Foster Care Stories
Laura and Robert’s Story
“It is fully rewarding. I know that’s a cliche, but seeing a child develop and grow into their full potential because of the support and guidance provided while being part of our family leaves us with a real sense of achievement.”
Laura and Robert* first became foster carers five years ago, deciding the time was right once their son had started secondary school and after changes in their plans to adopt meant they were looking for a different path. They’ve since looked after eight children, transferring to Team Fostering in 2023.
They’re now the first foster carers to set off on the Bridge to Belonging journey, which offers tailored support for children coming out of residential care. They recently welcomed in H, who was leaving residential care and ready to join a foster family home.
*Not their real names
Working together
For the couple, this new package of support has so far focused on building relationships with H, his residential carers and personalised support from Team Fostering. It started by getting everyone around the table and onto the same page.
Laura explained: “We had a Teams meeting which included all the professionals involved with H. All the people around H were great and lots of information was given and shared.
“One meeting included a child therapist and we found that really, really helpful. She gave us ideas as to how we could proceed with some of the challenges that we might meet and strategies to help H settle into our home.”
Getting to know the child
Following the initial meetings a timetable was put together for Laura and Robert to be introduced to H, in an informal environment which would make him feel at ease, alongside the residential carers.
Laura said: “We met him on a skate park because he’s really interested in skateboarding, so we made sure we found something H was interested in and we thought that might be less intrusive.
“The second time we took a scooter with us because he said he liked scootering and he didn’t have a scooter of his own.”
Building relationships
There was also time given for Laura and Robert to spend time with H in the residential home. Building the relationships with the people who knew him was crucial to managing that transition.
Laura said: “We sat with him at the table while he had tea. That was a really good introduction and worked well.
“One of the reasons for this was so we could build a rapport with the staff so that H could see the staff trusted us and in turn, H would trust us.”
Support from Team Fostering
The complex nature of the transition from residential care to foster care hasn’t come without its challenges – with the effects of past trauma and learnt behaviours from the residential environment. But Laura explains how the support from Team Fostering has helped with this.
She said: “The support has been great from Team Fostering. We have a mentor who comes to see us and H and we know that there’s somebody at the end of the phone if we need it.
“I really get on with our supervising social worker. If I’ve got any queries at all, I can speak to her and she’ll get back to me quickly. All of the staff at Team Fostering are approachable.”
“The main difference for this type of fostering is getting H used to the new rules really. H will have been used to different procedures in the residential home and every member of staff having their own way of dealing with children, so it is important to have clear and strict boundaries in place. It’s a matter of emphasising that different homes have different rules.”
Why we foster
For Laura and Robert, although it might not always be plain sailing, the rewards are more than worth it.
Laura said: “It is fully rewarding. I know that’s a cliche, but seeing a child develop and grow into their full potential because of the support and guidance provided while being part of our family leaves us with a real sense of achievement.”
Are you interested in becoming a foster carer with Team Fostering? Whether you’re only just starting thinking about it and have loads of questions or you’re already an experienced foster carer and are interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you. You can give us a call on 0800 292 2003 or leave your details on our enquiry form and someone will be in touch.