The best social workers have boundaries
As an experienced fostering social worker, I sometimes find it awkward and uncomfortable to tell foster carers (or others) that I have to limit the time I can spend talking with them – it has the risk of creating a distance and formality in our relationship that can sometimes feel unkind. But I do enforce […]
Racism in social work pushed me to set up a fostering agency
My journey to getting an MBE and owning a fostering agency 8 years ago I was in my first fostering role (after 13 years of working in other children’s social care sectors), as a supervising social worker for a large Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ fostering provider in Manchester. I was one of three new starters, and the […]
Supporting foster carers who face discrimination from their fostering provider
Today I had a call from an approved foster carer who wanted to discuss whether she should move across to my fostering agency, Sparks Fostering. We spent over an hour on the phone talking about the reasons she wanted to move, and much of the time was space for her to vent and process her […]
Fostering Ukrainian Children
Can I Foster Ukrainian Children? Recent months have seen a sudden increase in the number of families offering to support Ukrainian families. Some people may have a specific desire to support Ukrainian children who are fleeing the war in Ukraine; however, whilst the crisis in Ukraine has impacted on large numbers of people, the number […]
