Our fostering home is now officially able to take a Parent and Child (P+C) placement.
Blue Sky have this slightly specialised branch of fostering well covered.
Great that they do; there's a big need for homes to help a parent who needs help with their parenting.
But it must be done properly, and BS have got it taped.
We kinda 'qualifed' (got all our ducks in a line) on the Monday after we'd finished helping with our grandchild's half-term.
My mobile went off a couple of days earlier; Blue Sky's Parent and Child bods had a case in front of them and they thought we might be a match. They knew we couldn't start until Monday, but that fitted. Those magic words: "Would you be willing to take a Parent and Child who…?"
Then followed an extensive pen pic of the case, they told us everything they knew.
And I can share the gist of it without compromising anybody.
A 15 year old girl whose baby isn't born yet, excluded from her family home because she's made allegations about a man in the house; a small house with not enough bedrooms. The case is going to court. The father of the baby has a criminal record (he's 16) and got himself on the offenders register. He won't be allowed to visit his partner and his child at their foster home while they're in foster care. They will meet at an officiated Contact centre, probably 3-5 times a week.
Our job would be to coach the mother in parenting her newborn and record her efforts and skills.
We said yes.
The placement went elsewhere.
My mobile went off again.
"Would you be willing to take a Parent and Child who…?"
We almost said "Yes" straight out, we just wanted to get stuck in.
The mum is 16, the eldest of six by several different men, the chaotic waves ripple outwards from this family in every direction. All the stepfathers were vocal and combative about the pregnancy and the boy who will be father. The young mother needed a break from the tumult and tension. Another small house with too many people. Social Services want to give her a chance to be a passable mum.
We said yes.
The placement went elsewhere.
In a nutshell, without giving too much away, one of the local authorities thought they could place the P+C somewhere less expensive. The other had it decided for them that the P+C should go somewhere (much) more expensive.
Ye, go figure.
So here we crouch in the starting blocks.
C'mon! We want this!
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