The road to becoming a foster carer will fill you with anticipation and excitement, but it will also leave you with plenty of questions about how to be successful. If this sounds familiar, then let us help you out with these four useful insights.
1. Reassurance is Key
Any foster child that arrives at your home will have experienced trauma, and the added pressures of moving into a strange location will likely be overwhelming for them – just put your feet in their shoes for a moment. With this clearly in your brain, you need to make an effort to provide reassurance, which you can do in the following ways:
• Take them shopping for essentials. Taking your foster child shopping allows you to make sure you have all the items they need.
• Explore family photos. Let your foster child know who the family is, so take your time.
• Show them around your home. Your home will be big and scary, so make sure you’re showing them around to make life easier – you can also use this opportunity to lay down your boundaries.
2. Spend Time Planning
If you’ve got children of your own, you’ll understand how fast-paced life can be. When you’re taking care of foster children, life will move at a much faster pace because there will be various meetings you need to attend as well.
Therefore, to avoid letting chaos slip in, you should start planning for different areas of life. For example, you have to know how you’re going to afford the cost of living, and whether the foster care allowance will be enough to fund your lifestyle. You can find out more about this here – fcascotland.co.uk.
3. Have a Solid Support Network
You are responsible for providing a caring environment for children in need, but you’re not the only person involved in the support system. Before taking in your first foster child, spend time working out who your support network is. Typically, this will include foster agency staff, local authority agents, and other professionals. If you get stuck compiling a list of who to contact in what situation, communicate with your foster agency for more information.
4. Create a Warm and Friendly Space
Before a foster child arrives, you must ensure your entire home feels friendly and warm. To do this, get to work decluttering your home – a clean living space is always more relaxing than a messy one. When your home is clean, your new foster child will settle in much faster because it’s a fresh slate on a blank canvas.
You will need to decorate your new foster child’s bedroom, which can be challenging before you get to know them. To overcome this, we recommend using neutral colours to begin with. Then, once they’ve been living with you for a few days, you can begin making changes including hanging posters and other wall art.
Feeling nervous before your first foster child arrives is normal – it just shows how much it truly means to you. When you follow the insights outlined above, you’ll notice that children in your care settle much faster.