What does the day to day role of a foster carer include?
As a foster carer with Alpha Plus, you are working with a team of people to improve the well-being of children living with you. These people include social workers, health professionals, school staff, therapists, birth families and other foster carers.
It is important when considering fostering to remember the impact this will have on the wider family network, especially any birth children, who will now need to share the love and attention of their parents with another child.
Looking after someone else’s child is not the same as looking after a birth child. In all likeliness the environment which these children have come from will be vastly different to the one you will be providing. Children in care will often exhibit behaviours – which many foster carers may not have encountered before – as a way of coping with the changes they face. As such it is important for the protection of the child, the carer and their family, that a daily log is kept which details the events occurring throughout the day. This is then regularly reviewed by the Supervising Social Worker and any issues are discussed.
There will be several meetings about the welfare of the child which will require your attendance. It will be your responsibility alongside our Educational Support Officer to ensure the child attends school on a regular basis and you will have to attend school meetings to discuss the child’s progress. You will also be responsible for the overall health and wellbeing of the child.
In many instances it will be the right thing for the foster child to have contact with their own family. If this is the case we will need you to help maintain this contact for as long as it is deemed suitable. You may find that feelings arise about the child’s family but these should be put to one side in the interest of the child.