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Deciding to bring a foster child into your home is a major decision for any foster family to make. The next step is to then prepare for the foster child’s arrival. While it is impossible to predict everything needed ahead of time, here are a few common wants (and needs) to help you and your foster child get started.
#1. Safety
The first thing to consider is how to keep your foster child safe within your space. Making your home safe for a toddler is going to look a lot different than making it safe for a teenager. Do your research, keeping your foster child’s age in mind, to determine the best way to proceed. For example, a toddler will need childproof locks on doors and cabinets, and furniture that is soft without any hard edges. Safety with a teenager is more about earning their trust, and depending on their history, you may need to hide certain items that could pose as a danger to them. Work with your caseworker to learn as much as you can about your child, and determine how you can make your home a safe space before they arrive.
# 2. Support
Once the child is safe, the next thing they need is to feel emotional support from you as their foster family. Imagine if you were suddenly uprooted overnight and sent to live with strangers. How would you feel? Use empathy to put yourself in your foster child’s shoes. Assure them that you care and are here to help them transition to their new living situation in any way you can. Show warmth and gratitude for their arrival, as this will help them bring down their walls and ease their fears.
#3. Acceptance
Along with care and support, your foster child needs to feel accepted for who they are. Many times, foster children arrive with both literal and emotional baggage. The role of a foster family is not to show judgment about the child’s past. Instead, accept your foster children exactly as they are today, while offering them a loving home where they can thrive going forward. Show acceptance by treating them like the rest of your family, and give them time to open up about their past when they are ready.
#4. Predictability
Another thing that will help a foster child to thrive is a predictable routine. Communicate what their schedule will be day in and day out. Give them a tour of the school they will attend, so that they feel confident on their first day. Let them choose an after-school activity they will enjoy. Stick to a regular bedtime. Some foster children have come from chaotic households without any sense of predictability. Establishing a routine will reduce stress, leading to a happier household overall.
Foster children arrive with their own unique wants and needs. Use these suggestions as a guide to help you prepare beforehand, and start your foster family off on the right foot.
Every child needs and deserves to grow up safe and protected from abuse and neglect, and caring foster parents offer children support and stability when they need it most. At Camelot Care Centers, we specialize in higher-level foster care for children and adolescents that need extra support. We partner with our foster parents/homes to provide trauma informed care and additional services, including in-home counseling, parent support and training, tele-psychiatry, and therapeutic mentoring, to maintain children at the least restrictive, yet most appropriate level of care. Camelot Care Centers (“Camelot”) is a Child Welfare Agency licensed by the State of Illinois, a member of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY), and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA).
