Foster Their Roots
Foster their growth, foster their shared story, foster brothers and sisters
Foster Their Roots
We all know how important our brothers and sisters are to us, our most enduring relationships, our critical friends, our points of reference, our sharer of life experiences, our supporters and safety net.
These relationships are even more important to children in care, yet half of all sibling groups in the care system get separated, even though research tells us (Farmer and Moyers, 2008) that when children are placed with siblings their placement is less likely to be disrupted.
We’re committed to changing this and we need your help. We have significant experience of supporting foster parents to be successful with sibling groups. We have a specialised offer to support you in this task. Do you have what it takes to foster sisters and brothers?
What we can offer you:
Proven skills in delivering effective families for sibling groups (c.50% of our fostering is siblings)
Working within a professional environment with specialist, ongoing training designed specifically for carers of siblings
Regular access to skilled therapists who will provide assessment of children’s needs with ongoing consultation for foster parents
£c.450 for each child placed, per week – enabling carers to be available for children full time
Domestic support for the first two months of placement, where more than 2 children arrive at the same time
Training and support to identified friends and family who may assist you from time to time
Extensive calendar of children’s activities for all children in the household
Dedicated Social Worker, access to support from a qualified social worker 24/7
Dedicated Support Worker to provide targeted and timely support to the family
At least 14 nights planned breaks or paid holiday per year
Access to highly experienced psychotherapist to provide oversight of the complex dynamics within both the home and professional network
Fostering Network membership
Perkbox membership
You will be part of a community with a family feel and Foster Carer Representatives supporting you to share your voice
“The support they give each other really grounds them and it makes it a lot easier for the sibling than if they are on their own. No matter how loving you are as a foster parent it’s gonna be harder without the support of the other two – if anything it’s easier – they amuse themselves”
John, CFC Foster Carer
What we know from research is that families that successfully foster sibling groups have some very specific needs. They need sufficient funds to enable a parent to have time for the demands of the sibling group, they need support to understand the group as individuals as well as understanding the shared experience.
A good support network is essential. Often the previous trauma experienced subjectively by the sibling group, will need additional support from an available and supportive professional network. Also, practical help can be vital allowing parents to focus on developing new relationships, rather than household chores.What are we looking for from you?
What are we looking for from you?
An alignment with our values
Space in your home and a suitable environment
Willingness to promote birth family time
Open to challenge and ability to be critically reflective
Team player, who can work effectively with the professional network
Evidence of being mentally resilient and tenacious
You must be able to provide 24/7 care if needed, and prioritise the needs of any child living with you
Experience of working with or caring for children or young people
In practical reach of a Community Foster Care office
Able to use Information Technology
Commitment to ongoing development and growth
Able to travel
At CFC we believe in a Therapeutic Parenting approach and this means we are committed to providing high quality preparation, training and support to assist you in the role.
Fostering is a challenging role, you must have resilience and be able to hold space for the possible behaviours traumatised children can come with. But you will never be alone in your fostering journey, we will be with you every step of the way and cultivating communities amongst other foster carers is core to our values.
Our Fostering Information Pack is a good place to start if you have questions and to check out our values to see if we would be a good match for one another. Then, if you’re ready, we’d love to have a chat on the phone - simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch!
“When you’ve got siblings - the oldest one has nearly always been the primary carer – to get them to trust you and give that responsibility over to you so that they can be a child is amazing, it’s just lovely.
We love watching them learning to play together – most of them don’t know how to play because they’ve never been in an environment where they felt safe enough to play.”
Dawn, CFC Foster Carer
Contact us.
If you believe you have the patience, understanding and resilience needed to foster siblings, submit your details and we will get in touch for a 1-2-1 call to chat it through.
Who are we?
Community Foster Care is an independent fostering agency but unlike many fostering agencies, we are a registered charity and work as a not-for-profit. We provide foster families for children and young people whose local authority have not been able to find a suitable family for them. Typically, we are looking for foster families who can take on older children and teenagers, sibling groups and parent and child placements.
We started life as a social enterprise in the late nineties. Our founders recognised that there was a need for foster families in areas with higher levels of socio-economic deprivation. By providing training and fees to foster parents, we were able to provide working opportunities whilst also keeping children in care local to their own communities.
From the very beginning we have sought to do things differently and challenge the status quo. We never profit from placing children in foster families - any surplus we make goes straight back into supporting children and our communities caring for them.