Foster care doesn’t necessarily mean 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some children will need to be looked after for a day or two, while others will need care every day until they reach adulthood, for others respite care is what will make all the difference.
Whether it’s the bond between a foster carer and a child, the support of social workers, the friendships built within fostering communities, or the connections with birth families, these relationships shape lives, create stability, and open new possibilities for the future.
As part of this year’s Foster Care Fortnight, Sheffield City Council’s Fostering Service started with a walk of unity from the Council’s Moorfoot Building up to the Peace Garden.
From young people who have grown up in foster care, to foster Carers who provide safety and shelter, and the staff who work tirelessly to create these vital relationships – each were in attendance to encourage Sheffield’s residents to consider foster care.
The Council’s Fostering Service also raised money through a sponsored walk. This took place on Saturday 17 May with three ways participants could get involved. Joining the group and walking two miles from Endcliffe Park to Forge Dam, joining the full 15-mile Sheffield round walk, or the option to support the team by sponsoring and making a donation.
Donations went towards supporting the local community and raising money for the Brighter Future Fund, which offer small grants that directly support care-experienced children and young people to build a brighter future.
“It’s an absolute honour to celebrate our amazing foster carers as part of this year’s Foster Care Fortnight.
“Our Foster Carers provide loving, stable homes for our Sheffield children so that they can remain in our city and enjoy all that our city has to offer, so I’d like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to our foster carers in Sheffield.
“If you are interested in becoming a foster carer, please contact our Fostering Service who can advise you further around this.”
Cllr Dawn Dale, Chair of Education, Children and Families Policy Committee
Types of foster care include:
- Short-term care: When children first come in to foster care, they need to live with a foster carer whose task is to support the child until there is a long-term plan in place for the child's future.
- Long-term care: Some children will not be returning home or to adoptive parents, so they will need a permanent home. These children will live with the carers as part of the family until adulthood.
- Emergency care: Often when children need emergency foster care they are confused or frightened. They may be traumatised by the circumstances that have led them to need shelter.
- Respite Care: Regular respite for children in foster care or living in the community is needed to give adult carers a break and provide positive trusting relationships for children and young people. Short breaks carers provide regular care for children who have a disability.
- Parent and baby care: Sometimes a young parent and their child need to be fostered together. These are parents under the age of 18 who need support with their parenting and independent living skills.
- Supported Lodgings – Hosts offer a home and support to young people aged 16-21, these young people are more independent, usually in college or at work so hosts can work fulltime alongside offering 15 hours of support to their young person
If you want to learn more about Fostering in Sheffield or how you can get involved, please visit Types of foster care | Fostering.