What Is Fostering All About?Merthyr Tydfil has 165 children in Foster Care and 70 fostering households. In Merthyr Tydfil we need more foster carers from different backgrounds and experiences with the commitment to developing a child’s abilities and strengths to fulfil their potential.
We have a dedicated team of Home Finders able to;
- Foster Carers
- Offer advice and guidance
- Offer excellent training
- Access multi agency services aimed at meeting the needs of the child and foster family
- Offer a competitive scale payment
The attached handbook is the Foster Carer Guide, which is provided to all our carers. It's purpose is to give carers comprehensive access to the issues that they need to be aware of in order to give the best quality of care to the children they care for : Foster Carer Guide - 2006.pdf
Approved Foster Carers will receive regular maintenance payments in respect of children who are accommodated with them. The attached handbook is the guide the Department follows: FINANCIAL HANDBOOK-4.pdf
The Home Finder Team:
You can visit us at: Customer Service Reception, Post Office Lane, Merthyr Tydfil
Write to us at: Merthyr Tydfil CBC, Integrated Childrens Services, Taf Fechan Building, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8BG
Telephone us at: 0800 678 3798
E mail us at: foster.adopt@merthyr.gov.uk
Related Documents:
- What Is Fostering All About?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Initial Application Form
Further Information:
We require a variety of families to care for and meet the needs of children, we in Merthyr Tydfil, place on a daily basis. Fostering is a positive way of providing families for children who are unable to live with their parents
Fostering is concerned with looking after someone else’s child in your home. Fostering is temporarily or sometimes permanently, looking after children and young people in your own home while their own parents are unable to look after them. Foster carers assist by providing the child or young person with a safe, secure, stable and stimulating home for the child or young person.
The day to day tasks carried out by each foster carer in caring for children and young people will be varied because every child’s situation is different and their personal experiences and their future needs will have to be considered individually.
These children and young people require foster carers for a variety of different reasons. It can be due to a parent’s ill-health; they don’t get on with their parents or because a child has been neglected or abused.
Our foster carers in Merthyr Tydfil come from a wide variety of different backgrounds, ages and experiences. These foster cares have proven resilience, patience, time, energy and the space needed to make a difference to the lives of children and young people. With these qualities a foster carer can help a child or young person to develop the skills and confidence needed for their future lives.
We are looking for foster carers and to help them develop the skills necessary to meets the needs of children. There are occasions when carers require specific skills and abilities to help children deal with issues.
The specific aims for foster carers are to:
Provide a safe and caring home for children
Protect the child from harm
Promote life opportunities for the child
When you foster a child for us you will receive a package of support and allowances to help you care for each child placed with you. The package is related to each child and increases as the child gets older and will also take account of annual inflation costs.
There are different ways in which you can foster a child:
1. SHORT TERM FOSTERING
Some children need to be looked after just for a short period often returning to their own homes afterwards.
We need carers who we can approach at short notice to accept a child or children into their homes and to care for them during the distressing period of separation from their families.
We need carers who can help support planning aimed at returning children to the care of their parents, e.g.. by allowing frequent contact between the parents and children
If a return home is not possible we need carers who can help us prepare a child to move to another home which can offer permanent care.
We are looking for Foster Carers to feel able to help us with the assessment of the child’s present and future needs.
We need carers who can help us keep brothers and sisters together as much as possible
Where it is not possible to place brothers and sisters together foster carers may be asked to help maintain the contact between members of the family through visits and contact.
Some children for many reasons, will be unable to return to their families for several years. These children very much need the stability of a foster home.
We need foster carers who can provide, stability and a warm secure home environment where a child can develop happily and healthily through the dependent years of their lives,
We need foster families who can offer commitment that may be needed for as long as the child needs care.
We need foster families who will work with children who may be confused about past events and who can them work through difficult times and enjoy their childhood and adolescent years.
We need foster carers who can understand and support a child’s need to maintain contact with his birth family
We need foster carers who can work with us to help a child reach their full potential.
Some children have particular behavioural and emotional difficulties as a result of their life experiences, or children, who have specific learning or physical needs.
These children may need a foster family with particular skills, and extra patience who are understanding of the needs of the particular child.
Some teenagers are seen as a special group. We are seeking families with the skills and patience to care for these teenagers working with social workers to help them through their difficult adolescents.
We need foster carers who can accept support and value children for being the individuals that they are and who can help us build on a child’s self esteem to maximise their potential.
Further details are available on ways to help a child with a disability.
Sometimes we need families who are able to offer supported lodgings for young people, bridging the gap between fostering and independent living.
By offering supported lodging you would work with us to help plan with young people and support them as they move towards independence.
Could you offer advice guidance and support giving the young person that added confidence they need.
Could you work with us to offer a safe environment were young people can learn to take on more responsibility for themselves
Sometimes families need help and support, occasional breaks for parents can mean they are able to continue to keep their children at home with them.
Foster carers also need occasional breaks in order to allow them to continue to care for their foster children.
We need respite carers who can give these families and carers a well-earned rest by looking after children on weekends or at holiday time.
We would be able to offer social work and homefinding support and want to work with you to make this a positive service for children and their families.
This scheme is to provide emergency placements to children aged 0 - 18 years, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
These carers provide felixable arrangements and provide transport. Generally, children remain in placement for a maximum of three days. However, extensions may be negotiated dependent on circumstances. This scheme responds to real emergencies and can effectively respond to children in a crisis.
7. RESOLUTIONS FOSTERING SCHEME
The Resolutions Fostering Service is a partnership of four local authorities, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil and Vale of Glamorgan. Resolutions offer planned placements for young people aged 10 to 17 years who present challenging behaviour or are involved in the criminal justice system.
Resolutions aims to provide high quality, well-supported foster placements that achieve successful outcomes for young people. We believe we offer a comprehensive and attractive package of support for our carers and the young people they care for.
If you would like more information, contact the Resolutions Team on 0800 5877087 (freephone) or 01656 768767.
Useful Links:
www.fostering.net/wales
Foster Care Application (e-form)
|