Firstly, being a foster carer is by no means a simple task: far from it. However, if you are willing to embrace the challenge, there can be no doubt that the task is a rewarding one. Here at modus, we believe that the key to success is commitment, compassion and the ability to stay calm!

Fostering means looking after a child or young person in your home and caring for them while their own parents are unable to do so. As a foster carer, you will provide a stable family environment, nurturing the child to help them develop and succeed.

In foster care, children continue to be a part of their own family and the local authority that is responsible for them may share parental responsibility with their parents. However, some young people may not return to their own families and they will stay in foster care until they move on to adult life.

There are a wide range of reasons a child may not be able to live with his or her own family: for example, bereavement, illness or family breakdown. In some cases, a child or young person may be removed from his or her family for their own safety. Being a foster carer involves more than just looking after a child. As well as the day-to-day care of the child, you will be asked to attend meetings about those in your care, keep written records, promote contact with birth families and manage information that is confidential and sensitive.

You will often need to help children come to terms with difficult or traumatic experiences and it is important to us at modus that, with our support, you can “stick with them” through some very difficult times and despite some very challenging behaviour, which they use to cope with their feelings.

Contact with their own families is very important to children and young people in foster care and, as a foster carer, you will need to help maintain this if it is felt to be appropriate. This is important, regardless of any personal feelings you may have about the child's parents.

Until you actually foster, it is difficult to appreciate fully the multitude of skills a carer must develop. On one hand, you need to be a nurturing, caring parent whilst on the other, a sound professional, demonstrating the ability to perform in meetings and to be an accountable member of a team.

Carers each have individual strengths and weaknesses and we at modus appreciate that everybody is different, with different values, beliefs and views. As part of our assessment process we will identify such strengths and weaknesses and support you in your personal development, with the primary aim of providing a better service to the children that we look after.

Below is an example of a foster carer’s job description, which illustrates the skills you will need to acquire and develop with the support of our staff.

The purpose of fostering is:

• To provide children with a caring, nurturing and safe environment.
• To support children in striving to meet their full potential and preparing for their future.

Key duties of the foster carer are:

• To ensure that all health needs of the child are met and to help the child develop their basic care skills.
• To offer a child compassion and understanding and to demonstrate a high level of tolerance and patience.
• To support the child in building their self-esteem, through positive feedback, appearance and rewards for achievements.
• To liase with school and support the child in their educational pursuits.
• To support the child in their social development and attitude with the use of fair and consistent guidance and boundaries.
• To promote the child’s individual interests and support them in accessing leisure activities.
• To support the child in pursuing their religion of choice and by making opportunities for religious learning available to them.
• To promote a respect for differences in people’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, culture and individuality.
• To have a basic knowledge of First Aid, health and safety and record keeping.
• To work consistently with and provide succinct information to the professionals who are involved in the care planning for the child placed in your care.
• To develop a positive and honest relationship with the fostering agency, to access supervision and support and to ensure that any concerns you may have are relayed at the first available opportunity.
• To provide adequate insurance and to manage your financial affairs suitably.

You do not need any formal qualifications to become a foster carer, but you do need to be pretty special. We have foster carers from a very wide range of backgrounds in order to match the young people looked after – single people, couples, people with their own children and people without, people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

You do need skills and experience that will enable you to meet the needs of the children and young people you care for.

• You will need to have time and energy to invest in a child or young person.
• You must be able to communicate well, especially with children and young people but also with social workers, the children's birth families and other professionals concerned with the wellbeing of the children.
• You need to be flexible, patient and understanding.
• A sense of humour is also an essential quality.

There are certain offences that will prevent you becoming a foster carer, so if you have ever been convicted of a sexual offence or a violent act towards a child then you will not be able to foster.

If you are successful in becoming a foster carer and you have your own children living with you, you need to be ready for the impact that fostering will have on them. Not only will they have to share their parents, their home and often their belongings, but they may also find that young people who come to live with you share their pain and experiences with your children.

Although this whole experience can be very challenging, most of our carers’ sons and daughters say that becoming a foster family has had a positive effect on their lives and they would hate to give it up.

Your children, as well as anyone else who lives with you, will be part of the assessment process and need to be a part of the decision to foster.