Impact of fostering on Birth/Own Children

Some fostering families may have birth children, or other children (e.g. adopted children), who we refer to as ‘own’ children. The fostering family’s own children may or may not be living in the fostering home and all of the applicant’s own children would be interviewed as part of the assessment process. For pre-verbal children or for children with communication issues, the assessing social worker would spend time with the child and the family as part of the assessment, so they can get to know the child a little better.

For children who are school age, a school reference is requested: The school reference asks how supportive the applicant/s have been in supporting their own children’s education. For children under the age of 5, midwife and/or nursery references are requested.

The views and wishes of other members of the household, especially children, are taken into account when assessing fostering applicants. If any household members express that they’re not happy to foster, the application would not progress.

Furthermore, the needs of the children would be taken into consideration when matching children to the fostering home; for example, teenage boys would not be matched with teenage girls of a similar age because we would not want to risk them getting involved in a relationship. Also, children who are known to present a risk of harm would not be placed in homes where children would be vulnerable to any risk.