The Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve the Fostering Rotherham Plan later this month, which sets out how the Council will recruit, retain and grow the best in-house foster carers locally.
Foster carers provide stable and loving homes for the borough’s children and young people, ensuring they receive high quality care. The Council provides high quality support and a training package for foster carers.
There have been a number of achievements over the last 12 months. This has included a net increase in the number of fostering households and placements for children, as well as an uplift in fees and allowances that foster carers can receive.
A cross-party Elected Members Fostering Working Group has been established over the past year. The aim of the Working Group has been to support the increase in the number of foster carers who can provide loving homes for local children who need care.
The Working Group provided a number of recommendations, which Cabinet will be asked to approve. This includes celebrating our fostering families throughout the year and Elected Members championing fostering within their neighbourhoods.
Councillor Victoria Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “The Council’s Fostering service has had a successful year, and this has been shown by an increase in the number of fostering households. Despite this, we urgently need new foster carers to come forward.
“We are committed to recruiting, retaining, and growing the best in-house foster carers locally. The Fostering Plan sets out how we will do this.
“Foster carers are supported by the Council and there are a number of benefits in fostering with your local authority. This includes a comprehensive package of support with dedicated staff who provide around the clock support. I would encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a foster carer to visit the Fostering Rotherham website and chat to our team.”
Khaqan Mohammed and his wife Rena have been foster carers since 2019. They transferred to Fostering Rotherham from an Independent Fostering Agency. Khaqan told us: “The staff have been great and the transfer was smooth. There is no reason to not be with the local authority, there is a lot more 1 to 1 support and therapeutic support. This is on your doorstep, and it is all in-house.
“Give it a try, you will learn a lot about yourself along the way. Every moment you are thinking about fostering is a moment wasted. Your delay is also delaying a child's future prospects.”
Wayne’s fostering journey started three years ago. Wayne and his wife Sara are foster carers. Wayne added: “We have shared wonderful experiences and overcome many challenges but have enjoyed it immensely. A comprehensive support package is available when more challenging times arise. There's a huge amount of training to pick from as and when required.
“Great care is given to potential matches, but our thoughts and feelings are always a high priority. The boy that's staying with us has become part of our family very quickly. He is very affectionate and needs a lot of love. With the stability we have provided he's really coming out of his shell and is happy to be staying with us. It's amazing to see the changes in the children.
“We always feel listened to and are given as much information as possible. No judgment is offered if things don't go as we would like. Just more help and understanding, or even a shoulder to cry on from our amazing social worker.”
Kat Harbourne is a journalist and started fostering nearly two years ago with her wife Katie. Kat said: “We would often feature stories from foster carers and I was always struck by how happy and proud they were to be doing what they do. Our friends adopted two children just before the pandemic, and I saw how much foster care had helped the children and their transition to adoption and wanted to do the same.
“We moved house during the pandemic and had more space and decided it was time to share it. We'd realised during lockdown we wanted to do something more meaningful, and we saw how many children in care are waiting for a loving stable home.
“You have a chance to change a child's life and open their eyes to the kindness in the world. There will be some tough days but there will be days that you'll be so proud of your foster children's achievements that you feel like your chest will burst. If you're not sure, why not start by offering short term stays to give other carers some respite? You can offer weekend and overnight stays and take children on lovely days out and make some brilliant memories. Be the good you want to see in the world.”
Progress on the Fostering Rotherham service and the Fostering Plan will be reported at the Corporate Parenting Partnership Board, which reports to Council and Scrutiny annually.
Foster for Rotherham and make a difference to local children's lives. More information about Fostering Rotherham is available at www.fosteringrotherham.com, or by calling the team on 01709 357 370.
You can view the Cabinet report on the Rotherham Council website.
Photo caption: The image shows foster carer Kat Harbourne at Rotherham Town Hall.