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Our Story: Warren and Charissa

Wednesday 15 February 2017

“Hi,

We are Warren and Charissa, recent additions to the Alliance Fostering family and we would like to share our experiences so far…

Our application began in summer 2015 and over the course of the next several months we had many visits from our assessing social worker and attended the ‘skills to foster’ course. We found the process to be very thorough and in depth, but not uncomfortably intrusive. The team are approachable and supportive making it easy to build up a good rapport.

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A few nerves surfaced before the day of Panel, but the members were friendly, assuring us we would not be asked anything that had not already been mentioned in the assessment application. After being approved as carers we were introduced to the wider team and promptly presented with a comprehensive ‘welcome pack’. We have made good use of the online training as well as being enrolled by Alliance with ‘FosterTalk’ which we have found very useful. We are ‘buddied-up’ with an existing carer who has provided unbiased advice and some good ideas!

A few weeks after approval we were put forward for a few different placements; the fourth referral was approved within a couple of days and the Local Authority worked with Alliance to place two siblings, aged 6 and 8 years, with us and our 2 year-old birth son. Due to the circumstances of the placement, it was touch and go as to when they would arrive; we were on our weekly shopping trip when a phone call from the Emergency Duty Team informed us that the children would be with us within 90 minutes. After a rapid trolley dash we returned home and met with an Alliance team member who came to support us with the arrival of the children. We felt excited and a little anxious, but when the children arrived they kept us very busy, leaving us no time to dwell on our thoughts. Over the next four weeks we all worked hard to introduce routines and get to know each other.

We have seen tremendous progress in the children and enjoy sharing in their achievements, while working through the challenges! We continue to nurture their personal growth, finding ourselves growing with them.”

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