Top tips for building a relationship with your social worker
A key part of your foster carer assessment journey will be the relationship formed between you and your social worker.
In this post, we will:
Explore the importance of the relationship between social workers and foster carers.
Explain the role of social workers and how you'll work with them at different stages of your journey.
Share tips from experienced social workers on the best ways to build a relationship with your social worker
Why is it important for foster care applicants to build a good relationship with social workers?
It's natural to feel more comfortable sharing personal information about yourself and your family when you've built a trusting relationship with the person you're chatting with. Talking about some topics we need to explore as part of the fostering application process might make you feel uneasy initially. We understand.
While it's your social worker's role to ask you these essential questions as part of the application process, they are also there to provide support and keep you informed at every stage.
Ultimately, we want to get to know you and build a relationship that helps you to get the best out of this experience. By working together, we can draw out your strengths and showcase your skills. Most importantly, we will help find the right homes for the children who need them most.
Foster with North East Hub Social Workers
Our Foster with North East Hub social workers are on hand to offer guidance, answer any questions and help you complete an expression of interest over the phone.
If you apply to be a foster carer, they'll also check in with you during your journey to see how you're getting on and offer support. Foster with North East Hub Social Workers also deliver Skills to Foster Training once your assessment has started. They're experienced social workers who have lots of knowledge about the application process.
We spoke to Foster with North East Hub Social Workers Jonny and Julie to find out what they enjoy most about the role:
"Speaking to people from the beginning of their fostering journey, answering any questions they may have, dispelling myths and enabling them to make informed decisions around their fostering future."
"Meeting new enthusiastic people and supporting their development through the delivery of pre-approval training."
You can find out more about what our Foster with North East Hub team does and how we can support you by picking up the phone and calling 0800 9177 771.
5 top tips - what to say to social workers, what to ask them and how to build a relationship with them
Experienced Foster with North East Hub Social Workers Jonny and Julie gathered advice from their team to put together these top tips on how to build a relationship with your social worker.
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Be honest from the start
Relationships are built on trust and honesty. As with any new relationship, this can take time to develop, so being honest from the outset will get you off to the best possible start. You may have some information you are worried about sharing with your social worker. It's best to be open and honest and share any concerns at the earliest opportunity. Often, we can work through things together. But if things are left out or unsaid, issues can become bigger than they need to be.
As social workers, we sometimes find that people feel they should adopt a persona and act in a particular way around us. There's a misconception that we have set expectations of what we are looking for in prospective foster carers. The reality is that we need carers from diverse backgrounds and that everybody brings different experiences, strengths and skills. We value you for being you, as will our children.
It's not always easy to talk about ourselves and recognise the qualities we possess, and this is something that we encourage applicants to feel more confident doing. We often find when talking to the people closest to you, we learn more than you tell us yourself. The assessment stage should highlight your strengths and what you could provide our children. During assessment sessions, we love to hear about your achievements, which can often spotlight skills that would be transferable. Other things prospective foster carers should share with social workers are instances when you've supported children or adults in challenging times in their lives. Or, how you've supported your children (if relevant) when they moved out of the family home.
You should feel able to ask your social worker anything about fostering and your assessment process. You'll find a lot of information on our website and fostering information pack. But we don't expect you to know everything. We welcome questions, so please ask your social worker questions as they crop up. They will be happy to answer your questions without judgement and provide advice and guidance where needed.
When filling in forms or answering questions, it's not always easy to focus on why you initially picked up that phone. If you start to lose sight of things, stop, think, and remind yourself why you are doing this. Foster carers can make a life-long difference for children and young people; you could be the person to share your home and shape their future.
What is the relationship between foster carer and social worker?
From the very start of your fostering journey, you'll work closely with social workers and form vital relationships with them. When you make an enquiry or application, you'll receive support from North East Hub Social Workers. During the application stage and once approved, you'll work with social workers in slightly different ways.
The foster care applicant and assessing social worker relationship
As an applicant, you will work with an assessing social worker allocated by your local authority who will complete the Form F assessment with you. Together, you'll gather and record the information needed to present to the fostering panel. Your assessing social worker will support you through this journey.
The approved foster carer and supervising/fostering social worker relationship
Supervising social workers, also known as fostering social workers by some local authorities, will support you as a fully approved foster carer and foster family. They will visit you regularly and support you to provide individualised care for children or young people. Social workers also work with you to review any training or development needs or goals you may have.
Let us support you so you can share your home to shape their future.
Our Foster with North East Hub team offers help and advice for those considering fostering. We also provide support and guidance during your journey to foster care approval and deliver pre-approval fostering training.
If you've got a question about fostering or would like to explore how fostering can work for you, make an enquiry or call us 0800 917 7771. You can meet Foster with North East Social workers at information events in your area.
