When a child arrives at a foster carer’s home, they need support and care more than ever. As a foster carer, you give a child the support and care they need until they can be reunited with their family or guardians.
However, offering a foster child a safe space isn’t enough to make them feel relaxed and at home with you. If you want to know how to make a foster child feel welcome in your home, the tips below can help:
1. Get Some Background Knowledge
No matter whether you’re fostering through the Foster Care Associates or another fostering agency in the UK, it’s essential to get some background information about your foster child before they arrive with you. Things that you might want to know about your foster child include what their favourite hobbies are, what foods they like and dislike, whether they have any medical requirements, and what they like to be called. Once you know these things, you can use this information to make your foster child feel welcome in your home.
2. Create a Welcome Basket
Many foster children arrive with truly little in the form of clothing and essentials, which is why foster carers should consider creating them a welcome basket. This could include things like clothing, toiletries, books, and toys.
3. Hang Some Recent Photos
For this tip, you will need to ask your fostering agency for some recent photos of your foster child and their family. Then, simply place them around your house. These personal touches will help them feel as if your house is their home.
4. Give Them a Tour of Your House
Familiarity with their new home will go a long way to making your foster child feel welcome. For this reason, giving your foster child a tour of your home as soon as they feel ready is a good idea. Show them where their bedroom and nearest bathroom are, and tell them where they can find essentials, such as toothpaste.
5. Update Their Bedroom
All foster carers in the UK are required to provide foster children with a room of their own. This provides a space where they can go to relax and feel safe.
To make your foster child feel welcome in your home, work with them to decorate their room and make this space their own. You could re-paint it in their favourite colour, add accessories such as new bedding or cushions, and add photos of their birth parents.
6. Cook Them Their Favourite Meal
Cooking for (or with) your foster child is a wonderful way to make them feel welcomed into your home. If you’ve followed the first tip in this article, you already know what your foster child enjoys and dislikes eating, but if not, you’ll need to ask them.
7. Listen to Them
When a foster child first arrives in your home, they may not want to talk about their life experiences. Understandably, they may arrive with feelings of grief, anger and uncertainty. However, you must make your foster child aware that you are there for them should they want or need to talk to you.
If you’re about to welcome a foster child into your home for the first time, congratulations. Fostering is one of the most rewarding things you can ever do. However, while this may be true, it can also be a scary time for you and them. To make your foster child feel more at ease with this transition, try out some of the tips above.
