How To combine Work and Foster Caring

Author: Fostering Info

          A major challenge within the foster care industry is how best to attract more foster carers to support the growing number of children in need of foster care. This needs to be reconciled with the fact that these carers need to be flexible in their working hours, or commit to giving up work altogether. It is difficult to ask someone to give up full time employment and be committed to the demands of fostering, while not having a guaranteed income especially in an uncertain economic environment.

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          How then can we overcome this drawback to becoming a foster carer? The government has some responsibility in creating a work environment which is more conducive to fostering. Some issues include flexibility at work for women with children, and during maternity and difficulty accessing costly child care.

While pushing for more national policies for flexibility in working conditions for those involved in fostering, dedicated carers and agencies have to get creative themselves to design an environment carers are comfortable within.

Can a minimum foster care allowance be paid to foster carers who are available but without a placement?

Independent Fostering Agencies may feel the need to offer a partial fostering allowance in order to keep a fostering professional on the books of the agency. However, how much of an allowance and for how long, can create conflict, as well as costs to the agency if they are to pay foster carers essentially for keeping ‘empty beds'.

Should foster carers be encouraged to work part time?
It may be suggested that foster carers find flexible work which allows them enough free time to foster children. This can be complicated when deciding how many hours per week are reasonable to work, and when these hours of work should occur. Are a few hours of work every day preferable to limiting work to a few days per week?

          The type of employment that allows for flexibility and limited hours may sometimes be low paid jobs for which the foster carer may be over qualified. This is often a problem for women trying to balance caring for children while getting back to the job market, when trying to obtain a similar part time position to the full time position they held before going on maternity leave.

          As an independent fostering agency we have found however that our foster carers are able to do a range of occupations as long as they are afforded the flexibility at work by their employers when they need it. Occupations of our foster carers include police officers, psychologists, driving instructors and business owners.

Why does working from home present such a challenge?

         Working from home is becoming increasingly common thanks to the technology that allows remote access to files, video conferencing and high speed internet access in a home environment.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/how-to-combine-work-and-foster-caring-6957944.html

About the Author

Find out more about fostering on our website and if you have what it takes to become a foster carer with Pride Fostering Service.




                                        

Share Your Blessings

          Blessings in our life just come and go...some stay for just a second, others may stay for a while ......and then there are those which leave imprints in our hearts. To recount significant blessings in our life, we can think of the talents, skills, capabilities, resources or whatever we may term them that we treasure in our life. 

          Moreover, they have come to us and enable us to move higher in our standing in life. We have attained dreams goals in life by utilizing these blessings. However, let us also bear in mind that we are constantly challenged to be generous to others. 

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          If we are sensitive to what's going on around us, we will obviously notice that many of our brothers and sisters are left hanging in the dark. Many among us are confronted with the sad reality in life that they have nowhere to go except to hide those dark spots in their life deep inside themselves.

          Thus, let us also think about these people and by our blessings, let us open our hearts and minds to them and in whatever simple yet creative ways we can think of, let us allow ourselves to become beacons of life and hope for others.

                                  

Honoring Sr. Sto. Nino: JANUARY 2014

          Recently, me and my wife had the great opportunity to attend the Sinulog celebration in Deer Park, Melbourne, Australia. Sinulog is an annual festival held on the 3rd Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines. On this festival, the Filipino people's pagan origin and consequently, their embrace of Christianity is being remembered. 

          While attending the ceremony of the Holy Eucharist, the congregation gathered together displayed a unified conviction in Santo Nino. What was striking for me personally is the overwhelming faith of the congregation. In spite of being far away from home and from their loved ones, those people who flocked together for the commemoration showed their genuine devotion.

         After the mass, we witnessed the Sinulog dance offered by the Halad dancers. On this dance, the reverence spirit of the Filipino people is expressed by its various steps. It had the sound of the drums as its background and it depicted the desire to turn back from those evil noises around and inside of us.

          Thus, the celebration meant not just to gather the Filipino faithful on this faraway place yet what counted most is their manifested unity.  Much credit also is extended to my dear cousin, Lyn Jugan Banzon, for creating the Sinulog dance offering steps and the colorful costume of all Halad dancers.

A poem: For My Special Someone

I met a man six years ago

Who struck my heart with bow and arrow

A man with a strict ego

He, who dreams of a big tomorrow

After 2 years of being a happy single

My heart starts to wiggle

And it stops beating for awhile

And my face has no ending smile

Then he asked me to be his wife

And to be with him for the rest of his life

From that day on, two hearts become one

Nothing compares happiness to anyone

A whole shared life where we have to be

Has a bit of misery as what I see

For things, we have,are not that easy

Because the life we live is so chasey

We have been through bad and tough times together

But those things will never last forever

There will be rainbows a head of us

We need to reach it and it is a must

The warmth of safety of knowing you're there

Gives my body and soul a smile, they always wear

Saying goodbye is my greatest fear

That would be the last thing I wanna hear

All the wonderful memories we shared

Day by day will always be remembered

Maybe my actions and feelings are not that showy

But remember always, I love you my bb Louie.

Writer: April Marie Versario Jugan-Tayong

(Thanks my niece for sharing your inspiration)