Many myths surround foster caring. But all you really need to be is caring says long-term foster parent Jess Neil
What makes a foster carer? The truth is it takes all sorts from all walks of life. And while the challenges are plenty the rewards are many.
This year the Fostering Network is calling for an additional 800 families in Scotland to come forward to alleviate the current problems with under capacity. While this figure on its own might not seem many, recruiting foster families is becoming increasingly difficult.
We’ve got a nation full of caring people yet it’s such a tragedy so few come forward to help some of our most vulnerable young people.
There’s many reasons for this. Some are plain scared to get involved. While they love children and genuinely want to help them, they are put off by regulation and myths about what they can and cannot do.
It’s actually a whole lot easier than that. It’s about being a parent – pure and simple. Forget the environment we live in today; just focus on being a natural caring person. That is all that’s required to bring up a young person.
You can foster for a charity, a local authority even a friend and it’s really not as difficult as you think. Most who foster already have children but if you don’t that’s not a problem. Part of the application process is seeing how you interact with young people and, for most people, this comes as second nature as we were all young once too.
I’ve been a foster carer for 12 years and supported over a dozen young people. It’s been life affirming; I remain in touch with them all and I see them as one big extended family.
As a country, we can’t continue to see young people brought up in care with their life chances reduced as a consequence. I sometimes see fostering a bit like National Service: we should all be required to do it, even for a short space of time.
Children more than anything need stable family backgrounds. The ideal situation is long-term fostering where a child is placed with a family, alongside siblings, in the area they come from.
Because of the current shortage we are seeing young people separated from their brothers and sisters. This can be devastating. But it can be alleviated if more people more foster carers are recruited.
We live in straightened time where money is more important than ever and people are more focused on their careers and haver little time to give to others. Or so we think.
I’ve been a manager all my life, held down a relatively responsible job and still found plenty time to foster. It is what you make it. If you want to support a young person then why not seriously consider becoming a foster parent instead? It’s the most effective practicall help you can give and it will change a young person’s life forever.
