Carers needed to help a child in an emergency
More than 100 children have been helped by Hertfordshire County Council’s emergency foster care scheme since it launched in 2022. But more foster carers are needed in Hertfordshire to provide this vital emergency care and support to children and young people in their moment of need.
When a child or children need to leave their family home or care provider at short notice, they need someone to look after them until the best and most appropriate longer term care can be found.
Emergency foster carers provide children with somewhere safe and nurturing to stay for about 10 days. This allows time for the crisis to calm and for the child, family and professionals across social care, health and education to consider how best to meet the child’s needs.
This innovative scheme has led to more than a fifth of the children placed in emergency care being able to return safely to their family home.
Lisa, 52, is currently an emergency foster carer for Hertfordshire, and has also been a general foster carer for over 20 years.
She said: “The majority of children I’ve had, come to me at all different hours. It’s a really scary time for them, so I try to make them feel safe. I’m quite on their level, and they connect with me quite quickly.”
When the children arrive at Lisa and her partner Tony’s house in Stevenage, they work hard to make them feel safe, comfortable and welcome as quickly as possible.
“Lots of the children arrive with no belongings, nothing, just the clothes they are in. The charity Comfort Cases provide me with rucksacks for all different ages which is really nice so I always have something for the right age. I leave a welcome basket out and I provide a very safe space for them. When they leave, I write them a leaving card and get them a little gift.”
Over the next 10 days, the couple will do all they can to help the child, taking them to their health assessment, dentist, school or college, and helping with their transition back to their family home or new home.
“As an emergency foster carer, you do need to be quite resilient and really flexible because you don’t know when you’re going to need to look after that child and you’ve got t to manage all different types of behaviours but we’ve got a really good support network at Hertfordshire County Council with four support workers.”
Sharon, 62, from Letchworth has been a mainstream foster carer for eight years in Hertfordshire but joined the emergency hub as a carer 15 months ago.
During the 10 days the children are with Sharon, she will try to make their time with her special, by taking them on special days out and to activities the children are interested in.
“A few weeks ago I was zip-lining across the tree tops in Woburn, I’m not that keen but that young person loved it, and it was a real bonding experience. I also took a 12-year-old child to Duxford Airfield who had never been in a plane or had a passport, and he went up on a half hour flight. I know he will never ever forget that,” Sharon said.
“You know you have childhood memories of a certain adult that did something for you, it might have been for half an hour or a day, and we remember it for some reason, I hope that every child just takes something that they can look back on as a happy memory.
“In the two weeks that the children are with me, I want them to realise that I and the others involved are listening and that they’re our priority.”
Emergency foster carers must be aged over 21 and have a spare room. They should have acceptance and understanding of children who may have experienced trauma and distress. They also need to be available at very short notice, at night and on weekends, as well as during the day.
Councillor Fiona Thomson, Hertfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, said: ““Our emergency foster carers provide the most important service to our children in need, and we cannot underestimate the value of what they do. They give care, support and a warm welcome to the children at the time they need it most.
“We urgently need more people to join our team and provide emergency care. Please contact us to find out more about how you can help.”
Anyone interested in applying will be given training, support and generous pay and allowances.
To find out more, call the fostering recruitment team for a no-obligation chat on 0800 917 0925, contact them via www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/fostering or email [email protected]