Long Term/ Short Term Placements

Long Term placements are offered to children who are expected to remain in care until they reach adulthood. Long term placements offer children a permanent home. It is usually agreed within a child’s care plan that it is intended that the child will remain in foster care until they turn 18 years of age. Sometimes, when a child is placed into a home and things are going well, and there is no intention for the child to leave, the child will be formally “linked” to their foster family. This means that a panel have agreed that the match is a positive one and one which is supported by the Local Authority as the long-term home for the child. This “linking” process offers a sense of permanence for the child/young person.

Short Term placements are for children where they are not expected to remain in their placement on a long-term basis. It may be that there is a plan for them to be rehabilitated home, or for a family member to be assessed to care for them. Short term placements could be anywhere from a few days up to 2 years. Sometimes placements can be intended to be long term however they end sooner than expected. This could happen for a number of reasons. It may be that the child requests to live somewhere else, a new family member steps forward to care for the child or it may be that the placement is not working for some reason. Whatever happens, any decision to move a child will be made by the professional team with the best interests of the child at heart.

Sibling placements

Sibling placements are when we have families who have the space and ability to care for more than one child therefore giving us the chance to offer a home whereby siblings can live together. It is vitally important for siblings to remain together wherever this is deemed in the best interests of the children. Sadly, there are not enough homes with the space and ability to care for siblings which means siblings are often separated into different foster homes. This can be very difficult for the children and can cause further trauma at an already difficult time in their lives.

There are times when it is appropriate for siblings to share a bedroom, which can make finding a placement to keep them together easier. It is useful to consider whether your fostering bedroom could accommodate more than one child in case this were ever to be an opportunity presented to you.

Siblings will often have the same Social Worker who will know the family well and will be able to ensure that the siblings being together is the best thing for each child.

Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking children (UASC placements)

These are placements which are offered to children who have fled their home countries to seek safety in the UK. UAS children have often experienced or witnessed significant violence and may have lost close family members. They may have also experienced a traumatic journey to the UK. Their trauma is often compounded by finding themselves alone without family in a country where they may not speak the language. UASC placements offer safety and stability to children who have often suffered terrible loss, as well as consistent access to food, water, heat and education, all of which may have become sparse in their home countries. Fostering UASC can often require foster parents to make use of tools such as google translate, visual aids and other means of communication. It is important that we take time to support the children to understand the cultural differences they may be experiencing, as well as take time to ensure they can still access the cultural norms, foods and places of worship they are used to. UASC foster parents need to be warm, understanding and adaptable.

Emergency placements

Many placements happen under emergency circumstances where children need to be placed immediately. The police can remove children under “police protection” which ensures their immediate safety, and they will then be found a suitable foster home. It is also possible for a Social Worker to remove a child under an “emergency protection order” so that they can be taken into care for their safety. Emergency placements are not planned and often happen quickly. It may not be possible to gather as much information about the child as would be possible in a planned placement. Sometimes, children who are placed under emergency circumstances may have little/no belongings with them so it may be necessary to dash to the supermarket to buy some essentials on the first night. It is important that foster parents remain calm, welcoming and nurturing when welcoming any child into their home, however in an emergency situation there may be an even greater need for the foster parent to assign time and understanding to the child who is likely to be scared, upset and confused.

Respite placements

Respite placements are temporary placements where children stay for a “break” or “holiday” from their main placement. They return to their main placement at the end of their respite stay. Respite plays an important role in fostering as it allows foster parents time to take a break from time to time. This can be necessary for many reasons, such as feeling emotionally exhausted, needing time for some self-care or needing to attend an event. Whatever the reason is, the most important thing is that respite is planned in a way that has the best interests of the child in mind at all times. This means offering the child the chance to meet their respite carers before their stay, and ensuring the child feels wanted and not rejected in any way.

Some foster parents choose not to offer longer term placements, instead opting to offer only respite placements. This is of support to other foster parents who can then rely upon them to offer a warm and friendly home whilst they take a break.

Solo placements

Solo placements are for children who cannot be placed alongside other children. This could be because the child presents a risk to other children, or other children present a risk to the child, or the child has asked not to be placed with other children. Some homes will only have the space for 1 child, however in some cases families have the ability to care for more than one child and therefore could care for children from different families simultaneously. For many children, this works well, however there are some children for whom this is not an option. Where it is absolutely clear that a child needs to be placed alone, the Local Authority will request a Solo placement.  

Standard placements

All of our placements are high quality and well supported however we offer 2 main levels of intervention to support the children/young people we are working with. Our placements usually fall into one of 2 categories which determine the level of support that goes into the family. The 2 categories are “Standard” and “Enhanced”. Our Standard placements are the most common placements we offer, which are for the majority of children who come into our care. Within these placements, all children are offered a safe, stable and nurturing home with our foster parents. We provide therapeutic support to the family both through work with the foster parents and also through direct work with the child/young person. Our standard placements receive the same great level of support, supervision and training as our enhanced placements, just at a less intensive level. The decision as to whether a child is placed into a standard placement, or an enhanced placement is made between TheraParent Fostering and the placing Local Authority at the time of the referral being shared. The level of support offered differs depending on the needs of the individual child.

Regardless of whether a child is receiving a standard package of support or an enhanced package of support, the family will always still receive our high level of support, supervision, training and guidance. All foster parents will continue to have access to 24/7 support from our friendly and reliable team, as well as all other benefits noted on our Support information page.

Enhanced placements

All of our placements are high quality and well supported however we offer 2 main levels of intervention to support the children/young people we are working with. Our placements usually fall into one of 2 categories which determine the level of support that goes into the family. The 2 categories are “Standard” and “Enhanced”. Our Enhanced placements are designed to support those children with more complex needs. The professional support that is offered to an enhanced placement is more frequent to ensure that the child feels well supported at all times from all angles. There is also additional support for the foster parents to help them to understand their child’s needs and how to best meet these needs. Enhanced placements benefit from frequent teaching and coaching from our Therapeutic Lead, and frequent visits to the child from our Life Coach.

Regardless of whether a child is receiving a standard package of support or an enhanced package of support, the family will always still receive our high level of support, supervision, training and guidance. All foster parents will continue to have access to 24/7 support from our friendly and reliable team, as well as all other benefits noted on our Support information page.