Fostering came into the limelight again for negative reasons. This time it was based on the poet Lemn Sissay experience as a foster child. There were some good solid points highlighted. One of the most important points was the fact that a lot of children in fostering move too often from placement to placement and this creates a lack of stability in the relationships they have with their foster carers.
This can obviously go against the desired outcome for fostered children, as children in fostering tend to have attachment issues and opening up to people tend to take time. It was quite sad to see fostering sector being shown in bad light in the media, but it is also good for stories to come to light so as a sector we can work on these issues.
The challenges that many foster children experience is not due to them being in foster care but because of their situations and experiences prior to it. Without foster carers, there is no way of changing the children’s outcome or situations, as foster carers are vital professionals who the children need in their life to achieve the desired outcome.
The reason for the care system is to protect the child from harm, to offer a safe, nurturing home for the child to achieve recovery and healing from past harm and to promote resilience and emotional wellbeing in order for the child to realise their full potential. Foster care can and does transform lives and it has its share of successes.
We all realise that there are challenges and issues that we face as a community as a whole and the negative media often makes things worse or creates a stigma. What it should do is write to encourage more people to come forward to become foster carers to offer a secure, stable and loving home for the child.
In conclusion i think it is important to highlight issues amongst an sector or industry so it can create areas of change etc but at the same time it should also recognise the great work that is also being done. But we understand that in today’s world selling scarcity within society is what sells for the media. They have to do what they have to do, to increase the viewership. Fostering isnt perfect, it has its challenges but it is a work in progress and with continued effort it will become perfect.
