Children returning home to their family
Could you foster Jerome?
We are looking for foster carers for Jerome. Could you be his new foster carers? Why not find out more?
The primary purpose of fostering is always to work towards the return of the young person to their family as soon as possible. The return of a young person to their families is often a good indication that their family circumstances have changed sufficiently for this to be in their best interest.
Naturally foster carers feel a mixture of emotions when this happens. Some will feel very much as having played a part in this change of the child's and their family's circumstances. Most will have some feelings of apprehension for the young person and their future.
It will be a matter for the child and others if their foster carers will have any contact with them in the future. There are many who argue that a successful return home will be assisted by follow up contact with foster carers over a relatively short period. Contact over a long period of time after the child has returned home is quite difficult to justify in most cases.
Foster carers should always seek to discuss their feelings about the young person returning home with their support worker. You wouldn't be the kind of foster carers the organisation wanted if you didn't feel a considerable loss when any child placed with you returns home. This "heartache" is very much a part of the fostering task and it doesn't get any easier the more it happens.
