Parent and Child Fostering

What is a parent and child placement?

A parent and child placement, also known as mother and baby foster placements, is a specialist type of fostering where a parent and their own child, often a young mother and baby, come to stay in your home to have extra support and guidance.

There are many reasons for a parent and child placement but most often, the primary benefit of parent and child fostering is to support the parent. It may be that a new Mum is having difficulties looking after their new baby, and they may not have experienced great parenting themselves, or may have been in care themselves. This leads to them needing an experienced parental figure to help them become a better parent. In other cases, the parent may have a learning difficulty or mental health challenges that cause them to have difficulties becoming a parent.

Here at Capstone, we equip you with the support and tools that you need to foster a parent(s) and child with a view to keep the family together. We do this from our extensive parent and child fostering training, helping you to become the best foster carer you can be.

Parent and child assessments

During the parent and child’s stay with the foster family, an assessment will occur over the course of a three month period in the foster family’s home. As a mother and baby foster carer, you will be specifically trained to facilitate this type of assessment, as well as having extensive skills in Observation and Recording.

In terms of timescale for the assessment, there will be regular reviews every two weeks on the parent and child’s relationship and development, which will be chaired by us here at Capstone. However, at the 6-8 week point, an interim report will be provided detailing how well the parent is performing in the assessment. Within two weeks after the 12 week mark, a final report will be compiled with clear recommendations.

Learn more about the parent and child assessments process from our detailed guide.

Becoming a parent and child foster carer with Capstone

As a mother and baby foster carer, you foster home will provide a safe and secure environment in which new parent(s) can feel secure and motivated to work towards a positive outcome. You will build a positive working relationship that allows for a realistic assessment through working openly and honestly, while the parent(s) will be able to build on positive aspects of their parenting that will enable them to gain confidence through extensive parent and child fostering training. You will inform the parent(s) daily about what has been recorded reading and signing your detailed recordings.

The parent and child placement also provides:

• 24hr duty service cover
• A baby monitor system if required
• Parent and child carer support groups facilitated by a child psychologist
• Capstone assessor’s attendance at any meetings and reviews where required
• Attendance at Court where directed
• A social worker - specifically a parent and Child Intervention Worker - who will assess parent’s capacity to budget, shop, cook, as well as their parenting skills.
• Supervised contact for absent parent with recording available on request.
• Ongoing community based support and assessment where it is deemed beneficial to the parent available on request. Bespoke package of support to meet the needs of the parent and child.

Thinking of fostering a parent and child? Or perhaps you want to understand more about what mother and baby foster placements would entail? Contact Capstone Foster Care for more information on our parent and child fostering services now.