FOSTER CARERS RECRUITMENT

My name is Liam and I’m the Recruitment & Retention Lead for Fostering. I work as part of the Assessment Team for Wakefield but I’m not a social worker.

www.facebook.com/roominwakefield/videos/263369672301555

My role primarily resolves around recruiting new foster carers for the children of Wakefield as well as working with our existing carers. I lead on the creative side of marketing and I’m responsible for raising the profile of Wakefield Fostering through our social media channels as well as traditional marketing methods such as billboards, bus rears and radio advertisements. The ‘Be My Carer’ brand was launched in 2018 and in the last 2 years we’ve gone from strength to strength, forming partnerships with local companies and regional businesses such as Castleford Tigers, Featherstone Rovers, Heart FM & Rhubarb Radio.

Ultimately my goal is to recruit more foster carers and encourage more people to step forward and start their fostering journey. I run regular drop in events at supermarkets, shopping centres, local events and large scale festivals – you may of seen our banners across the district as we try to get out to see as many people as possible. If you have any ideas on how we could recruit foster carers, or if you think there is something that we could do that we haven’t done already, I’d love to hear them. Send your suggestions to lkeating@wakefield.gov.uk and I’ll make sure to get back to you and we can discuss them further. Cheers. Liam.

Fostering Wakefield: Refer a Friend Scheme

We have many children in Wakefield in need of a local home now

Preparation to Foster Training

The first instalment in the new fostering series from a prospective household.

We want to become foster carers to be able to give a child, or children, the opportunities that our own children have had. To be able to give even just one child a better start in life will make us feel that we have made a difference. Our two wonderful children have grown up and left home to make their own lives with their partners, and we want to be able to give other children the same chances. We also miss having little ones in our lives, and our now very quiet home!

How did you find the journey? What did you learn? Was there anything that happened which changed your mind about fostering from when you first started the process?

Our initial enquiry was at the end of February and was picked up immediately. Within a week we had our first home visit and started the application process. Then we hit 'lockdown' and the whole process had to change. We had our 1:1's with our lovely assessor Liz by WhatsApp calls at first, but once lockdown eased, we were able to have our weekly sessions in our home which was great! Because of Covid, the training sessions were also cancelled. This meant that we went through our application and checks before we had our training, rather than the other way round. We did feel more prepared for the training after our sessions with Liz, as we could have been put off had we done the training course first. We weren't prepared for the amount of information required from us during the assessment though. Our childhoods, memories, and how we parented our own children was discussed in great detail, although it is patently clear why this is needed.

We learnt that fostering is so much more than we thought, how it will impact on our family and friends, and how much paperwork there will be! What we also didn't consider was the amount of contact the child will have with his/her parents and the impact of this on our daily routines. The allegations part of the training did cause us to have a little wobble, as we learnt that the tiniest things can be misconstrued and taken out of context. However, consistent daily diaries and note-taking will be extremely important and valuable. Knowing that there will be a safer caring plan in place in writing also made me feel much better, especially around comforting a child.

The virtual training was, on the whole, a positive experience. We got to meet other prospective carers, although not face to face. Hopefully, we will be able to at some point if we are all approved! There were initial technical issues, as it was the first time it had been done this way, but these were soon sorted and it was plain sailing after that. Again, if we had done the training earlier in the journey, we may have had reservations, but the session that the children in care hosted told us that we are absolutely doing the right thing!