Fostering First Ireland urgently looking for foster carers

FOSTERING First Ireland are urgently looking for people to become foster parents. Demand for carers is on the increase due to the number of children entering the care system.

Carers who have looked after children regularly highlight the benefits both for them and the children and urge other people to follow their lead and become carers themselves. Established in May 2005, Fostering First Ireland (FFI) is part of Key Assets International, The Children’s Services Provider.

Working in partnership with TUSLA, statutory bodies, and foster carers, FFI’s main goal is to to meet the specific needs of young people in care, by maintaining safe and high quality placements in line with national standards.

Cathy Morrissey, living in Portlaoise, has shared her and her partner's 16 year long journey of becoming a foster carer with Fostering First Ireland.

“We originally thought of fostering about 18 or 19 years ago. At the time, we hadn’t got a spare bedroom. At the time you could still foster a child and have them share a bedroom, it wasn’t a necessity at some of the agencies years ago. But when we sat down and thought about it we realised that these children are coming with a lot of trauma, and for their sake it’s best that they’d have a bedroom of their own, and for our own children as well.”

The thought was pushed to the back of their minds for the moment. At the time, Cathy was hugely involved in a research centre in Dublin, as well as Barnardo's, and mentioned that she would see a lot of vulnerable children through this work, and was aware of the great need for foster carers, even back then.

A few years later, Cathy and her family decided to move out of Dublin, into a bigger house. This one had a spare bedroom, which was now a necessity for fostering.

“For us, the main thing for fostering was that we had an awful lot of people that we knew that were fostering, from all different agencies. The one thing that we knew was going to be huge for us was support. We felt that support was going to be the number one thing to stand out for us.

When we did look up the websites, Fostering First Ireland came up, we did a bit of research, looked at the reviews, the website, the experiences. So we gave them a call, and basically that phone call changed our lives.”

The initial phone call started with basic details such as names. More details were then requested via post, where Cathy and her partner filled out forms with their information. A home visit took place, where things were explained more in depth, for example, what children go into care.

Their assessment then began. This was all face-to-face, which has since changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This assessment involved weekends of training, checking with references, ensuring Garda vetting was correct. Both their family network and children were spoken to. This assessment took around six months.

“When you’re applying, you’re told your assessment could take 6-8 months, and some people think that's ages away, but it’s the most essential part of your fostering journey. In those months there’s a lot of information that you will receive, that you will give. They'll go into depth of your own personal backgrounds, your history. It’s very important that the assessment is as detailed as it is.”

Part of the assessment is an assessment of what you feel your strengths are when it comes to fostering.

“One of our own children had cerebral palsy, so we felt like we had a huge knowledge of a child with a disability, and we would be able to cater to their needs, which would involve a lot of hospital visits. Apart from the hospital visits you’re going to have the normal access, you’re going to have social workers. Your life is going to get very busy.”

Cathy and her partner have had five foster placements in total, with their current placement having lasted for 13 years.

“Our current placement has special needs. He’s a great young man who came to us when he was very small. He’s just part of our family, he’s with us for 13 years. Even when someone talks about him in the house, their face would light up. He’s a fantastic young man.”

One of FFI’s major claims is that they have massive supports in place for foster carers. As well as having a usual, assigned social worker, they also provide access to a 24/7/365 support line, which is there for you outside of your social workers hours. They encourage foster carers to use this line for any questions they may have, not just for emergencies.

“FFI have supported us all the way through our journey. The support network that they have is amazing. They even have an education officer. Touching on that, when we got this young man those years ago, my son who has cerebral palsy was able to go to mainstream school so that wasn’t an issue, but this time around this young man needed a special needs school, which I didn’t have the knowledge of.

“The FFI education officer came around and told me about the schools in the area, she visited the schools in the area with me, she raised questions in the school, things I wouldn’t have even thought of.

“There’s therapy services for all of us. All us carers, if any of our children need to speak to someone over the period of fostering if anyone needs a little bit of extra help. It’s not that it’s counselling, it’s just someone there that is going to listen to you and understand the journey you’re on.”

FFI also aims to ensure that you can build up a support network full of other foster carers. Cathy mentions that the agency regularly organises days out for entire families, so that they can interact with one another and get to know each other. This includes different themed events, and events in different localities. These events are entirely informal, and are a way for everyone to just be themselves.

A lot of stigma can surround these children who have been placed in care. Some might think that they have been placed in care through their own fault, because they are trouble. This stigma can cause damage to the point that, up until a few years ago, many schools would be reluctant to take children in care.

Children can be placed in care for numerous reasons. Some may have suffered sexual or physical abuse, and some may simply come from families who have fallen on hard times. A parent may be sick, and have no one to care for their child, and need the child placed in care for even a short period of time.

“The whole idea of fostering a child is to help that child reunite with their family. To help and support, and build that child's needs.

“To this day there are still so many children that are out in care homes, or in vulnerable situations in homes, because there aren't enough carers.”

FFI has several guidelines that must be met in order to begin your fostering journey. You need to be over the age of 25. You should have a spare bedroom available, foster children can not share with your own children. If you have children, your youngest should be at least three years old. You should have your full driving licence, there are a lot of appointments that come up for children in care so it is important that you can travel to and from them.

Once you have spoken to a fostering adviser, you will be given a home visit. After this, your assessment begins. FFI states that this assessment takes 5-6 months, and during this time you will also partake in standardised training. This training includes attachments of children in care, different policies in place, and how to deal with birth families. Once this assessment is completed, you will be presented to your local TUSLA panel. Once approved, you are ready to start fostering.

Though it can seem like a long, daunting process. Cathy notes that it’s one that changed their lives for the better.

“This is a decision that I have sincerely never regretted, and I’ve never come across a carer that has,” she said.

For more information you can visit www.fosteringfirstireland.ie.