New year, new role?
Lucy Stevens - 3rd January 2023
Could 2022 be the year you start your fostering journey? At this time of year many people begin to re- evaluate and start to think about a change of direction, perhaps hoping to pursue a role which will bring more meaning and satisfaction to their lives. If you have ever thought about fostering, 2022 could be the time to pursue a new and rewarding vocation which could help change the life of a child for the better and bring you associated rewards. With the numbers of children in care significantly increasing (now over 80,000 in England according to Government statistics) we need more caring and compassionate foster carers who can welcome children into their homes and provide them with the
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Fostering at Christmas
Lucy Stevens - 23rd December 2022
For many children, Christmas is a magical time. They are at fever pitch over the sparkling lights, the decorations, sweets and presents, and the prospect of Father Christmas. Christmas consolidates that feeling of being loved and safe in the heart of a family who is in celebratory mood. But for many children and young people living in foster care, Christmas is a really difficult time. A darker side of Christmas. The traditions that so define this time of year can act as triggers for children in foster care who have had adverse childhood experiences. These triggers could be anything from the sight and smell of alcohol to loud music or noises, laughter and booming voices. Sensorial experiences like these can
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How does Eastern Fostering Services match children and foster carers?
Lucy Stevens - 18th June 2022
Matching children and foster carers is one of the key factors that ensures positive fostering experiences for children and foster carers alike. Faultless matching is difficult for many reasons, perhaps the greatest being that you can’t foresee character dynamics until foster carers and children are living together day in, day out. However, having a robust and thorough matching process allows Eastern Fostering Services to give things the best possible chance. What are the principles that allow for good fostering matches? At Eastern Fostering Services, our fostering matching process hinges on some key principles: Understanding our foster carers and their familiesBeing as well-informed as possible when it comes to the needs of the childrenAnticipating practical considerations and obstacles before the child
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Am I too old to foster?
Lucy Stevens - 28th January 2022
Here at Eastern Fostering Services, we often hear people say, “I’d love to foster but I’m too old!” But are you? The age guidelines for fostering state that a foster carer needs to be above the age of 21, these guidelines tend to be set by individual fostering providers so it is always worth checking. It’s important to know that there are actually no legal limits set on age, so in theory anyone over the age of 18 can foster. There is no upper age limit for fostering. When assessing people’s capacity to foster, what is more important than age is the life experience that a propsective foster carer can bring to the table. If a fostering provider rejects an
Tags: applying to be a foster carer, becoming a foster carer, Eastern Fostering Services, fostering, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk
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Life After Fostering
Lucy Stevens - 14th January 2022
What happens to young people in foster care once they reach 18? One of the benefits of growing up in a stable family is that when you reach 18, you have a safe base from which to explore your options. Many young people undergo great change at 18. They may start a new job, get an apprenticeship, go to university or move out of home for the first time. Yet many of these young people enjoy the safety net of a home to return to should all not go as planned. For many young people who have spent time in foster care, this safety net is not there. All the usual anxieties around reaching adulthood and how that’s going to
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More children than ever are coming in to foster care. Why?
Lucy Stevens - 21st September 2021
As Placements Manager at Eastern Fostering Services, I read hundreds of referrals a month for children who are in need of a foster carer. Whilst the trends I am speaking about are anecdotal, I get a good insight into what the national picture is when it comes to foster care. How are foster carers found for the children who need them? As a small fostering agency, Eastern Fostering Services receive requests for foster carers (referrals) from several Local Authorities. Many of these come from “local” Local Authorities: in our case, Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire as well as Norfolk and London. But we also receive requests from Local Authorities as far south as Devon and as far North as York. These
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Fostering in the wake of Covid. What’s changed?
Lucy Stevens - 17th August 2021
On the surface, life in the fostering sector has continued throughout the pandemic. Children have continued to come into care, foster carers have been approved (albeit in smaller numbers), carers and children have coped with the strain of lockdowns and the social isolation Covid has brought. There have been many challenges for all of those who work in the foster care sector and of course for the children growing up in it. Lurking in the background throughout all those challenges has been one dreaded question: What is going to happen when we open up again? Many of us suspected that as professionals once again began seeing children in schools or during home visits or medical appointments, we would inevitably see
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Which children are most in need of foster carers?
Lucy Stevens - 26th September 2018
Every month we get between 150 and 190 referrals for children who are in need of foster carers. Contrary to popular belief these are not all tiny babies; rather they include a variety of children and young people. This month we have had numerous requests for carers for young mothers and their babies, small and large sibling groups and children entering or well-established into their teen years. To cope with the demand for carers across a wide range of children, we need carers of all sorts. There isn’t a “one size fits all” mould for carers. Carers can be of all backgrounds, religious persuasion, sexuality, race or standing. What we hope to find in potential carers is a desire to
Tags: applying to be a foster carer, becoming a foster carer, Cambridgeshire, do foster carers get paid?, Eastern Fostering Services, Essex, foster, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering Suffolk, how to foster
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Why foster?
Lucy Stevens - 6th September 2018
“Why am I doing this?” is a question all foster carers will ask themselves at some point and it’s an important question to ask yourself as it enables you to keep your motivations central to your fostering experience. So why do people foster? Most people who foster feel passionately about the wellbeing of children. They want to give opportunities to children who may not have had the best start in life; they want to share something of themselves, if you like. For many, this is not centred around sharing material wealth, this is about loving, nurturing and caring for a child and for others there is a sense that “I have so much and want to share it.” Most foster
Tags: #ProudToFoster, applying to be a foster carer, becoming a foster carer, Cambridgeshire, Eastern Fostering Services, foster carer, fostering, Fostering Cambridgeshire, fostering Essex, fostering service, fostering Suffolk, how to foster, money for foster carers, skills to foster, Spare room, Suffolk, The Fostering Network
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Why isn’t more done to keep children with their birth families?
Lucy Stevens - 13th August 2018
Here at EFS, we get some really encouraging comments from foster carers from all around the country and from people who as children experienced foster care and have positive things to say about their experiences. We also, however, get comments accusing us of taking children away from their families and asking us why more isn’t done to keep children with their birth parents. The idea that foster carers are somehow stealing children is obviously an extreme view deserving little response BUT we did want to take the opportunity to share a little about the hard reality of many children’s experiences and to explain a little about the efforts that are taken to reunite children with birth families or maintain relationships
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