There are many children and young people who need to stay in a Foster home for various lengths of time. Often these children are not in control of the situation and can feel very vulnerable, frightened and confused.

Below we have highlighted some reasons that result in children being unable to live with their parent(s) either temporarily or permanently. This list is not exhaustive, but may provide you with some insight into the reasons why children find themselves without a home.

• They have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused
• The parent has a severe, chronic mental illness
• They have been seriously neglected
• The child is beyond its parent’s control and may be in trouble with the police, not attending school etc
• Young people may be remanded into care
• A teenage mother who needs guidance and support in caring safely for her baby
• The parent abuses drugs/alcohol
• Family relationships have seriously broken down and a young person asks to be looked after away from home
• The parent has rejected the child
• The child has disabilities and the parents need a break

Often there are multiple reasons why a child cannot live with their parents, including several of the above.

The majority of children return to live with their birth family, some move on to adoptive parents and some remain with the Foster Carers until they are old enough to live independently.

“Who can care?”

Foster Carers come from all sorts of backgrounds and are as varied as the children they care for. They do not need to be married, own their own home or have children. Whatever your circumstances you may have something to offer a young person. Applicants have to have a commitment to helping children, a willingness to learn about children’s needs and the stability and energy to provide warmth, flexibility and perseverance needed.

The training and assessment period can help applicants decide what sort of fostering they could do best - emergency, short-term, long-term as well as the age range they could care for.

The children and young people referred to Orange Grove Fostercare come from a wide range of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds and so we actively seek carers from diverse backgrounds.