The positives of foster care over residential care

For decades, foster care has been a resource for children who cannot live with their biological families for various reasons.

Ensuring that children in need are placed with families and carers who can provide love and support in spite of their backgrounds and circumstances is essential to ensure they retain a sense of stability and security.

Although residential homes for children still operate across the country, there are circumstances where foster care has an advantage over facilities that house large groups of children.

Here are some of the benefits of children in need living in foster families.

Education

Although many children move between foster homes, which often disrupts their educational journey, living with a supportive, encouraging foster family can help them to succeed in academia.

Being able to continue their educational journey without disruption or worry is crucial in giving them opportunities that they otherwise might not have, as well as succeeding in their exams and possibly attending university.

Retaining connection to a family

Children in foster care often struggle with trust issues as a result of their experiences.

Being part of a foster family can help with rebuilding trust with adults and provide a supportive network, creating lifelong bonds.

Although it can be argued that residential group homes offer support and guidance through designated staff members, as well as social workers and key workers of the children in question, these can be less personalised in bigger homes when compared to living with a foster parent, and in some cases, additional children.