Some carers are asked to look after children and young people on a temporary basis and prefer this. The length of the placement could be from a day to a month or sometimes, even a year. The children who go to live with temporary carers normally come from their parents’ home at a time of an emergency or crisis.
Whatever the reason for them leaving their parents, children are themselves upset, distressed and confused. Initially the carers may have little background information if the family was not known to Social Work Services previously. Most children in temporary care return home to the care of their parents. Foster Carers are crucial in making this possible. It is important that the children have as much contact with their parents as possible. These visits may not always be easy but it is vital that they happen if the family is to be reunited once their problems have been resolved.
For a very small number of children it is not safe for them to return to the care of their family and in these situations temporary carers look after the children until a longer term family is found for the rest of their childhood or for as long as the child needs the placement. In these situations temporary carers can play an important role in helping the child prepare for a new family.
You will need many skills as temporary carers some of which include:
- An ability to care for an unhappy distressed child.
- An ability to be involved with the child’s parents.
- An ability to help them get the best out of education.
- An ability to make sure they are well and healthy.
- An ability to help the child move on, back to their parents or on to new carers.
Temporary fostering can be rewarding for carers. They can see the child become more settled and begin to grow and change. It is a vital and valued service to children and their families.