The role of fostering in improving mental health for children in care

Children’s mental health is a hot topic, and with it being Children’s Mental Health Week recently, what better time to look at why fostering can be a crucial factor in improving the mental health of children and young people in care.?

Stability?

A lack of stability at home is often commonplace for looked after children. This can lead to trust issues with the adults in their life, and the potential development of anxiety disorders. The stability a foster home can offer brings with it a sense of security that was previously missing. This is crucial for their emotional healing. Consistency and safety can only be driven by the adults in their lives. At first, there may be a tendency to push these boundaries to test if these new adults will behave in the same manner they’ve become accustomed to. It’s only through the hard work and dedication of foster carers, being there, showing up day in day out that a child can start to rebuild their trust in adults.?

Building positive relationships?

With the building of trust, foster children will become better equipped to form healthy attachments and positive relationships. This is often a gradual process that can involve taking a step backwards and re-evaluating what we think about where a child’s development should be. Because of their lack of healthy early attachments, sometimes foster children are living with developmental delays. Foster carers meet the children where they are in that moment, sometimes taking them through early childhood milestones they may have missed as a baby. One thing we often see in neglected children is complex relationships with food. Some not having been taught how to feed themselves, or those who are used to being hungry not being able to recognise when they are full. This is a slow and emotional process. A hungry child may find it hard to trust that food will always be available to them. The relationship with the adult in their life, as well as the emotional support and reassurance they provide will steadily change their negative relationships into ones of trust.?

Healing trauma?

Most, if not all, of children in foster care have experienced some sort of trauma. After all, they’re no longer with their biological family for good reason. Whether this is neglect, abuse or loss. A therapeutic approach to their care, as well as being surrounded by a loving foster family can help to slowly heal their scars. Healing trauma doesn’t happen overnight, having a safe and nurturing space to process their experiences can help them work through what’s happened to them. Capstone adopts a therapeutic and healing approach to all foster care, so much so that we have our own in-house team of therapeutic specialists who are on hand to offer advice on how to best support children facing incredibly complicated backgrounds.??

Re-building self confidence?

Adverse experiences in their past can leave children questioning their own self-worth. It’s heart breaking to think that looked after children might believe that the things that have happened to them are in any way their fault. Being surrounded by a loving family, who support them, celebrates their successes and believes in their abilities can alter the way they see themselves. Fostering families can give vulnerable children access to opportunities they never would have had, whether that’s encouraging them academically, dedicating time and resources to their passions, or even just the belief in them that they can achieve their goals and they can begin to dream again without limits. Being part of a supportive family helps empower their vision of their future.?

Long term impact?

Time and time again we’ve seen the incredible things that care experienced young people can achieve when given the chance to thrive. Through stability, positive relationships, healing and reassurance a child can once again have a bright future. The role of the fostering family should never be understated. But, more than that, there is an obligation on society to help these vulnerable children who’ve often been failed by the first people meant to look after them. Through our charitable arm, we’ve seen so many young people turning their adversity to advantage. We’ve supported would be barristers, determined to improve laws and conditions for looked after children, young people start their own businesses, their own charities, and pursue their dreams across the globe.?

Children’s mental health matters.??

#capstonecomments #childrensmentalhealthweek?