We have achieved great success over the years in supporting children and young people coping with their mixed emotions when leaving our care and moving to a foster placement.
Over the course of the placement, and through the process of preoccupation, we acquire an enormous amount of information, knowledge, and understanding of the needs and abilities of each child or young person placed with us. In some cases where social workers, teachers, and other professionals have frequently come and gone, we represent the most stable and consistent adult figures the child has known.
The expert knowledge and experience we have in assessing the potential ability of each child or young person to manage and thrive in a foster / family environment, means we can provide foster link workers and placing officers with an informed opinion of the suitability of potential foster placements in meeting the needs of the child or young person.
If and when the time is right for a child or young person to begin considering moving to a foster placement, we support them in preparing for the transition, developing individualised transition plans, monitoring the impact of the process on the child or young person, establishing positive relations with the chosen foster carers, and assisting the child or young person in gradually becoming less dependent on adults in the home and more dependent on their new foster carers.
We ask for a minimum 3 months notice from placing authorities of their intention to move a child or young person to fostering, in order to provide sufficient time to work with the child or young person on those areas needed to facilitate a successful moving process.
The Lioncare Group has good connections and experience of working collaboratively with several independent Fostering Organisations both locally and nationally.
These close working connections, and the shared understanding of the needs of the children and young people living within The Lioncare Group, means that we are excellently placed to help in the process of finding properly matched foster carers for our children and young people.