Foster for Plymouth – Plymouth City Council’s foster carer recruitment service – is launching a new campaign to encourage local people to be foster carers, in particular to foster older children and teenagers.
Foster for Plymouth want to highlight the positive benefits of caring for older children and will aim to encourage those interested in fostering, to specifically consider this age group.
Pam and her husband Glynn have been fostering for 14 years and particularly enjoy caring for teenagers. They have looked after many teenagers over the years and have helped them overcome difficulties in their young lives.
Pam said: “Fostering teenagers is challenging but extremely rewarding. Building a relationship is the key to managing difficult situations. They need to know that you have got their backs and will fight their corner.”
Jacob (not his real name) is 16 years old and has been with Pam and Glynn for three years. He said: “I don’t know where I would be without Pam and Glynn. They have stuck by me through everything and I really believe they care about me. They involve me just the same as if I was one of their birth children. I love living with them and I am confident that I can manage independence with all I have learned from them.”
Foster carers can be single or couples; with or without children, retired, unemployed or working. What matters most is that potential carers have time, space, commitment, patience, a caring nature and skills to work with children and their families.
Fostering can be for as little as a few weeks or a few months until a child is able to return home to their family or longer term until a child grows up and is able to move on to independence.
Councillor Dave Downie the Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Children, Young People and Families said: “It’s often difficult to place teenagers with local carers and one of the reasons for this may be that some people who are considering fostering believe that they will be more difficult to look after. But in many ways that’s not the case – and fostering a teen can be an incredibly rewarding experience. They are more independent, so need less direct care – but they are still often vulnerable youngsters who need stability and a loving home to help them flourish at a crucial stage in their development.”
Full training and support is given to foster carers, who are matched to one or more of the different foster care schemes, depending on what suits their lifestyles and commitments. Carers are paid an allowance which reflects the real cost of looking after a child.
Pam added: “Foster for Plymouth provide a great network of support through its foster forum, there are lots of other carers you can speak to and share advice with, it is like a mini community that is there to support you on top of all the other help you receive from support workers. The training is fantastic. I really believe we wouldn’t be the foster carers that we are without the training that we’ve done.”
Anybody interested in finding out more about Fostering for Plymouth can contact the Fostering Team on 01752 304067, email fostering@plymouth.gov.uk or visit our fostering website at www.fosterforplymouth.co.uk