AROUND 2,800 children and young people are currently living in foster care in Northern Ireland, which represents a 4.8 per cent increase in children in care since the beginning of the pandemic. With fewer people coming forward to offer foster homes, HSCNI Foster Care need new foster carers more than ever.
 
Daniel and his husband Lee have been fostering for nearly a year. The couple have provided short breaks for two young teenagers since being approved as HSCNI foster carers.

“Fostering was always on the cards for us, we’d thought about it for quite a long time,” says Daniel. “We dote on children – we’ve always been so involved with our own nieces and nephews, helping out and spending time with them, and loved the idea of having our own family.

“I work with children with disabilities and I feel I’m able to use my experience to help other young people. It’s all going really well so far. Although we’re offering short breaks at the moment, we would seriously consider taking on a child or young person on a longer-term basis in the future.
 
“Lee and I are a good team. We feel our role is about respecting the young person, being a listening ear for them, responding to their needs and just trying to help them in any way we can.
 

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“We found the process quite long to be honest, but I think Covid probably didn’t help this as it took place during lockdown, but we always understood why it had to be thorough.
 
“Our friends and family are so supportive of us, they’re delighted we are fostering. Our supervising social worker is just lovely. She is very honest with us and fills us in on every detail so we feel we’re prepared. We can contact her any time, it’s so good to know there’s someone there if we need back up. 
 
“It is so rewarding to give a child a good start in life. We want the young people we look after to know how much we care about them and hopefully they get so much confidence from that.”
 
Lee adds: “I knew from my early adult years that I wanted to foster. I had a strong role model in my mother and I wanted to give the same parental love I got to children who needed a loving home. I was very lucky to meet a partner who shared the same beliefs in fostering and the positivity it can be to a child.
 
“In my research into fostering I read a lot about who can foster and the support they will get. I would tell anyone considering it, should it be a single person or a couple, heterosexual or same sex, to ask questions and do their research. Ask to be put in touch with a foster carer and talk with them.”
 
As a HSCNI foster carer you are never on your own. We provide financial support, a comprehensive training programme, 24-hour social work support and more. We welcome new foster carers regardless of race, religion, language, culture, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation.
 
To find out how you could give a child a brighter future please call 0800 0720 137 or visit adoptionandfostercare.hsnci.net      

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