Blogs

This remarkable essay was written by Adam, a 19-year-old university student in Scotland.
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 17th, 2016
Sara Lurie, director of The Fostering Network in Scotland, writes: Scotland has many things to be proud of but the fostering community must certainly be very high up on that list!
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 17th, 2016
Dr Patricia Mucavele is Head of Nutrition at the Children’s Food Trust - a charity which supports anyone who provides food for children by sharing skills and knowledge from nutrition professionals to give them the confidence to cook tasty, healthy meals from scratch.
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 16th, 2016
As The Fostering Network in Scotland launch Health Matters, a new programme exploring health issues affecting foster carers, their families and the children they care for, Sara Lurie, director of The Fostering Network in Scotland writes:
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 16th, 2016
Melissa Green (@tfn_melissa), our director of operations, shares her reflections on an important year for The Fostering Network in England
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 16th, 2016
For anyone who is thinking about being a foster carer the question of whether they would be willing to look after a child with significant special needs is a question they will have to grapple with. For some it will be an easy answer – they may have experience with their birth children or in the workplace of working with children with special needs; but for others it will take more thinking through. What is clear is that with the number of children who need a foster family growing – around 70 per cent of whom have special needs - and with the increasing need for more foster families (The Fostering Network has released figures reporting that 9,070 new foster families are needed in 2016), the question of whether or not a prospective foster carer feels they have the skills and qualities needed to look after a child with special needs is becoming ever more important.
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 13th, 2016
Foster carers do a fantastic job transforming the lives of many children and young people that they care for – but foster care also transforms the lives of many foster carers and their families.
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 13th, 2016
The sun is out and the birds are singing, and The Fostering Network continues campaigning with a spring in our step.
By Policy and Campaigns tFN on May 12th, 2016

Following from my last blog about what exactly a teenager is, let’s look at the basic dos and don’ts – the golden rules – for managing pre-teen and early teen behaviour.

By Cathy Glass on May 4th, 2016
It’s a beautiful, sunny Wednesday morning. We’re suited and booted and on our way to panel to be approved as foster carers. We’re meeting Stef (our Form F assessor) at a café near to where the panel is taking place, to have a little run through the potential questions we can expect. As someone who has served on the panel, I have a view on the questions I might have asked us if the roles were reversed. And I have a plan.
By Lucy Stevens on April 27th, 2016