
The number of children coming into care is continuing to rise. In Denbighshire, there are currently around 250 children and young people in the care of the local authority, but just over 40 fostering households.
Perhaps you have thought about fostering in the past wondered what is the difference between fostering with your local council and fostering with other agencies? Deciding who to foster with can feel like an overwhelming decision.
Denbighshire County Council have legal responsibility for all children in their care. By fostering with Denbighshire County Council, you will be fostering directly with the team who are involved in making plans for the child. Everyone involved – from the child’s social worker, fostering social workers and foster carers – are all part of the same organisation. We are one, connected team.
When you foster with your local authority Foster Wales Denbighshire, you choose people, not profit. As a not-for-profit organisation, all our funding goes directly into the fostering service we provide to help build better futures for local children and young people in Denbighshire.
Local authority fostering is about keeping children in their community, close to friends and family members, and allows them to stay at their current school, when it’s right for them. This can give children some stability and help keep their sense of identity.
meet local authority foster carers, Amy and Paul
Our foster carers Amy and Paul have been fostering with Foster Wales Denbighshire for over a year. Amy shares why fostering with their local authority was the right choice for them and how their first year as foster carers has been.
why did you choose foster wales denbighshire?
“We decided to foster with Foster Wales Denbighshire after attending an open evening with local foster carers and staff. They were knowledgeable, caring and spoke with such passion. The whole team were so personable, and we left the event armed with all the information and knowledge that we needed to know that fostering with Foster Wales Denbighshire was the right choice for us a family. We never even considered fostering with anyone else after that evening.”
“We left open evening armed with the right information and knowledge to know that fostering with our local authority was the right choice for us a family.” – Amy
how was your experience of the application process?
“The application process can be stressful and quite intense at times. However, call us mad, but we enjoyed it! You think you know everything about yourself and your partner but during the process, whilst discussing your upbringing and your family home life, you really learn so much about each other. If you keep on top of your paperwork – the forms and filling them in, and be open and honest about everything, the process is relatively straight forward.”
what advice would you give to anyone thinking about becoming a foster carer?
“Fostering is the best thing we have ever done. Always remember to be open minded as every child will have their own individual needs. If you have patience, understanding and love to give, you will be a fantastic foster carer.”
“If you have patience, understanding and love to give, you will be a fantastic foster carer.” – Amy
“Your first foster family experience will always be really special as it is where your fostering journey begins. Foster children will never leave our hearts. Saying goodbye when they move on will be your hardest goodbye. I would like to say that it gets easier, but it doesn’t. It just feels different each time because you know what to expect and you learn to handle it better. Knowing you’ve had a positive influence and impact on part of that child’s journey is what it’s all about.”
“The support we have received from our supervising social worker has been fantastic. I know that whenever we need her she is only a phone call or text away. Even if she’s busy at the time, she will always acknowledge me and let me when she will get back to me. During those hard goodbyes she has been a great support to us as foster carers and our family. She has been a big part of our fostering journey and we couldn’t have done it without her.”
what is your favourite fostering moment so far?
“Our first foster child would only stop crying when me or Paul held them. We knew straight away that we had gained their trust and that they felt safe with us. We knew then that we were doing a good job.”
“Your first foster family experience is really special” – Amy
could you foster with your local authority?
If you live in Denbighshire and feel that you could help build better futures for local children, contact Foster Wales Denbighshire and a member of our dedicated team will be in touch for a friendly, no obligation chat to help you decide if Fostering is right for you.
If you live anywhere else in Wales visit Foster Wales (external website) to find your local authority fostering team.