St Christopher’s receives a lot of questions around potential foster carers’ birth children. These include: Can I foster if I have young children? What affect will fostering have on my children and what support does St Christopher’s provide?
This post looks at some of the answers to these questions.
Can I foster if I have young children?
Our policy at St Christopher’s is that your children have to be two or older in order to foster. This is something that would change depending on the fostering agency you approached. We’ve made this decision because we recognise the importance of every child’s Early Years’ development and wouldn’t want to distract your attention from being a parent.
We also have a specialist scheme in Essex where it is not possible to have birth children in the house alongside the teenagers. This is because of the complex needs of the foster child.
What support does St Christopher’s provide?
As a charity we are committed to getting the best possible outcomes for all of the young people involved in our services, including your children. As a result we provide sons and daughters groups where birth children can openly discuss their feelings, concerns and what they like about fostering.
We also involve all young people in the activities we run, from Christmas parties and summer picnics to celebration events.
Your children can get involved in our children’s council, which fits in with our youth participation work. This is your son’s or daughter’s opportunity to provide feedback on our fostering service and help us to improve the experience of all young people who are in a fostering home.
When necessary, St Christopher’s support workers are available to do one-to-one sessions with your children to help them understand what is happening in the house and some of the experiences foster children may be disclosing.
Get in touch with our fostering team by calling 0800 234 6282 or emailing fostering@stchris.org.uk if you would like further information about fostering.
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