A week in the life of a fostering support worker - Day 1 and Day 2

In Pete’s latest post he shares with you Day One and Day Two of his week -- from chatting to foster carers to spending some time with our young people. To protect the identity of young people we have changed their names.

Starting to think about what my day has involved really makes me focus on the qualities that are important for support work: Being a good listener and good relationship building with the young people, carers, social workers and families as quite often I have to tie them all together when advocating on behalf of the young person.

We also support with school work, exercise, family issues, anger management, life skills and gaining further education or employment.

Day One – Saturday

Today, I’m seeing two of our young people. I start the day by picking up Roger from his placement and having a chat to his carer before we leave. Our chats are really important as they give us the opportunity to discuss any issues and achievements and swap ideas on strategies to help Roger to reach his potential.

For example,  Roger has had difficulty with his short temper so we have discussed ways to stay calm when he is in stressful situations, like controlling his breathing or unclenching his fists and making his body relax or walking away from the situation and returning when he is in a better state of mind. These simple strategies have really helped him to be a calmer person

I am taking him to see his brother, who lives in another part of Essex, as he is staying the weekend. I pop in to make sure everything is OK and have a quick cup of tea. Before I leave we make arrangement for me to pick up Roger on Monday when he will be returning home.

Then I drive back to Harlow to visit Allen, whose carer is away on holiday but Allen has family staying with him. I pop in to see how he is doing and coping with the change. We then pop out to lunch so we can have a bit more of a chat about how things are going. He is coping well and I am reassured that all is well, so I drop him back into town before returning home.

Day Two – Monday

I start my day by picking up Roger from his brother’s house and drop him home. I have a quick chat with his carer and we make arrangements for the following Friday as we are going out on motorbikes, which should be great fun.

We have arranged to go on the bikes as a positive activity for the young people. They all have to be responsible when using the bikes and wear the correct safety equipment. They will also have to help each other getting the bikes to the field as well as setting everything up so it’s a good opportunity to show their team working skills as well as offering peer support to their fellow young people .

We also sort out dates for Roger to have contact with his grandparents in Southampton at the end of June.

Come back tomorrow to see what Day Three of my week looked like.