The voluntary agency
Large charities such as Barnardo's have been established as voluntary fostering agencies for many years...
Brenda Farrell, UK Assistant Director for Family Placement for Barnardo’s, is well aware of the kudos that an organisation with over 100 years’ experience has. 
“Having a confident team, which can be clear at assessment of the roles of foster carers, the service and the needs of the child, is what makes for the successful recruitment of foster carers: it is one of the strengths of Barnardo’s long-established service,” explains Brenda.
Commitment
For her, this is what the assessment process is all about. “We need to give families who come forward clear insights into the roles and responsibilities of what being a permanent foster carer is about, so they can understand the commitment that is required of them. It’s almost like a job description, really.”
As with other agencies, the recruitment process involves information evenings, follow-up meetings, home visits, small groups. “It’s an opportunity to profile children a little bit more,” says Brenda. “The team can talk about the care needs and the specific issues for the children and young people, for instance, severely disabled children who need long-term placements, or children who have been in a series of short-term placements prior to the decision being made to move to permanent fostering.” She is very clear that the assessment process is about getting people on board who understand these issues, and selecting applicants most suited to the task.
Emotional confidence
Emotional confidence is the main quality that Brenda and her team are looking for in permanent foster carers. “They need to be secure in themselves and their abilities as parents and carers,” she adds. “Permanent foster carers need to have an understanding of parenting and attachment theory, and where they’re at themselves with that.” This emotional confidence will help them manage contact between the child or young person and their birth family.
Having parenting experience is not essential, though: a scheme of buddying up and mentoring is available so applicants have the opportunity to observe others on a practical level. Training on basic parenting styles and attachment is part of the assessment process, as is separation and loss, child development, and a more in-depth look at attachment difficulties.
Brenda believes that the assessment process is important in identifying the different strengths of carers. “Some can do task-centred fostering but not permanent because of where they are professionally and personally,” she explains. “Permanent foster carers are in it for the long haul because of their resilience and commitment to sustain the child or young person.”
Team work
Emphasis will be put on the team-work aspect of fostering. “For me, one of the most effective tools in permanent placements is the whole team approach,” stresses Brenda. “There is a professional wraparound for our foster carers, which helps them go through the peaks and troughs of permanency. Having that in place has been essential while they go through the journey with the child or young person.”
As can be expected from such a large organisation, Barnardo’s teams are multi-disciplinary: educational psychologists, support and educational workers, tax or insurance advisers, out of school support, or extra support for children or young people regarding networking or socialising. There is also a foster carer support group where they can share ideas.
Professionals
Barnardo’s runs a forum for their foster carers, which gives them a voice within the organisation. There are even local award ceremonies. The professionalisation of permanent foster carers is something which Brenda strongly believes in. “We look at different research, trends and approaches to keep our foster carers skilled up, stimulated, interested and understanding,” she says. “Good practice ensures that we, and our foster carers, never stop learning and that, for the sake of the children and young people, we are efficiently briefed and up to date, to respond to their needs, because their world is constantly changing. It never stops.”
‘Forever family’
So, what does permanency mean to Brenda, when it comes to fostering? “If a child moves into a placement they know is permanent, they’re more likely to form an attachment and, if everybody is clear about that, then the placement will sustain to the longer term, and through the different stages of it. In the permanent placements which I’ve seen over many years, the children, who are now adults, have maintained consistent relationships with their permanent foster carers. They have gone back with their own families and children. That is the translation of the ‘forever family’.”
To find out more, visit the Barnardo's website.
Isabelle Rameau
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Originally published in the Be My Parent newspaper in May 2010.
This article is published with the kind permission of the people involved. You may download it for your own reference but if you wish to use it for any other purpose, please contact Be My Parent for authorisation: Be My Parent, BAAF, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Telephone: 020 7421 2666.
Last updated: 04 May 10
