Help Keep Us Together !
14th February 2008
Three of the regions in which Pathway Care currently has offices have seen a dramatic increase in the need for foster carers for brothers and sisters. Birmingham, Cambridge and Northampton have all seen huge rises in the number of siblings needing appropriate foster care. To help highlight the type of people who foster sibling groups, Pathway Care has once again relied on the help of existing carers to communicate the need to the public. Three sets of sibling group foster carers, kindly agreed to front the campaigns in each of the regions.
Mother of three, Elrose Lindsay from Bartley Green in Birmingham fosters a brother and sister who are part of a larger sibling group of seven that had to be separated when they came into care.Said Elrose: “I decided to foster siblings because there is a shortage of foster carers doing this and I was in a position to help meet this need.
Beverley Williams from Thrapston near Northampton has been a foster carer for around six years and currently fosters two young sisters aged eight and two. “When fostering brothers and sisters it’s important to remember that they’re all individuals and you have to be sensitive to their specific needs.
Husband and wife Adrian and Lucy Foley from Stapleford in Cambridgeshire currently foster a 13 and six-year-old brother and sister. “Fostering is challenging and it’s not for everyone but for the right type of person it can be the most rewarding job in the world. It gives you the opportunity to make a positive impact on a young person’s life and help them build a better future.”
Kathy Swift, director of Pathway Care, East of England , said: “The increase in the need for carers is partly due to changes in society and new thinking among professionals in the caring sector about the best approach to looking after children from the same family.
Jackie Edwards, director of Pathway Care Midlands, said: “Previously it was more common for siblings to be split-up to improve the chances of finding a fostering placement. While this was done with the best interests of the child in mind it clearly has it drawbacks. “Times have changed and fostering agencies such as Pathway Care and local authorities like Birmingham City Council are more reluctant to split-up siblings unless absolutely necessary. We urgently need foster carers or potential foster carers who are willing and able to care for more than one child from a family,” she added.
According to the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), many foster children highly value relationships with their brothers or sisters and continued contact between them is regarded as very important”.
To be eligible to look after sibling groups, foster carers need to have one or more spare bedrooms. Foster children who are siblings can share a bedroom for example, sleeping in a bunk bed or separate beds. However, foster children cannot share a bedroom under the same arrangements with the birth children of foster carers.
If you believe you could foster a sibling group and are interested in finding out more please contact any of the Pathway Care offices for more information.
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