Children in foster care

There are various types of neglect, including physical, educational, emotional or medical. Children who have been taken into care may have experienced a combination of these.

Due to the nature of neglect and its impact on brain development, children may present themselves to be much younger than their physical age. We also find that children who have suffered from neglect are more likely to be behind their peers in key developmental milestones, such as reading, speaking and personal hygiene.

Alongside their day-to-day parenting role, foster parents have a critical role in the development of key life skills, confidence and improved academic performance.

A child may be removed from their family and placed in foster care if it’s believed that they’ve experienced or are at significant risk of abuse; whether that’s physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

Abuse of any kind can have a detrimental impact on a child, including how they perceive themselves and the world around them. As a result of their negative life experiences, they may display behavioural problems and find it difficult to form positive, trusting relationships.

Foster parents provide a safe and nurturing family environment, where children no longer have to be afraid. They spend time forming a positive attachment with the child, so they can help them to heal from their past experiences, boost their self-esteem and enable them to lead a fulfilling life.

Children may be placed in care due to a family dysfunction. This is when the parenting capacity is determined as ‘chronically inadequate’, meaning that the child’s needs are not being met.

Often, a child who’s been placed in care due to these circumstances may have experienced an ongoing parent-child or sibling conflict, domestic violence within the family home, parental mental health issues or something else that has put the child’s safety, health and wellbeing at risk.

Children will often come into care and require an emergency foster care placement, while court orders are sought. A foster parent may need to maintain the child’s contact with their family and support their emotional needs.

A parent’s illness or disability can sometimes prevent them from being able to provide adequate care to a child. Other times, it may be the child who has a disability or illness and for various reasons, the parent isn’t able to meet their needs.

In these circumstances, foster care provides the child with a welcoming, loving home, where their needs are met, and regular contact is arranged to maintain positive relationships between the child and their family (if appropriate).

Every child’s circumstances are unique and we offer different types of foster care placements, along with various specialist training opportunities for our staff and foster families – including foetal alcohol syndrome, ADHD and autism training – so we can continue to meet the needs of children coming into foster care.

A child may need to be placed in foster care on a temporary basis, while the family is going through a crisis that has impacted their ability to meet the child’s needs. This may be a significant death in the family, finance issues, homelessness and eviction, trouble with the police (either the parent or child), or perhaps even gang-related issue which leaves the young person at risk of harm.

A foster parent would provide the child with a stable, family environment where they can stay until they’re able to return home.  They’ll try to maintain the child’s routine and boundaries, including school runs, mealtimes and bedtimes, facilitate contact with family and link the child in with specialist services they may need.

A child may need fostering because they have no parents available to provide for them; for example, their parent or legal guardian may have passed away.

Foster parents are a vital source of emotional support in these scenarios, helping the child grieve and start to rebuild their life. They may also facilitate regular contact between the child and their birth family, including siblings (if they’re not living together), grandparents and other family members if it’s within the child’s care plan.