How to Prepare Your Home for a Foster Child

Taking in foster children can be a really rewarding thing to do. It can enrich your family life and make a huge difference to children who are in need of a home. If you want to become a foster parent in the UK, then it is possible regardless of your marital status, sexual orientation, and whether or not you already have birth children living at home with you. There is a vetting process that takes from 4-6 months in most cases, but this will not take any of those factors into account. However, what you will need is a spare room in your home that foster children can use as a bedroom. 

If you are planning to take in a foster child, then of course you want them to feel happy and welcome in your home, so here is some advice about preparing your home and the room the child will be living in:

Talk to Your Birth Children About How to Make the Foster Child’s Room Welcoming

If you do already have kids living in your home, then getting them involved in decorating the foster child’s bedroom can be a good way to not only make sure the room is welcoming but also to get your birth kids excited about their new foster sibling. You may be surprised at how much kids know what other kids might like, plus, it gives them a chance to be creative, by perhaps doing some paintings to decorate the foster child’s walls or offering some of their own toys to keep in there. A foster child may feel nervous around your birth children at first, and so having some things in their room that they chose for them can really make them feel like they are wanted in your home.

Make Important Things Easy to Find

It can be daunting for a foster child to enter a new home environment. Make sure, when they arrive, that you tell them where to find all of the important things they may need, like where you keep things like toilet paper and other bathroom stuff they may want to use, as well as how things are laid out in your kitchen. What they might need to be able to find on their own will depend on their age – younger children won’t need to know the ins and outs of where all the food and crockery are stored, but teenagers will need to know where to find anything they may need.

Ensure They Have Privacy

An essential with foster kids is that they do have privacy. This is why there is a rule that only people with spare rooms can foster. You can find out more about what is required from potential short-term foster families at fosteringpeople.co.uk. Make sure that there is a working lock on your bathrooms, and tell your birth children that if your foster child closes their bedroom door, they have to knock if they want to talk to them.

These are some simple considerations that will help make your home inviting and comforting for your new foster child.