Sarah and Andrew are foster carers with Caritas Care and were approved for children 0-18 years of age in August 2020. Sarah, 34 & Andrew, 33 are also parents; they have a son who was only 18 months old at the time. They made a conscious decision to foster whilst he was young.
Almost immediately after becoming approved foster carers with Caritas Care, Sarah and Andrew began providing regular respite to a boy aged 15 years. At this point, Sarah and Andrew realised the reality of fostering, and they loved it.
On December 15th, 2020, a short-term placement came to them, a baby girl who was just 1 week old; she stayed with them for 6 months. However, On March 21, a referral came in for a young girl, who was ten years old; she was a long-term placement. After discussing it with their Social Worker, Lucy, Sarah, and Andrew knew she would be a good match for them.
Sarah and Andrew knew it would be challenging, especially as they still had the baby and their own son under two years of age. So, within 7 months of becoming foster carers, Sarah and Andrew were a family of 5; however, they could no longer provide respite to their young man because they had no spare room.
Sarah said, “it was lovely to see our foster child with the baby, and my son who was nearly 2; they got on great. She took to the baby really well; she helped with the baby and loved playing with both children. In a way, the children helped her to settle; she felt she had a role within the family. We wanted her to feel that she belonged here; this was her home.’ This was important.
The placement for the baby ended 3 months later. Sarah said, ‘Once the baby had left us, we then had our birth child, who was 2 and a ten-year-old child, so we decided that we would probably not take another baby.’
‘We know we have the option to choose the referrals of the children. However, we have to meet the needs of all our children, especially when we have two children at very different stages of their lives.’
Click here to read more about Sarah and Andrew’s fostering story…
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Rated Outstanding by Ofsted.
