Parent and Child Fostering Placements

All families are different and need different levels of support, that’s why there is no singular type of foster care but many different types of placement that we offer! One of the specialist types of care that we cater to as an independent fostering agency is parent and child fostering placements. This is sometimes also referred to as mother and baby fostering. 

This type of fostering involves both a parent and a child coming to stay with a registered carer for a period of time. The primary reason for this type of care is to provide adequate support to the parent during this time. It creates a safe environment where the new parent can learn and be thoroughly supported by an experienced carer. 

This type of fostering is necessary when a parent (often a young parent) struggles to adapt to caring for a baby or young child and needs further advice and guidance. Oftentimes, these placements are as a consequence of court proceedings. It may be that the young mum, or sometimes dad, has not experienced great parenting themselves and therefore has no role model to base their parenting skills on. They may even have been in care themselves as a child. Living with a carer who has undertaken further specialist training to help them deal with this sort of situation allows the parent to learn new skills and be monitored by someone who is experienced in childcare. 

The goal of all parent and child fostering placements is to help keep the family together and teach the parent important life skills to equip them with the knowledge they need to be a good, supportive, and loving parent. 

As this role has additional responsibilities and requirements to other types of care, all foster carers who wish to take on parent and child placements will need to undergo further training. During the parent and child’s stay, an assessment occurs in the foster family home. You will be equipped with the skills you need as a foster carer to undertake this assessment with the full support of social workers from the Fusion Fostering team. The role of the assessment is to identify support needs and implement strategies that will meet these specific needs. 

As a carer who is specialised in this role, you will have the responsibility of supporting the care of a young child as well as providing guidance to a parent. This can be challenging and requires you to have outstanding levels of patience, listening skills, observation and recording skills, honesty, and composure. You have a responsibility to safeguard the baby at all times, ensuring that they are receiving adequate care whilst supervising the mother/father too. 

If you think that you would be interested in this role and have a keen interest in childcare and providing support to struggling young mothers and fathers, then we would love to hear from you. Or, if you are an experienced carer looking to transfer agency and take on a highly specialised form of care, then please get in touch! Call 03301 239 355 to speak to a professional and friendly member of our team or click here to fill out our contact form.