New research highlights expertise and support provided by social workers in Foster Wales Denbighshire, in attempt to encourage more people to foster.
With over 7,000 young people in care across Wales – 198 here in Denbighshire – the need for more Foster Carers is increasingly pressing.
In January the national network of 22 Welsh local authority fostering teams, Foster Wales, launched a campaign to recruit an additional 800 foster families by 2026.
Foster Wales Denbighshire joined the campaign, ‘Bring Something to the Table,’ to share realistic experiences from the fostering community to respond to common barriers to enquiries.
Some of these include a lack of confidence, misconceptions around criteria, and a belief that that fostering doesn’t fit with certain lifestyles.
“Our supervising social workers play a vital role in supporting our community of foster carers” – Julie Fisher, Foster Wales Denbighshire Team Manager
The latest phase of the campaign focuses on the role of foster care social workers and the ‘support bubble’ that exists around foster carers, to provide potential carers with:
- Information andunderstanding around the social workers’ role, and how the wider fostering community can support them.
- Confidence and assurance that social workers are caring, pro-active experts who work hard to support both young people and foster carers.
- Motivation to start the process to become a foster carer via a Local Authority.
In a recent public YouGov survey only 44% respondents said social work was well-respected and nearly two fifths (39%) of adults polled felt social work practitioners “often got things wrong.” While only 11% of social workers currently believe social work is well-respected.
“We hold regular coffee mornings, forums, events, and days out to give the foster carers chance to share experiences, get advice and create a community of foster carers in an informal setting” – Stacey Supervising Social Worker, Foster Wales Denbighshire
The latest ‘Bring something to the table’ campaign is guided by a newly commissioned survey to better understand preconceptions and motivations of social workers. There were 309 respondents and key findings include:
- 78% social workers surveyed said they entered the profession to support and help families
- 18% foster carers said negative perceptions of social workers were because of News coverage
- 29% foster carers said before meeting a social worker they thought they would be ‘people with heavy caseloads and lots of paperwork.’
- 27% social workers surveyed believe potential carers fear being judged by professionals
Stacey is a supervising social worker at Foster Wales Denbighshire and has spent 4 years in the role. She reflected on what makes a great foster carer, and how Foster Wales Denbighshire supports local foster carers.
“We work closely with our foster carers to identify skills needed in a fostering role, some of these include being open minded, patient, non-judgmental, nurturing and be able to relate to children and their families.
“When you foster with Foster Wales Denbighshire, you will have access to dedicated local knowledge and support, regular contact and supervision with your social worker and comprehensive learning and development opportunities to meet all of your fostering needs.
“We also hold regular coffee mornings, forums, events, and days out to give the foster carers chance to share experiences, get advice and create a community of foster carers in an informal setting.”
“Without that strong, dependable support network around you, fostering would be so much harder and I doubt that we could’ve done it for so long” – Sharen & Colin, Foster Carers, Denbighshire
Sharen and Colin have been fostering teenagers with their Local Authority in Denbighshire for 24 years and say that they couldn’t have fostered for all this time without the support of their team at Foster Wales Denbighshire.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have had some great supervising social workers over the years and have made many connections and lifelong friends during this time,” says Sharen. “Without that strong, dependable support network around you, fostering would be so much harder and I doubt that we could’ve done it for so long without the team in Denbighshire.
“Our current supervising social worker, Hazel, always goes that extra mile to support us all as a family. We have a house full of teenagers and she supports us all, including our two birth children, not just Colin and me, which is equally important. We can call her anytime and she will be there in a flash, and if she’s not available at the time for whatever reason, she will make sure that someone from the team is there for us.
“She is such a good listener and I feel comfortable in sharing all my personal thoughts and feelings with her during supervision. If we are going through a tough time, she will always check in on us, which is reassuring.
Read Sharen and Colin’s blog: Why we love fostering teenagers
Julie Fisher, Team Manager at Foster Wales Denbighshire added: “Our supervising social workers play a vital role in supporting our community of foster carers. This support means that foster carers have a safe space to talk through their feelings and a specific person to offer advice and guidance. The supervising social worker will get to know your whole family so that they can help to understand how best to match children and young people with your family so that everyone has a positive experience.”
For more information about fostering in Denbighshire, or to make an enquiry, contact us today.
