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The role of an independent fostering agency
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
Fostering Assessment
Fostering Outcomes
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can you Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Fostering as a Single Parent
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
10 things you can do when your Children fly the nest
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
How to prepare your home for a foster child
10 tips for foster children’s education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
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5 ways to manage Mother’s Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children’s bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
Tips for keeping foster children safe online
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father’s Day with foster children
8 most common fostering challenges
Supporting foster children’s contact with birth families
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering versus Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Online grooming - unwanted contact and how to identify it
Reading and storytelling with Babies and young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
Technology and Internet Safety advice
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Tips for coping with attachment disorders in Foster Children
Tips for supporting reunification in Foster Care
Together for a better Internet - Web Safety for Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
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Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
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Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
This is particularly appealing to those who want to foster a baby and can also provide support to an infant’s mother at the same time.
Mother and baby foster care placements are primarily for the benefit of the mother and at Capstone, we promote and nurture the bond between parent and baby rather than foster carer and baby. When a mother has a baby it can be a difficult experience and extra help is often needed - but adequate support is may not be available from her family or friends. A mother’s needs can be heightened if she is young, vulnerable, susceptible to mental health issues such as post-natal depression, or has a disability that affects her ability to look after her child.
Many foster carers who support parent and child fostering placements have had their own children and grandchildren, meaning that they can draw from their own family experiences and skills, to support a parent to look after their child.
When a foster carer supports a parent and child placement, they simultaneously ensure the needs of the child are met and encourage the parent to develop the skills to look after their infant. The foster carer will keep logs about the progress of the parent and child, allowing local authorities to assess whether the parent has the ability to look after the child, or if the baby should be in foster care. In the past, placement in residential family centres was often the solution for this transition period in a baby’s life. In some cases, the decision to make such an arrangement comes as a request of the court.
Parent and child placement in a foster home is a more focused way of providing a safe family atmosphere for the infant along with an up-close method of assessing the parent’s responsibility and capacity to care for the child. The mother and baby placement in a structured environment usually lasts for three months while the parental ability to protect and care for the child in an appropriate manner is measured. If more time is needed, this can be extended for several more months.
There is a delicate balance in caring for the parent as well as the child. The foster carer offers guidance and assistance as the parent learns how to care for the child. The parent also needs to be guided to care for her child independently. This may involve providing an allowance to the parent. The mother and baby fostering allowance helps the parent in care to learn the basics of handling money and provides him or her with a taste of independence and life after foster care. This does not come out of the fostering allowance that the carer receives but from the benefits to which the parent is entitled.
The purpose of the parent and child fostering allowance is for the parent to learn how to financially handle the baby’s material needs. This means that the allowance has to be reasonable enough so that the parent is able to continue to provide for these basic needs once they are able to live on their own with the baby.
Decisions about the length of time the parent and child remain in care and the financial arrangement regarding the parent’s allowance are determined by the carer, the parent, the young parent’s social work, the supervising social worker, and any other professionals that may be involved in arranging the mother and baby foster placement.
Foster carers enable a parent to learn how to be independent with supervision and training in the parenting skills that they need to thrive in life. Living with foster families, the parents and children will undergo assessments and meetings with social workers who monitor the health and welfare of the foster family in placement, both parents and babies.
If you are interested in fostering young mothers and babies, contact Capstone Foster Care for more information, or call us on 0800 012 4004 or today. Alternatively, learn more about becoming a foster carer now.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
