Young Foundations Fostering carers are selected against a very strict set of criteria to ensure that they are suitable to the role of foster caring. This checking and monitoring continues throughout the duration of their time as carers, with regular visits and updates from the team at Young Foundations Fostering. Each carer is selected for their empathy and understanding to the reasons why the child or young person has been placed in foster care. Our carers are not here to replace parents and will always be aware of the importance of their families and/or guardians when considering the child’s/young person’s present and future needs.

Holidays
Children and holidays… we all look forward to time off. Our foster carers typically have two holidays – firstly taking the children and young people in their care, and then a second holiday where they have time off from their care provision. This is often referred to as ‘respite’. During this time, the children and young people will stay with another carer family, normally close to their current fostering arrangement. This ensures that they can continue with school and other activities close to their normal foster care residence. Family/guardians would always be told in advance of any impending holidays.

Meeting your children/young people
Locations and times of meetings will depend upon the care package arranged for the child/young person. Meetings can take place at the foster carer’s home, at a Family Centre, or at Young Foundations Fostering Head office – the latter are referred to as ‘contact’ meetings.

In many cases, somebody from Young Foundations Fostering will be present at the contact meeting, this person is normally referred as a ‘contact supervisor’. The role of the contact supervisor is to report back to the social worker responsible for your child or young person on the meeting. They will advise on the positive aspects of the meeting along with any problems  that you encounter or raise during the contact time. This is a transparent process where you are able to see the contents of any report submitted to the social work team. You simply need to request a copy of the written report.

Reviews & Meetings
During the time that your child or young person is under the care of Young Foundations Fostering, we will hold regular meetings where we review progress being made, challenges that are being raised, and our plans for the future.

Typically the social worker responsible for the care of your child,/ young person will arrange the time and place for the meetings  and will advise you accordingly. We strongly recommend that families/guardians attend these meetings so you can tell us how you feel about the care being provided, and give us your own ideas as to future needs. It’s important for the child or young person to know that you are playing an active role in developing the right care formula for the person in question.

Who else can attend the meeting?

▪ Your child, if he or she is old enough
▪ Your child's social worker
▪ The foster carers
▪ The foster care worker from Young Foundations Fostering
▪ A Teacher
▪ A Therapist
▪ A Guardian ad litem
▪ A Youth worker

Normally, these contact meetings have an independent person who leads the meeting.