this means for your children. Fostering is a wonderful, highly rewarding experience, but it also brings changes and new responsibilities for everyone in the family – including any children you may already have!
To help your family feel more prepared and answer some of the questions they might have, we’ve created a special ‘My Family Wants To Foster’ Handbook. This guide is designed to help children and young people understand what fostering is all about, what to expect, and how to share their feelings along the way.
What is in the ‘My Family Wants To Foster’ Handbook?
This resource provides a child-friendly overview of fostering, covering:
- what does fostering mean?
- why do people foster?
- why do children need to live with Foster Carers?
- what does fostering have to do with me?
- what happens when our family decides to foster?
- preparing to foster
- what will we know about a child before they move in
- tips to help you along the way
- and experiences from other local children who foster alongside their families!
Our goal is to support you and your family every step of the way so that you feel comfortable and prepared as you consider fostering.
Sally O’Brian Talks About The Importance Of Birth Family
One important aspect of fostering is understanding the experience fostering will have on your family. In this touching video, Sally O’Brian, one of our Assessing Social Workers, explains how the children you already have in your family play an important role in fostering. She covers how she will speak to them to explain what fostering looks like and to help answer any questions they may want to ask.
Watching this video can give you insights into how important it is for us to support all children involved in the family so they feel connected, understood, and supported.
Why Children Are So Important To Fostering
Children play an essential role in helping make new children joining your family feel welcomed and at ease. The relationships children have with other children can often feel less stressful. Children tend to launch in with ‘do you want to play with me…’ which can be much less daunting than conversations with adults!
Children coming into your home will observe relationships within the family (and with your extended family) to see how things work and understand traditions like Sunday roasts or movie-night Fridays. Your own children will also help show them the ropes – helping them learn your family’s routines, which in turn builds confidence and trust. By modelling positive relationships you’re setting children up for healthy relationships in the future.
How would you as an adult explain your house rules? Your children can probably explain these much better than you can! They will almost certainly have a different answer (in terms of what feels relevant to them as a child).
It can be good for your children to know what their role is in helping a new child feel welcome. That can be really empowering.
And remember, fostering is a team effort – your West Sussex County Council support team is here for you too!
We hope this guide answers questions for your children or helps you think about conversations you may want to have with them. Fostering isn’t just your journey; it’s your children’s too!
If you have any questions about what it’s like to foster alongside birth, step and adopted children, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly fostering team who will be more than happy to have an informal chat. Please call 0330 222 7775 or complete our contact form here.
