Life

Do you fit the bill to be a foster carer?

Are you supportive? Loving? Able to provide safety and security? If so, have you considered becoming a foster carer? Northern Ireland has a shortage and as part of Foster Care Fortnight, Jude Malone, herself a carer, and Angela Burns, who has been fostered all her life, share their stories in the hope of inspiring others

Jude Malone says fostering can be challenging but that, on the other hand, it rewards her and her husband Brian "every single day". Picture by Declan Roughan
Jude Malone says fostering can be challenging but that, on the other hand, it rewards her and her husband Brian "every single day". Picture by Declan Roughan Jude Malone says fostering can be challenging but that, on the other hand, it rewards her and her husband Brian "every single day". Picture by Declan Roughan

JUDE Malone, together with her husband Brian, has been a Belfast Trust foster carer for just over a year. She balances the challenges of parenting two young girls alongside running her photography and design business and so fully appreciates the support offered by the health trust.

“We felt that as a couple we would be strong enough to consider fostering. We had considered different options for growing our family but it was when we attended a Belfast Health and Social Care Trust event called ‘Til I Grow Up’ that it really brought the children to life for us.

"Fostering can be challenging. As a foster carer you just have to think a little bit more about the ‘back story’ of a child. What a child has experienced outside of your care helps you to understand why certain things manifest themselves in a certain way.

"On the other hand, fostering rewards us every single day. Brian and I have had the opportunity to see the children grow and progress every day, every week, every month. It just really warms your heart when people say to you ‘look how happy and confident they are’ and you feel proud that you have had some input into the smiles on their faces and the experiences they’re having.

"The Belfast Trust Fostering Service has been very supportive of us in our role – there are support groups, we can talk to other foster carers and there is fantastic training. You always know that there is a social worker available to answer any questions at all or just for advice.

"We are working as part of a team. There are many different adults in one child’s life but all of those people have their place in helping to care for the child. Everyone is working together positively for the benefit of the child and helping the child to progress.

"My advice to anyone who has ever considered fostering is to get as much information as possible, make sure you get your questions answered – talk to people, go to the information events the trusts run, seek out guidance, talk to other foster carers, soak up as much information as you can.

"For anyone considering fostering, whatever your circumstances – young, old, married, single – take the leap and contact your health and social care trust to find out more."

Angela Burns

19-YEAR-OLD Angela Burns, who lives in Belfast, has been fostered since the age of six months. As a young woman growing up in foster care, she explains how she hasn’t let it hold her back in realising her hopes and dreams.

“One of the biggest challenges growing up was trying to understand why I was in the situation I was; I found that one of the hardest things. But I had such a good support system with my foster parents.

"I have never felt different. I didn’t feel like ‘I am a foster child in someone else’s family’, I felt like, ‘Hey, these are my family and I have another family. I’m just more special with two families’.

"Last year when my birth father was terminally ill, my foster carers gave me the time and space to be with my dad. They were very accepting of the fact that although they have cared for me for years, I do have a birth family. I also made a big move to leaving home last year and coming to live with friends in Belfast so I could study for a HND in Bangor. My foster carers have helped me through so, so much.

"I would say to anyone thinking of fostering to go and explore more. Given my experiences and how my life as been changed, I would say it is the most rewarding thing to do."

Got what it takes?

This Foster Care Fortnight (May 16 – 29) Belfast Trust Fostering Service is highlighting the results of a recent survey by the Fostering Network which reveals the top three qualities identified by care-experienced children and young people as making a real difference to the lives of children in care:

:: Making them feel safe and secure (67 per cent)

:: Supporting and helping them (61 per cent)

:: Loving them (54 per cent)

There is an ongoing shortage of foster carers and more Health and Social Care (HSC) foster carers are urgently needed to provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for vulnerable children and young people on both a long term or short-term basis.

HSC foster carers, once approved, receive financial allowances, ongoing training and 24-hour social-work support.

“There are some common misconceptions about fostering. We often hear things like, ‘I would struggle to say goodbye to a child’ or ‘I already have children of my own’ or ‘I’m not married, wouldn’t that be a problem?’," Pauline Kerr, marketing coordinator at Belfast Trust Fostering Service says.

"In reality, people may apply to foster whether they are married / co-habiting or single, own or rent their own home, work or are receiving benefits, or if they have children of their own or not.

"There is no upper age limit to who can foster as long as they are healthy and have the energy to care for a child or young person. Applications will also be considered irrespective race, religion, language, culture, gender, disability, age and sexual orientation.

"If you are resilient, flexible and have the energy and time to care for the demands of a child, then you could help make a real difference to a young person’s life by becoming a valued HSC foster carer.”

:: To find out more about becoming a foster carer see www.adoptionandfostering.hscni.net or call 0800 0720 137.