What Is the Role of a Foster Parent?

Becoming a foster parent can be a rewarding experience for both you, your family and the foster child, but nailing down exactly what a foster parent does can be difficult.

Sure, you provide a home for your foster child and a safe haven from whatever circumstances led to the need to be fostered, but the role is much more than that. You may be in this person’s life for a short or long period of time, and every second counts.

It is your role as a foster parent to nurture, protect and love that child throughout their time in foster care.

Nurture

One of the key roles that a foster parent plays is to nurture their foster child and help them grow. Whether foster children are staying with you for a few days or a few years, every minute they are in your home could be a positive influence on the rest of their lives.

You may or may not know what the foster child has gone through, but you are not the foster child and have not experienced what they have been through. You don’t feel that same way that they do, and you don’t think the same way that they do, making a nurturing environment even more important to the overall development of the foster child.

You may or may not have experienced similar traumas that foster children have experienced, but all traumas are not alike nor are they experienced with the same intensity or outcomes. It is the foster parent’s role to acknowledge that children have unique experiences and that it is incumbent upon a foster parent to be patient, understanding and as nurturing as that child needs in order to suceed.

You have the potential to make a lasting, positive impact through providing a nurturing environment as a foster parent.

Protect

Many foster children come from tough situations and environments, and it is your job to protect them while they are in your care. Not only is your home a nurturing place for them to grow and develop, but it should also be somewhere that they feel safe, secure and comfortable enough to be vulnerable.

Protecting your foster child could be anything from providing them an escape from the issues that led to their need to be fostered or even making them feel like they can trust you and talk about their feelings – being safe also means feeling comfortable enough to be who you are and communicate how you feel.

Your home should be a protective environment and that includes physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Contact us to learn more about becoming a foster parent.

Love

Loving your foster child seems like a given as a foster parent, but showing love is a lot more than just providing a caring home – it’s combining all of the roles required of a foster parent to make your home a nurturing and safe place for them to grow and develop, as well as providing emotional support that shows your foster child that they are being heard and that you care about what they have to say.

If not you then who …If not now then when…. ….Contact us to learn more about becoming a foster parent.

Make a Difference – Become a Foster Parent!

If you are interested in fostering, please reach out to First Home Care, today. We are more than happy to assist you with beginning the process, walking you through the requirements and steps to become a foster parent and then, hopefully, matching you with a foster child.