Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Foster Care Budgeting Tips
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
Can you foster if you smoke or vape?
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
What can disqualify you from foster care?
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
How do DBS Checks Work?
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
Fostering LGBTQ+ Youth
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
What are the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services?
10 tips for foster children's education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother's Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children's bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father's Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
FosterTalk Membership with Capstone Foster Care
Supporting foster children's contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Foster Care in TV and Film
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
Having a mental health condition does not automatically mean you are unable to become a foster parent. Learn more from our guide on foster care and mental health FAQs, what happens if you develop a mental health condition during a placement and looking after children with mental health challenges.
Just like your physical health, if you suffer from mental health conditions, this will be considered when applying to foster – alongside your general health. This will also apply to if you suffer from any long-term health conditions.
As part of the fostering assessment process, a medical report is always sought. Having a mental health issue does not automatically disqualify you from becoming a foster carer, however certain attributes should be considered. For example, this might be the emotional effects that fostering may have on your mental health. It’s important to note that each individual case will be assessed differently.
If you have previous medical history of suffering from any mental health issues, this is not a deciding factor in whether or not you can become a foster parent. As with all aspects of your life, this will be considered during the application process – and will be assessed to ensure that the challenges that fostering can bring does not affect your mental health.
As part of this assessment, social workers and your fostering agency will look to determine the severity of said mental health condition, and identify if this would likely impact potential foster children in your care. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Again, if you are taking medication for a mental health condition, this does not automatically disqualify you from becoming a foster parent. As part of the medical report, your medication will naturally be discussed in the fostering assessment – and it may be that as long as you keep taking your medication/consult with your doctor if you are thinking of lowering the dosage, this should be a component to being able to foster.
Ensuring that any medication is out of reach of foster children (and biological) is also important – but this is not solely applicable to mental health issues, as it is applicable to any form of medication, tablets or pills.
Sometimes, pairing a foster child with a foster parent who has previously shared similar mental health challenges can be beneficial. This is because the foster parent may have shared similar experiences themselves, and understands this more than a foster parent who hasn’t – meaning they can share a level of relatability and offer more detailed help and support to the child.
However, in other circumstances, pairing a child with mental health challenges with a foster parent who either has them currently, or used to experience them, could be triggering for both parts of this relationship. For a foster parent, seeing a child go through what it assumed a tricky time for them could bring back negative feelings and cause them to regress in their progress.
In short, the answer is yes – but this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Of course, unforeseen health issues – both physical and mental – are not components that can be determined when your eligibility to become a foster carer is being assessed. That’s why it’s generally thought that if there is a significant change to your life e.g., illness, death in the family, divorce, this would cause your position as a foster carer to be assessed.
If it was believed that a mental health challenge presented itself in a way that would be a) harmful to you, the foster parent or b) harmful to the child, it’s likely the child would be removed from your care until relevant measures are put into place. Social workers and your independent fostering agency would work alongside you and your doctor in order to put a treatment plan in place and ensure the welfare of both you and the foster child were at the forefront.
Here at Capstone, we pride ourselves on our unparalleled fostering support system – we offer a 24/7 fostering support service, meaning you can talk to professionals as well as like-minded foster parents who may have experienced what you’re going through. Learn more about our fostering support services now.
If you have any questions about fostering with mental health issues, or you want to know more about supporting children with mental health challenges, our friendly team are always on hand. Contact us today.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
