Temporary Fostering

“Sometimes its hard letting go… sometimes the reality is you know the child could do well here, but you still have to let them go home.”
- Angus carer

In general, when people talk about foster carers, they are referring to carers who offer a temporary place in their home to a child or young person. As mentioned earlier, the children will be in foster care because of a family crisis that cannot be resolved by the usual services available to keep the child at home. In some cases, the child may have been abused or harmed.

The length of the placement will depend on how quickly the family can be helped to resume the care of the child. This can range from a day or two, through to placements lasting several months.

In some cases persisting problems at home mean that children remain in foster placements for even longer, possibly a number of years, before they go home, move to another permanent family or reach the age where they can go to live in their own accommodation.

Whatever the circumstances foster carers will be kept fully informed about the plan and be expected to be part of the discussions about the future of the child or young person they are caring for.

» Next page: Permanent Fostering