Campaign to recruit specialist foster carers re-launched

Bridgend County Borough Council’s fostering team is re-launching its campaign to recruit specialist foster carers for a ‘challenging but rewarding role’ with plenty of support available every step of the way.

The campaign which includes Sky, radio, social media, Google and print advertising, is targeted towards people who would be willing to work with children and young people who have experienced trauma in their childhood who need support to adjust to living in a family environment.

The Transitional Carer scheme is a paid role, which involves hosting short-term placements (on average up to 24 weeks) where the carer will build a one-to-one relationship with the young person, showing commitment, patience, and dedication to help them to overcome barriers that may have led to the breakdown of previous living arrangements.

This may include helping young people to understand themselves, how their feelings may influence behaviours. Finding ways to increase a sense of belonging and enabling the young person to learn how to live within a family environment is key to successful transition.

You would not work in isolation in this role.

There is a dedicated package of support in place to enable the child to regulate their emotions and transition to a stable long-term home. This could be a move into long-term fostering, returning to birth family or relatives or onto an independent living environment.

Transitional Carers will work alongside multi-disciplinary professionals, with additional mentoring and guidance from an experienced and knowledgeable carer household.

The team are looking to recruit people who have the potential to understand or who would be willing to undertake training to enable them to understand the full impact of trauma upon a child.

The role would be suitable those with a background in childcare, social care, policing, teaching, youth work or previous experience of foster care. You will help to overcome barriers and move a young person into a long-term placement.

Successful applicants will need to be resilient and able to maintain a placement even in adverse or extreme circumstances and in crises with the support of a team.

Transitional carers will be expected to be able to form trusting and valuable relationships with a child or young person and possess the skills and knowledge to support and apply agreed ‘trauma-informed behavioural management strategies.’

Due to the nature of the role, the fostering team will ensure that all transitional carers have extensive training before they support a young person. Transitional carers are part of a dedicated foster care team - they work alongside behavioural analysts, childcare hub staff, the fostering placement team and wellbeing outreach workers.

To find out more about the Transitional Carer Scheme, visit: https:// bridgend.fosterwales.gov.wales or call: 01443 425 007.