What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Foster Carer?
As a foster carer, you don’t just provide a safe home for a child; you also have various roles and responsibilities. Do you know your roles and responsibilities as a foster carer? Understanding these roles will help you figure out the best way of becoming a good foster carer.
The decision to become a foster carer requires a bit of knowledge about fostering services. Luckily, we’ve made fostering easier for anyone who wants to become a foster carer.
We share highlights of your roles and responsibilities as a foster carer. Also included are valuable tips that will help you undertake these roles and responsibilities diligently.
Who can become a foster carer?
You must be at least 21 years of age to become a foster carer with our agency. This is because the roles and responsibilities of foster carers are demanding and only settled adults can manage. Settling doesn’t mean that you must be married; it simply means that you must have a stable homely environment to accommodate the foster child.
Your roles and responsibilities
Once you have agreed to become a foster carer, the UK government expects you to fulfil a wide range of roles and responsibilities as highlighted on the website.
Here are full explanations of these roles:
Providing a safe home for the child
The primary reason why the foster child is with you is that he/she needs a homely environment. The child needs you to provide a safe home for their individual success.
How do you define a safe home? There’s no perfect definition but such a home should offer the child a feeling of stability and security. In addition, they need a separate bedroom that they can call theirs.
Provide love and support
The child coming to your family may have had a traumatising experience. Love, care, and constant support are needed for the child to settle and grow maturely in a strange home. Don’t make the child feel isolated as a foster child.
Attend to their education needs
The government is strict on children’s education. As such, you have a responsibility to ensure that the child’s education needs are attended to. Show honest interest in their education and follow up with their teachers should you have concerns.
Attend to their health needs
You will also need to ensure that the foster child can access medical care. They should not miss any medical appointments that they have with doctors. You should also observe their general healthcare and well-being while at home.
Through informal chats with the child, you can tell if they have unseen medical problems. This crucial information should be passed on to the relevant bodies for further action.
Managing behaviour
The negative past experiences of the child may influence them to have challenging behaviour. This calls for your intervention as a foster carer to manage their behavioural issues. We’ll share basic information on handling behavioural issues.
We recommend you use a patient and nurturing approach when handling behavioural issues. Otherwise, if you feel that you cannot handle the child’s behaviour, please contact us as soon as possible and our social worker who will work with you on strategies to manage the behaviours.
Attend meetings as part of a team
Fostering a child doesn’t mean that you will raise the child alone. There is a team that is dedicated to supporting the child. Every team member has a unique role in the upbringing of the child.
Therefore, you should attend the meetings regularly to help shape the future of the child. Always let us know if you cannot attend a meeting so that we reschedule them early enough.
Keep records
You also need to write and keep records of the child’s development. This information is important because it is used beyond your fostering period to influence the child’s further development.
Summary
Your roles and responsibilities as a foster carer require commitment. Luckily, you are not alone in this journey; we will be with you along the way.
If you need further training as a foster carer that will help you understand your roles better, you can always reach out to us.
