What is respite fostering?
Respite foster carers provide a very valuable service by providing temporary care to foster children so our regular foster carers can have a break. Respite carers may also offer support to families who are at risk of breakdown because they don’t have other support available to them.
Respite fostering is a way of getting involved without having a child living with you full time – a child or children will usually stay with you for just a few days at a time. How often you provide respite depends on your availability.
Respite fostering: a case study
Nirmal, who is six years old, has been with his foster carers for two years. He is really settled with these carers and he likes being there. Nirmal has very challenging behaviour and needs to be supervised constantly. To support the carers in continuing to care for Nirmal, they have regular breaks called ‘respite’. Nirmal has regular respite foster carers whom he stays with for a weekend every two months. He has a great relationship with them both.
Could you be a respite foster carer?
Could you provide respite and look after a child for a short while for another foster carer? If you’re patient and can commit to regular weekends to look after a child or young person who may have more challenging behaviour, we would love to hear from you. To find out more about what’s involved, call us on 0300 131 2797 or enquire here.