Foster carers are people who provide a loving and caring family environment for children who for one reason or another cannot live with their own birth parents. Fostering is not the same as adoption since in fostering the parents of the child or the local authority still retain legal responsibilities for the child.
Fostering in the contemporary sense has its roots in both the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom it is credited to Rev. John Armistead who rescued child labourers in Cheshire and put them up with foster families in an arrangement where the local council met the fostering expenses. In the United States fostering begun with Charles Loring Brace who rescued orphans and minors who were victims of abuse and neglect from the streets of New York City and put them up with foster families.
The care and attention that foster carers give to children in foster placement can either be for short period or a long period. In certain cases the children in foster placement will go back to their birth parents once the circumstances that made them go into foster care have been resolved and it is certified that their birth parents can give them a safe and caring family environment once more. In other cases the children may stay for longer even going on to be adopted. Others may attain majority age and become self-sufficient and go on to live independently.
For effective and successful foster placement thorough preparation and assessment is necessary. After one has applied to become a foster parent the relevant authorities then embark on conducting a background check. Assessment of one’s suitability to foster is a process that can take up to half an year but this is dependent on jurisdiction. While the assessment is being done orientation training can occur alongside. If the green light is given and one is allowed to take a child into foster care, they continue to receive training and counsel. Reviews are also done periodically to ensure the continued suitability of the fostering arrangement. You can visit http://www.capstonefostercare.co.uk for foster homes.
To enable one meet their fostering obligations effectively an allowance is given to enable the foster parent meet the expenses of caring for the child in their placement. The rates change periodically depending on cost of living and other factors. The amount depends on the locality of the fostering parent and specific needs of the child. Other factors may also come into play. Income gained from fostering may also be tax-exempt up to a certain amount and foster carers may also get some form of tax relief on the rest of their income. This though is dependent on jurisdiction.
To be allowed to become a foster parent one must meet certain criteria that has been set by the authorities. The criteria can be set based on maturity, age, mental and physical health, availability of adequate housing for the foster child and so on. To provide fostering services marital status does not matter and one can be cohabiting, divorced or single. Sexual orientation does not matter either. The most important thing at the end of the day is for the child in foster placement to grow up in safe and secure loving environment.