Unsure whether you’re capable of fostering? We’re here to reassure you
Given our reputation as a leader in fostering, it’s only natural that we receive our fair share of questions regarding all aspects of foster care. We’ve noticed that some questions tend to crop up more than others – many of them from people who are second-guessing their ability to foster.
If you are one of them, we thought we’d debunk a few myths. It may be that after reading this piece, you realise that you do, indeed, have what it takes to become a foster carer!
There’s not a lot stopping you from fostering!
One of the most common occurrences is people seeing their age as a potential limit to their fostering ability. Here at Synergy Fostering, we ask that applicants are at least 25 years old to ensure that they have enough life experience before fostering. As long as you’re mentally and physically fit, there’s no upper age limit!
Another worry that you may have is that your property or living arrangements are not suitable for fostering. We assure you that it’s totally fine to foster from a rented property – as long as you seek permission from the council or your landlord before you do.
We also hear from many people who fear that they can’t become a foster parent because they are single. Again, we think this is a load of old rubbish – if you feel capable of looking after children on your own, then fostering could easily be for you.
We’ve also received questions in the past from people wondering if fostering is possible after receiving a criminal conviction. The answer is yes, as long as you declare all convictions right from the beginning and your offence isn’t violent, sexual or related to children.
Fostering is hard work, but (we think!) ultimately worth it
It’s still a common myth that you need certain qualifications or specialised experience to become a foster carer, but this totally isn’t the case; as long as you’re caring, patient, resilient and willing to put children’s needs before your own, you should do just fine.
There are countless other worries that people have expressed to us – such as whether they can fit fostering around full-time work, as well as how fostering will affect their existing children – but it would take us hours to answer every last one of them! So if you have any further queries about fostering, by all means, please contact the Synergy Fostering team.
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