Find out if you could be a foster carer
In a few simple questions, you’ll know if you’re suitable to apply to become a foster carer.
You’ll find that on your fostering journey, you’ll more than likely come across the Secure Base model. By implementing its principles, you’ll foster healthy attachment and relationship skills in the children you care for.
This is key, particularly for foster children who’ve had traumatic experiences that have resulted in them being placed into foster care. To help you understand what the Secure Base model is, we’ve broken it down so you can use it to be the best foster parent you can be.
The Secure Base model is a framework for foster parents and other carers. Its purpose is to promote certain behaviours, known as ‘dimensions’, in caregivers so children exhibit a secure and healthy attachment style. By following the framework and practising each of the five dimensions where appropriate, foster parents and other caregivers will provide a positive and healthy experience of family life for the children in their care.
The model is composed of five dimensions that together provide a secure base for children. Each of the different dimensions has its role. Collectively, they form a consistent, stable and nurturing environment that helps the child feel safe and supported. The five dimensions are:
The first dimension, availability, is about being emotionally and physically present. Being available goes a long way in encouraging a child to trust. It’s the first step towards helping a child feel safe and secure in your presence, and that they matter. Some ways you can show emotional and physical availability are:
Sensitivity is the second dimension and is about helping the child to manage their feelings. As their foster carer, it’s important to tune into your child’s thoughts and feelings. By validating and understanding them, you put yourself in their shoes. You ensure they’re heard and understood, and can then guide them to categorising and labelling their emotions.
The opportunity to explore their feelings in a safe and loving environment may never have occurred in their life before. Allowing and encouraging your foster child to express themselves will help them overcome stressful events, and manage their emotions when a similar situation arises.
Building a child’s self-esteem is at the heart of the third dimension, acceptance. This means accepting and valuing the child for who they are, as it’s not uncommon for foster children to have difficulty with their self-esteem. They could be struggling with issues surrounding how they look, their academic abilities, the background they’ve come from, their current circumstances or how they might think they’re different to other children.
As their foster parent, you can help here by finding areas of success in your foster child’s lives and celebrate them. This could be anything from doing well in school, at sports or even taking the family dog for a walk. By celebrating their achievements, they’ll gain confidence within themselves as they feel more competent. Some ways you can celebrate their achievements are:
The fourth dimension of the Secure Base model is co-operation. This will help your foster child feel effective and competent in their own lives and learn to ask for help when needed. To foster co-operative caregiving, look for ways where you can help your foster child make choices and encourage them to take action upon those choices.
While we are faced with daily choices, you may need to create opportunities where a choice will have to be made. These opportunities may push them slightly out of their comfort zone but, in turn, will help them feel a sense of accomplishment once they take action.
Remember, the purpose of co-operative parenting is to teach them that both independent and dependent behaviour are appropriate so long as the right balance is struck. Therefore, it’s important that the situations and choices you present offer an avenue for each.
Helping your foster child feel a sense of belonging to your family is the fifth and final dimension of the Secure Base model. It’s an essential part of a child’s feeling of security as they grow up.
Foster children in particular, will have had a lot of family-type relationships in their lives due to their past and current circumstances. With that in mind, it’s important for you as their foster parent to understand their family history. You should also encourage them to keep in touch with any family both within their current foster family and outside of it. Keeping in contact with their current and former caregivers creates a sense of belonging, security and identity as they become more independent.
Children who come into foster care will often have experienced difficult times in their birth families. They will all have experienced loss and separation from familiar people, places and circumstances. Foster children will also likely have experienced abuse, drug misuse, domestic violence and neglect.
For this reason, we have 3 levels of Therapeutic Parenting Training available to our foster carers – Introduction, Foundation and Advanced. This is because we know that foster children of all ages need therapeutic care from foster carers and foster families. Therapeutic care helps them recover from harmful experiences and find happiness, fulfilment and a sense of safety and security.
The Secure Base model is one of the many therapeutic approaches foster carers use to help their children trust and bond with them. It’s often seen as a cornerstone for therapeutic caregiving, and without it, children will often grow up with insecure attachment styles like anxious or avoidant attachment. They will also have trust issues and difficulty managing their thoughts and emotions. On a social level, they’ll struggle to form and maintain relationships and friendships.
Because of this, foster carers often refer to the Secure Base model, as they want the children in their care to have a healthy relationship with both themselves and others. Building confidence, resilience, and emotional control puts their foster children in good stead for opportunities that will present themselves throughout their lives.
Around the country, dozens of children enter the care system every day – children who can’t live at home through no fault of their own. We work with local authorities in every region of the UK to meet growing demand for all types of fostering. Can you become a foster carer and make a difference to a child’s future?
We offer a generous fostering allowance, with exclusive perks and benefits, free training (including specialisms) and exceptional support from your local team of fostering professionals.
If you’re unsure whether you’re eligible, try our Can I Foster? tool, which answers common questions about suitability to foster, based on a personalised Q&A style format. If you’re ready to chat with one of our fostering advisors, contact your local team.
