Fostering children with complex needs

Children with complex needs have a range of unique and challenging conditions that overlap, affecting their everyday lives. This includes learning disabilities, sensory impairments, physical disabilities, medical issues and/or mental health disorders. They require a lot of additional or specialist support so that they can lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Complex needs can be evident at birth, or they can develop later on in life after illness, injury or significant trauma. However, due to the complex profiles these individuals have, finding the right treatment and care can be a challenge. This is because having multiple conditions that overlap affects everything from cognitive ability and social skills, to emotional development and behaviour.

According to the Fostering Network, there are around seven out of 10 looked-after children with complex care needs, compared to two in 10 of all children.

Sadly, many children in care with complex needs have behavioural issues that are misunderstood, may struggle with their emotional regulation or find it difficult to communicate. This is why we always need foster parents who are willing to open up their hearts and homes to young people who desperately need to be supported and cared for.

Becoming a foster parent is no walk in the park, but it’s an incredibly enriching and rewarding career. Caring for children with complex needs requires patience, resilience and an open mind, but you’ll soon realise that the benefits far outweigh the bumps in the road.

Here are just some of the incredible benefits of fostering a child with complex needs:

• You become their biggest advocate and supporter
• You help them become more independent and confident
• You help them better understand themselves and the world around them
• You demonstrate what a solid, meaningful relationship is
• You help them discover their interests and passions
• You play a big role in helping them heal from past trauma
• You get to watch them hit milestones and reach their full potential
• You’re there to show kindness, love and compassion when they need it most
• You’re giving a vulnerable child a chance to succeed in life

It’s important to remember that a foster child with disabilities has not only experienced the heartache and confusion of being separated from their birth family, but they also have their own set of unique struggles. Their behaviour and how they express themselves may have been misunderstood and labelled as inappropriate, bad or problematic. Or they simply don’t know how to communicate what they need. For example, if you’re fostering a child with autism, they may have limited or delayed speech, or be completely non-verbal.

That’s why at ISP, we founded therapeutic fostering. It’s a specialist approach designed to make fostering a child with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or complex trauma more effective. Each child receives an enhanced level of support from an integrated team of experts, which includes therapists, social workers, education advisors and of course, foster parents. We’ve also established our own special educational needs schools to help young people with complex needs thrive in a safe learning environment.

When put simply, the art of therapeutic fostering lies in looking beyond behaviour. Instead, we should focus on the reasons behind it, and work with that to influence positive change.