In traditional family set-ups, parents might ask grandparents, aunties, uncles, or friends to take care of their child so they can have a well-deserved break. But what if you’re a foster parent and this isn’t an option?
That’s where respite foster care comes in. From what it is and how it works to the benefits it can have on the entire family, join us as we explore how respite foster care supports foster families.
What is respite care for foster families?
Although fostering is rewarding, managing the responsibilities of the role and helping children heal from complex trauma can be challenging at times, which means sometimes foster families need a chance to rest and recuperate.
They may also be caring for children with disabilities or have other commitments outside of fostering, which means they need regular breaks to balance everything on their plate.
Respite, also known as short break foster care, allows foster families to do just that. This vital short-term fostering support ensures foster children are cared for while their foster parents catch up on some rest.
This can prevent burnout, enabling foster parents to continue their fostering journey and provide more stability for children in their care.
Foster parents who use short break care aren’t abandoning their foster children, leaving them with strangers, or putting them at risk; they’re fulfilling a very human need to have time out so they’re ready to face the next challenge.
How does respite fostering work?
Respite foster care is essential support for foster families, which is why we offer all our foster parents 22 days of paid respite every single year.
It’s not something that’s typically planned at a moment’s notice; it’s carefully arranged with the foster parent and the responsible local authority to ensure the child’s best interests and needs are met.
The child will have the chance to meet their short break foster family before the date they’re due to stay with them and will generally remain with them for a few nights. If a regular arrangement is set up, they’ll always stay with the same family, so long as the child is happy and the short break carers are available.
5 Benefits of respite care
Prevents foster parent burnout
In most job roles, at the end of the day, you can clock out or log off, and that’s it – you forget all about it until the next day.
Fostering is not that type of role; it’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even when you aren’t providing one-to-one care, such as when your child is at school, you might be attending meetings, appointments, or training sessions, along with running a home and keeping on top of all the other things you need to do.
When you do have a child at home, you’re providing therapeutic foster care, which means the child is always at the centre of everything you do, and quite often you have to put your own thoughts and feelings aside to support them.
Doing this 365 days a year, without a break and time to yourself, is a one-way ticket to foster parent burnout, which is difficult to navigate and tricky to recover from.
Short break foster care can make everything feel more manageable and give you the break you need to keep on transforming young lives and prevent unplanned endings because you’re just too exhausted to keep on going.
Helps children build more secure relationships
In many families outside of fostering, children don’t just have relationships with their parents and siblings, but with the wider family too. Whether it’s an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, or a close family friend who could easily be related, these safe and stable connections give children even more people to lean on and learn from.
Respite arrangements can give children in care this experience too, and it’s why, wherever possible, they’ll always stay with the same respite foster family.
Often, children in care have been let down by the adults they trusted most, making it difficult for them to form attachments with new people. As their primary foster family, you’ll be their main secure attachment. But when they regularly spend time with their short break foster family, they’ll become like the child’s extended family, giving them even more people to trust and rely on, which will go a long way in helping them heal from their past.
Allows foster parents to live a balanced life
When you become a foster parent, it’s not something that you can simply slot into your life; instead, you have to fit everything else around fostering. But what that doesn’t mean is that you have to give up everything you enjoy, and say ‘no’ to every invitation.
For example, if you’re invited to a wedding or want to attend your child’s graduation, short break foster care allows you to do this without worrying about who is caring for your foster child.
This gives you some balance and can remind you of who you are outside of the fostering role, which is a very important part of self-care.
Supports parent-child relationships
There are lots of benefits to fostering when you already have children of your own – from teaching them empathy and how to share to understanding different backgrounds and building social skills. However, it can be challenging for birth children to share their parents with another child.
Short break care can give you the chance to spend some quality time with your own children, reminding them that although there is another child in the home, your love for them hasn’t changed; they matter too. This can go a long way in preventing your own children from competing with your foster children, making the home a happier environment for everyone.
Helps more people foster
Respite care makes fostering more accessible. Unlike emergency foster care, where you could receive a call about a child in the middle of the night, short break foster care is planned in advance and can fit around other commitments.
For instance, if you work full-time but are free at the weekends and want to help a child and their foster parents, respite care could be a great option for you. If you’re on the fence about fostering, short break care lets you dip your toe in before welcoming a child into your home full-time.
You’ll still need to complete the fostering assessment, which means if you do decide you want to offer ongoing care after providing respite, you won’t have to complete it again.
Other ways ISP is supporting foster families
At ISP, short break foster care isn’t our only support for foster parents. When you choose us, you’ll also benefit from:
- Regular supervision with your dedicated social worker
- Foster family support groups where you can share your experiences with other foster parents and build friendships.
- Our City & Guilds Assured training programme, which will help you learn how to use therapeutic approaches, such as Pace parenting and give you the skills and knowledge you need to foster with confidence.
- Access to highly qualified professional support, including therapists, social workers, counsellors and educational advisors.
- Our 24/7 helpline, which is open all year round, including weekends and bank holidays.
- Generous fostering allowances and additional perks.
- Online resources available at your fingertips.
- Free membership to FosterTalk
- Year-round local events and activities for your whole family to enjoy.
Start your therapeutic fostering journey
If you’d like to learn more about how respite care supports foster families or about therapeutic fostering in general, we’d love to hear from you.
Call us on 0800 0857 989 or submit your details via our online form and we’ll call you. Our highly knowledgeable and experienced team will answer your queries and help you start your fostering journey.
