Fostering can bring many benefits into the lives of both the children who are placed and the adults who look after them. There are thousands of children being fostered today in this country. These are children and young adults who would otherwise potentially be alone in the world or be in toxic relationships and homes with their natural parents. There are many benefits to the foster care parents in having these children living with them, not least of which is the feeling of bettering their lives, and giving them a chance they would not have had in other circumstances. 

What Are The Benefits Of Fostering For The Children?

But what of the children themselves? What are the benefits to them of fostering? The first benefit is stability. Children who are put into foster care may well never have had a stable home relationship, and this can damage them in a number of ways. It can give them anxiety disorders about strangers, since they might have a fear that everyone will treat them badly. It could lead to problems forming relationships. It may even mean that, as adults, these children are unable to believe in themselves enough to hold down a good job and build their careers. By offering these children who desperately need foster care the chance of a different life, foster parents are giving them the stability that they are looking for. They can build their confidence and in turn, use that confidence to lead successful lives. 

Another benefit is education. A technique often used with foster children is ‘guided education’. This is learning with the child in mind, using their skills and likes to create a well-rounded teaching experience that will give them the knowledge and qualifications they need. Foster children can be behind their peer group when it comes to education. They may have missed a lot of schooling due to their home life, or it could be that they haven’t been motivated to learn before, due to feeling worthless or unloved. With guided education, they are given the tools they need to help themselves.

You can also help these children to live normal lives and to get access to all of the things they should. Whether this means taking them to dental tests or hearing tests, ensuring that they eat a nutritious diet, and enabling them to go to school; you can help them to lead a normal existence, which they otherwise would not be able to. This is something that a lot of people tend to take for granted today because it is something that is so normal to them and their children. However, for a lot of kids, these basic necessities are not a reality and it is something that they are missing out on. Wouldn’t it be good to be able to give a child all of these things?

How Else Can Fostering Help?

A foster child won’t just have their new foster parents and possibly siblings to take care of them; they will have a social worker to look out for them too. All this extra attention and focus while in foster care will build their self-esteem and will ensure that no matter what their problems and how they want to deal with them, there will be someone they can go to for help. Even though a child may only live with their foster family for a few months, in the majority of cases the children and the foster parents keep in touch. This means that the love, affection, and stability that the children have had will continue for many years to come. 

Finally, although some wisdom states that it is best for a child to remain with their parents (or parent) in as many cases as possible, this is not always true. A foster family is an established way of allowing rifts to heal and bonds to reform, so as to enable families to build themselves up again. This may be because of abusive relationships or in circumstances where the parent simply cannot nurture their child in the way they should – due to drugs or alcohol, for example. Fostering can be the very best thing that can happen to unfortunate children and young people.

So there you have it: an insight into the many benefits that are associated with fostering a child. If this is something you are considering, then we wish you all of the luck in the world on your new venture in life. Being a foster parent is truly incredible.