Foster Care Fortnight - Case studies in fostering

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• Case Study 1 - Fostering a Family Approach
• Case Study 2 - The Foster Child
• Case Study 3 - The Fostering Worker

The couple, who are registered with Renfrewshire Council to care for children aged 0 to 8 years old, are on the list to accept children on long term, short term, emergency and even on a respite basis. At the moment they have four foster children in their care, two girls and two boys, aged one, four, five and eight.

Christine, who appears relaxed and competent with the demands of young children, explains why she decided to start fostering: She said: "I love having kids round me. Don't get me wrong it can be challenging, but the rewards always outweigh any difficulties. Just getting to know each of their own characters and interests is the best part. I always knew I wanted to foster and discussed this with Hugh at the start. I suppose the fact that my own parents fostered, have influenced me and make it seem like such a natural choice."

Christine and Hugh, who have four of their own children, ageing from 8 to their eldest at 21, waited until they had their first children before they started fostering. In addition to their 'memory book' of all the children they have fostered over the years, they keep in touch with many of the children and receive frequent texts and visits.

When asked about the process of having to hand back foster children, Christine responded in a very positive matter. She said: "It is always a happy moment when the children are able to be returned home. It is good to know that you have helped them during the time they have been in your care and been able to provide a loving and stable family environment, preparing for their return home. Fostering is vital, if we are to help children and families get through challenging and difficult times. "

One of the vital services that Christine and Hugh offer is respite care for children in Renfrewshire. This can be anything from providing holiday care for another foster family who cares for a child that is not allowed to leave the area, to providing weekend care.

What is interesting, is that although the allowances are making fostering more of a 'career in care' option, rather than the original 'vocational' option that the job always held, Christine is clear to stress their main reason for starting was down to their genuine love of children.

She said: "When my parents started, and even when we started 12 years ago, fostering was very different. You did not receive much money, and could even be left out of pocket when caring for a child. Although I have always loved fostering, the payments and allowances that the council now provides mean that you can choose to foster without having to worry about fitting it in with working. For me and my husband this is our passion and our career."

In addition to the new pay deals, Hugh and Christine received a transport grant. Hugh and Christine received £5000 which they put towards buying a people carrier. After picking their new car up on Saturday (22nd April) they took their first trip as a full family with the car to the Falkirk Wheel on the Sunday. Christine explained: "This grant has made a huge difference. Being able to afford a people carrier means the world to us. It is now easier to act as a family and go on trips together, which is vitally important to the development of the foster children. We can now all go out shopping together and day trips, something we have not been able to do in a normal car."

Finally, Christine gave advice to others considering a career in fostering. She said: "I would advise anyone who is interested in child care or a career in care to think about fostering. It is extremely rewarding and well supported now days. You get assigned your own individual social worker, who along with the children's own social worker, will provide help and support when needed."

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Kevin holds special memories of his foster years, especially for the Crangles, who fostered him between the ages of 10 and 13. He explains: " I really enjoyed my years with the Crangles. I built up a great relationship with them and felt part of their family. Staying there really worked for me, with their support I was able to get on well with school and make some great friends. It was sad when I had to leave them, but I still keep in touch with them."

Indeed, Kevin established such a strong bond with the Crangles during his time with them, that he continued to visit them every weekend after he left them and would go on holiday with them every summer. He still even visits them each year for Christmas dinner.

Kevin had such a positive experience in foster care, that he himself would consider fostering in the future. When asked if he could see himself becoming a foster carer, he said: "Definitely. The experience really opened up my eyes to what fostering is. I always say if you want to make changes, then you have to go back into it yourself."

Kevin's positive fostering experience, has left a lasting impression on him. His life experience has been influential in him choosing his career with the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People, where he now works.

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"Just after I became a qualified social worker in 1979, I worked with children in foster care preparing them for adoptive families. I really enjoyed this work and decided I wanted to go back to this. ”

As a fostering and adoption social worker, Jill’s job includes the recruitment, assessment and support of foster carers and adoptive parents. Currently she works with ten foster carers and although she doesn't work with the foster children directly, she maintains contact with them through the carers themselves and the children’s own social workers.

Jill describes the recruitment process for foster carers. She explains: “In the first instance they will get in contact with a worker like myself for more information. We will then set up a meeting with them to ensure that they know what’s involved in fostering and rule out anyone for reasons such as certain criminal convictions. Following this the prospective carers will then attend weekly preparations groups over five or six weeks. These are a series of training groups led by someone like myself with the help of more experienced foster carers. Following the training we will then go back to the interested people and find out how they felt the group meetings went and if fostering is really for then. It is at this point that someone like myself will ask them to fill in an application form, to be assessed as foster carers. This assessment when completed is presented to the Fostering and Adoption Panel.”

The fostering and adoption panel, which is made up of elected members, a representative from the Council’s legal services, an education representative, a medical advisor, experienced foster carers or adopters and senior social work staff, meets every month. The Panel will meet the applicant and hopefully recommend their approval. It is after this stage that the Agency Decision Maker, which is Renfrewshire Council’s Head of Social Operations, gives the final say.

Jill explained the highs and lows of her job: “I really enjoy it as it is a very varied role and I get the opportunity to meet lots of different people. Working with the carers themselves is great as they are tremendous people. It is also heartening to see how the children change, progress and develop while in foster care. The down points are when we can’t find places and have to move children to different parts of the country or can’t keep siblings together. But thankfully this doesn't happen too often and with campaigns like this attracting more foster carers hopefully we won’t have to face many more challenges like this.”

When asked about her average day in her job, Jill was quick to point out there is no such thing. She said: “ There is no such thing as an average day. Some days I can be out visiting carers, whilst on others I'll be attending various meetings about the children with all the different agencies involved. A lot of my time is also spent speaking on the phone to the carers themselves and the other social workers. Then of course there are the reports. I have a lot of written work and record keeping to do.”

Indeed, a lot of Jill’s time is spent supporting foster carers. She is very aware of the fact that foster carers who do give up are most likely to do so in their first two years, so ensures that they get the most support. In addition to keeping in regular contact with them, she ensures they go on training courses and have contact with other more experienced foster carers. She will also encourage the carers to read books on fostering from the social work department’s own special library.

Fostering is obviously much more than just a job for Jill, it is something she also strongly believes in. She said: “My job is crucial to the successful fostering and adoption of the children in Renfrewshire. The children in foster care can be very vulnerable so it is big responsibility when assessing suitable carers for them".

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Press release: Thursday 4 May 2006