{"id":3877,"date":"2020-01-28T11:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T11:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?p=3877"},"modified":"2023-02-14T12:46:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:46:50","slug":"changing-the-way-foster-carers-are-recruited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/career-experiences\/changing-the-way-foster-carers-are-recruited\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing the way foster carers are recruited"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>Becoming a foster carer is a life-changing decision and I don&#8217;t believe that recruiting foster carers by telling them they could earn up to \u00a3500 per week in allowances is the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, this is a subliminal message letting prospective carers know that they could make some extra easy cash by simply giving up their spare room. However, being a foster carer is more than having a spare room in your home. In fact, it takes a lot of hard work and can only work out if you&#8217;re committed to putting the effort in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first entered foster care, I wasn&#8217;t the success story that you see today. I was the total opposite. I came into the system as a complete mess and all I wanted to do was to take my anger out on another individual I didn&#8217;t really believe wanted to help me. Deep down, I was begging for their love, but because I was loving them in the most unloving way, it was difficult to get what my heart really desired and because of this no foster carer wanted me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You see, many children in the care system have come from the most traumatic backgrounds that others have only witnessed through movies and, because we&#8217;ve experienced such mayhem, we&#8217;re not used to strangers being kind to us, especially as our own biological parents haven&#8217;t been the kindest to us. So if you&#8217;re applying to become a foster carer or an adoptive parent please take all of these things into deep thought and consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The majority of my foster carers didn&#8217;t want me, and it wasn&#8217;t until I got to my 11th placement that everything began to change for me. My heart desired to be loved, to be welcomed, to be nurtured but &#8211; most importantly &#8211; to be accepted, and I received just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I recall having the biggest argument with my foster carer in my bedroom, about why I decided to walk out of my counselling session angrily earlier that day and about why I decided to take the bus home rather than getting in her car. I remember it getting pretty tense. However, as I was on the verge of saying something I probably would have regretted I recall her shouting word for word &#8220;the other foster carers may have given up on you, but I sure won&#8217;t&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hearing this was a huge wake-up call. It was as though someone had fled with the keys to my heart to a destination further than Timbuktu, but had somehow managed to find me to open my heart again. It was one of the BIGGEST moments of my life and one I will hold onto and cherish for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This blog was written by Keeley, founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.careleaverlegacy.co.uk\/\">Care Leaver Legacy<\/a>, an organisation working to empower care experienced young people to achieve their dreams.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Becoming a foster carer is a life-changing decision and I don&#8217;t believe that recruiting foster carers by telling them they could earn up to \u00a3500 per week in allowances is the answer. In fact, this is a subliminal message letting prospective carers know that they could make some extra easy cash by simply giving up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,25],"tags":[58,19,23],"class_list":["post-3877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-experiences","category-your-stories","tag-featured","tag-foster-care","tag-real-life-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Changing the way foster carers are recruited - IMO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/career-experiences\/changing-the-way-foster-carers-are-recruited\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Changing the way foster carers are recruited - IMO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Becoming a foster carer is a life-changing decision and I don&#8217;t believe that recruiting foster carers by telling them they could earn up to \u00a3500 per week in allowances is the answer. 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