With an ever growing number of children in care and an increasing demand for foster carers, foster parent Karen spoke to me in an interview about what it’s really like to foster. Following several life events including the death of her dad, Karen decided to take up fostering in September of 2022. “It was something that I had always wanted to do,” she said, “I was just waiting for my daughter to be at the right kind of age”. Since then she has fostered young children and describes it as being “enjoyable and rewarding”.

Despite the reward of helping a child, many foster carers still face challenges. One of the biggest problems they face is the huge level of “behind the scenes work” such as extensive training and daily admin work, meetings, appointments and ‘family time’ during the transition back to the child's original home. Many find this time consuming however Karen states that “it impacts your own life but that's something to be taken into consideration”. All of this is exacerbated by an overloaded system, with the recruitment of more social workers being one of the best ways to help relieve the stress of foster caring. However, more community based projects such as more support groups for foster parents could also provide a greater local support network. 

Karen went on to say “You go into it knowing that you’re the middle person, it is difficult knowing that you have to say goodbye but you know they’re going to their happy ending. I still keep in contact with the family. It's less difficult because you go into it knowing that it's not forever.” when asked if she found it difficult knowing that she would have to say goodbye to the child eventually. “Every situation is different.” 

While foster caring may not be for everybody and comes with its own set of unique challenges, it is an incredibly rewarding experience for the families who take on the task.