Sponsored Editorial: Produced in association with Kent County Council

Christmas should be a magical time, but for many children and young people in foster care, this time of year can be stressful and difficult.

Separated from their birth family, children need to feel safe, loved and reassured that things are going to be OK. They deserve to experience Christmas as a fun, exciting time, where traditions can be enjoyed, and positive memories made.

Recent government figures suggest that as of 2020, there are currently 78,150 children in the care system in England alone, the highest proportion of children in care in the last decade. It is estimated that around 72% of those children are in foster placements and numbers continue to rise with a nationwide shortage of foster carers struggling to meet this demand.

The coronavirus pandemic has not helped this situation with children continuing to require the safety and security of foster care. As winter is now here and Christmas approaches, we are looking to recruit more foster carers to join our fostering community, including people who can provide safety to children in an emergency.

Foster carers, Justina and Chris Hind have been fostering with Kent Fostering for seven years, more recently supporting some of our most vulnerable children and young people through the Emergency Bed Scheme.

“As foster carers, for us Christmas is about creating something special for children who were merely strangers to us only a few weeks ago," said the couple.

"We specialise in emergency foster care, so the foster children that tend to come to us often arrive at our doorstep at short notice, sometimes in the early hours of the morning or late at night, with their worldly possessions in carrier bags, tired and frightened, with little sense of where they are and how long it will be before they are moved again. Although it is likely they have been removed from their home for their own safety, the alternative initially is daunting.”

The scheme provides a safe haven for children and young people, aged up to 17, who are in need of an immediate place of safety at a time of crisis. It was developed to provide emergency support to children who are unable to remain living in their current home.

“As an emergency foster carer, we have children placed with us with very little notice and this requires a certain level of flexibility, including being able to take children and young people into our home on the same day we are told about them," Justina and Chris added.

"Our own families soon become extended family of the children in our care, embracing our roles as foster carers and as a foster family. They too embrace our foster children without hesitation and as we all approach Christmas, there are always extra presents under our tree, and plenty more chairs around the dinner table.

"However, in reality we are celebrating Christmas with children and young people who are little more than strangers and are subsequently adapting to family traditions that are unfamiliar to them. We are conscious that festivities must ensure that time is made for them to see their own families from whom they must now live apart, and it is often a painful reminder of the circumstances that have brought us together.

"As foster carers, we hope that our home is a safe, stable and nurturing environment and that we are able to offer an abundance of support to a child or young person during a time of crisis, meeting and exceeding their emotional, physical and material needs whilst they are in our care for only a short space of time.”

Kent Fostering currently have just three fostering families providing Emergency Bed care. During the last year, these carers alone have supported over a 100 children and young people, ranging from a just a few weeks in age to 17 years old. The service however are keen to recruit many more foster carers for this rewarding role.

The scheme runs on a rota of six weeks on, two weeks off. This ensures that each foster carer receives necessary time to be available and support the children and young people in their care and have a break in-between to recharge from the intensity of the work. In addition to this, Emergency Bed carers are entitled to 14 nights holiday allowance per year, rising to 16 nights for Skilled or Advanced level carers.

A £250 per week retainer is paid to Emergency Bed Foster Carers for each bed provided, with a maximum of two beds per household. In addition to this payment, foster carers receive the higher rate of Reward and Maintenance for each child placed regardless of their age, currently £465.34 per week rising to £520.10 for Advanced level carers.

If the child or young person is assessed to have complex needs, an additional £87.65 per week will also be paid.

“Emergency Bed Fostering works for our family. Chris also runs his own business, and we like to take time together. The rota along with additional leave works well for us. It allows us to recharge our batteries, get ready for the next young people and we go again.”

“Inevitably, the question is always asked of how long will they be staying with you? And we are then reminded of the short-lived nature of our roles in these children’s and young people’s lives. It is not an easy role, but with a good level of resilience and willingness to support these children, it can be one of the most rewarding jobs in fostering. For us, the best reward is to see these amazing young people move on to better places and a more permanent home, and progress in every aspect of their lives.

We hope that their time with us will become a fond but distant memory. Although we will feel their absence, it is likely that their place will be taken by new children who are spending this Christmas in fear. There may be new names under our Christmas tree, new faces around the dinner table and of course new names for Santa to learn.”

Mark Vening, head of Kent Fostering said: “Our service works extremely hard to make sure that all children and young people that come into our care have the best possible support available. As a service, we strive to find a stable, safe and secure home where they can thrive and grow into successful young people and adults. You will need to be prepared to take a child into your home at short notice, at any given time, day or night.

"Children will usually stay for only a few days, whilst longer-term plans are being considered. As an emergency bed foster carer, you will take on a transitional role, either supporting the child to go home to their parents or helping them and their future carers to live together.”

To find out more about Kent Fostering and how you could become a foster carer please call our enquiries team today on 03000420 002 or visit www.kentfostering.co.uk for more information.