All posts tagged: foster

Is Foster Parenting for You?

Is Foster Parenting for You?

Many have considered foster parenting after reading an article about a child neglected or abused. Our hearts go out to them. We feel compelled to be that source of healing; in essence, to rescue a child from an unsafe situation. This is empathy, and at the same time, empathy can lead us to believe that just fostering them—providing safety, security, and love—will make their lives better. It feels like a mitzvah of love. However, the question is not only, “Do you have love to give?” It is, “Are you willing to change how you parent?” Foster parenting is not traditional parenting; it’s parenting differently and shifting your paradigm. As psychologist Stuart Shanker said, “If you see a child differently, you will see a different child.” These children are not only different, but they have also experienced a world we can only imagine. Children in foster care have often experienced separation trauma, abrupt losses in caregiving, food or housing neglect, physical or emotional abuse, instability of placements, and/or disrupted attachments. Their behavior often looks defiant, withdrawn, …

Multimillion-pound drive to recruit 10,000 new foster carers | UK News

Multimillion-pound drive to recruit 10,000 new foster carers | UK News

The government says it wants to recruit 10,000 more foster carers by the end of the next parliament, launching what ministers describe as a major drive to reverse a long-term decline in support for vulnerable children. Backed by £88m in funding, the plan promises to open fostering up to younger and more diverse households, sweep away what it calls outdated rules, and ensure carers are better supported so fewer leave the system altogether. The announcement has been broadly welcomed by fostering charities, who say the ambition must be met with more investment. The government argues that the new plan is a reset that simplifies bureaucracy, strengthens regional fostering hubs, tests more flexible models of care and offers clearer financial and practical support, with ministers insisting that no one should be worse off for fostering. But carers on the frontline have told Sky News that the crisis is deeper than recruitment alone. Jamie Hirst, who fosters three teenage boys in Stockport, said the system is already “at breaking point”. “The system needs a full overhaul, not …