Types of fostering

4. Parent and child

Sometimes a parent and child will need to live with a foster carer together. This might be needed if a young parent is struggling to look after a child (often a young baby) and needs to have the opportunity to learn from a foster carer.

To make sure that everyone (the foster carer and the parent) understands what is expected of them a document is completed when the parent and child first arrive.

Supporting a parent and a child can be a very rewarding experience for foster carers. Both the parent and the child will need nurturing while they live with you. Foster carers have to be able to work from a strengths based perspective (building on the positives they see in the parent) to develop their skills.

The foster carer acts as a good role model for the parent, provides appropriate care for the infant when/if it is needed, and establishes an enduring relationship with both the parent and child.

Sometimes, regardless of the support provided, parents are unable to develop their skills and demonstrate that they are capable of caring for their child independently. The foster carer will complete daily records (as they would when undertaking any type of fostering) and these could be used as evidence that a parent is not meeting the child's needs in an appropriate and consistent manner.

There is no 'typical' timescale for how long a parent and child might live with a foster carer but these arrangements would be reviewed every three months to make sure that it was still the best plan for the child.

Foster carers should be aware that if the plan changes it may mean that the child remains and the parent moves on. Therefore the foster carer must feel capable of caring for the child without the parent being in the home also e.g. young babies and infants.